Reflection: 1-year in web3
A little over a year ago, a long-time friend called me out of the blue about a vague security opportunity with a somewhat private firm I had never heard of. At first glance, I was going to pass; I was happy working at Mozilla and leading high-performing security teams there; I had 6+ years of tenure with the company, and we had built teams that I was incredibly proud of.
Out of pure obligation, mixed with a dash of curiosity, I agreed to take a call and see what they were up to. I vividly recall an analogy of web3 security on that first call, like trying to repair the race car without slowing down. It sounded a little scary at first, but who am I kidding? I’m a total sucker for a challenge mixed with outsized impact, and this was an opportunity to help secure some of the most significant protocols and blockchains in the space. Before I knew it, I accepted an offer to join the team and set sail on this new adventure in web3.
That was a year ago, and boy, the memes of crypto aging you fast are no joke. On my official second day on the job, my team was supporting one of the largest DeFi hacks in history. Those first couple of months had a steep learning curve. It’s incredible how after 2 decades in the security industry, you think you’ve mostly got it all figured out, and you realize we’re not playing 2D chess anymore. My transition from web2 to web3 has been one of the more considerable challenges and opportunities of my career, and it’s stretched me and my capabilities in ways I couldn’t have imagined.
That said, we’ve been pretty busy growing the security team within Jump Crypto for the past year. I’m so proud of the team and many security champions across the ecosystems we work with for how quickly they have adapted to new challenges. You could call it poetry in motion (and some of us might call it “controlled chaos”) to watch how quickly world-class talent can rise to the occasion when the stakes are high.
I’m looking forward to 2023. With crypto having entered a phase of introspection, it should be an exciting and productive year for heads-down builders to innovate without distraction. What I’m most excited about is pushing web3 security forward and elevating the assurance levels of the entire crypto ecosystem.
Let’s build!
