About one year ago, I sold everything I owned, moved out of my apartment, reduced my whole life to a suitcase, and went to Madeira with no source of income and no idea what my next step would look like. At first, this was intimidating, but soon, I would meet many inspiring people who shaped and changed my life. Today I'm a developer relation engineer at Streamr and Data Union DAO, and I get to travel the world at the same time. 🔥🚀

How I Became a Web3 Developer

I finished university and just got my computer science degree when I arrived in Madeira. I started to look into Web3 development after having an inspiring conversation in a cafe' with another digital nomad. After studying Solidity for a couple of weeks, I applied for junior Web3 jobs and was unsuccessful. A humbling experience...

At the time, it seemed everyone in crypto was looking for senior devs. However, I needed a job since I was running out of savings, so I surrendered to applying for a Web2 job, which was way more manageable with my previous web development experience.

And wow... I did not enjoy my web2 job AT ALL!

It turns out that programming dishwasher APIs is not my cup of tea. My motivation at work was close to zero, and the only thing interesting was programming smart contracts with Buildspace right after I clocked out.

So, I had two options: Continue doing this and playing it safe but being miserable, or quit my job but risk running out of money.

Developer DAO Travel Sponsorship

As you might have guessed, I decided against the dishwashers and doubled down on Web3.

A friend told me about Developer DAO - a community of Web3 developers I should join to kick off my crypto career. At this point, I had built a couple of crypto projects. So, I bought the NFT required to enter and quit my Web2 job 🚀.

DevConnect and ETHAmsterdam were going to take place soon after I doubled down on web3 development. However, the accommodation and travel costs would significantly impact my savings. So I asked for help in Developer DAO, and the community answered: I was offered to sleep at Developer DAO members' house in Amsterdam 🥺. A stranger offered me to sleep at his house because we had been in the same DAO - this is community! Shoutout to you, Piablo!

Anyway, I booked my flights. At the same time, I heard about the travel sponsorship of Developer DAO. So I applied for it, and they accepted me! The sponsorship covered accommodation and traveling costs to Amsterdam 🤯. This was more than I could have asked for, and I was blown away by the support I received!

How You Can Kickstart Your Web3 Developer Career

Going to this conference and participating in the hackathon really got things going for me! I met incredible people, made connections, won the first prize of TheGraph with my team (also Developer DAO members), and landed my first long-term web3 job.

Applying for the hackathon was easy; fighting the fear of finding a team and not being "good enough" was not so much. But don't let that imposter syndrome get you! These IRL events are excellent opportunities to connect. I know it's scary and might be out of your comfort zone, but I'm assuring you that the growth, inspiration, opportunities, and friends you'll get out of it are so worth it!

Before you go to the IRL events, try building stuff you can show people at the conference. Use your favorite protocol and talk to the developers representing the technology.

I highly recommend joining a community/DAO you identify with. I honestly believe Developer DAO is one of the best communities to join when starting your web3 career. The support you will receive when you simply ask for help is incredible.

I hope this helps; feel free to contact me if you have any questions! 🚀

Special Thanks

Thank you, @developerDAO, for supporting your members and giving people these life-changing travel sponsorships.

Thank you, @camiinthisthang, for inspiring me to write this post and to have helped with the sponsorships!

Thank you, @dataunions & @streamr, for allowing me to support you with developer relations. Thank you, @emre, for getting me the job interview.

I also want to thank @graphprotocol and my hacker team for placing us first for our DApp. You gave me more than just a grant!