Re-ignition

I took a year off as I was burned out.

I had been working on the PoolTogether protocol for five years, and it was time to throw in the towel. We had so many roadblocks: lack of product-market fit, rapidly changing technologies, litigation, loss of co-founders. A wholehearted attempt at decentralized governance ended up as a side quest that drained time, energy, and funds. Our runway had run short, so I decided to let go of my team and allocate what funds we had left to the remaining contributors to the DAO.

Since then I’ve returned to my interests, started new ones, spent time with loved ones, and pushed my personal life forward. I thought I had work-life balance during PoolTogether, but in retrospect I didn’t. I needed this year, and going forward I will make sure that I structure my work so that it’s sustainable.

I haven’t been entirely idle, however: I dove deeply into AI and agentic programming. I began by using Cursor in late 2024 and was mildly impressed, then last spring I tried Claude Code and was blown away by how much it could one-shot. Recently I set up an OpenClaw agent and watched it code and deploy web applications to production entirely on its own.

I’m fully AI-pilled.

I feel the same excitement I felt for Ethereum seven years ago; the sense of a world-changing technology emerging. This time, however, it’s existential: it’s my world that’s changing and there are no regulatory hurdles to slow it down. The software industry is reeling from AI’s impact and everyone is trying to navigate this new reality simultaneously. Organizations will need to incorporate agents to stay competitive.

We all must adapt to survive. While before I was dabbling, I’m now shifting my focus full-time towards understanding the landscape of AI tools and how to use them effectively. There are still so many questions: where does design fit in? How does a production system continue to evolve? How do you ensure compliance and security? There is a whole new class of problems to solve.

I’m currently looking for new opportunities, so please reach out if you think you might be a fit. I have deep expertise in leading a team that designs and secures defi applications, but I’m open to anything interesting. Crypto is just one of my tools now.