Hey you!
This is “that’s what she said”, the newsletter that translates web3 chaos into something that actually makes sense. I hope you enjoyed the last piece about smart contracts (if you haven't checked it out yet, go ahead and read it). Today, I’m taking a slightly different route. Next week marks three years since I officially entered the web3 space, so I figured it’s the perfect time to share my story — how I got here, the challenges I've faced along the way, and the aspects that make it all worthwhile.
Three years feels surreal. On one hand, it’s like I’ve lived five different lives. On the other hand, it still feels like I only started yesterday. Looking back, I don’t feel like I’ve become a completely different person — more like the same person, just with a much broader horizon.
I get asked a lot about how to break into web3, but most of the advice out there either feels way too abstract or skips over the hard parts. So, instead of giving you another polished guide, I’ll just share how it really happened for me. Hopefully, it makes someone else’s path into web3 a little less bumpy.
It's time to grab a coffee and yap. Ready?
👀 Why Web3?
Before web3, I was working at a small headhunting firm starting in 2019, helping engineering teams grow at companies like Snap, Wix, Fiverr, PandaDoc, and others. It was intense, rewarding, and the right kind of messy. I loved the company, loved my team, and honestly couldn’t picture myself leaving.
One of our clients was WOO, a crypto trading startup building a centralised exchange for pro traders, a cross-chain swap, and a decentralised exchange. They tried to hire me for their growing office in Poland, but I had my doubts. I didn’t know much about crypto and wasn’t sure it was worth stepping out of my comfort zone.
Then summer 2022 happened. I took a vacation to Warsaw and decided to stop by the WOO office to meet some of the people I’d helped hire. What I walked into changed everything. These people weren’t just working in web3; they were living and breathing it. The energy was unlike anything I’d felt before. Everyone seemed genuinely convinced they were part of something that could reshape finance and was determined to build something exceptional.
That day was my turning point. By the time I left Warsaw, my mind was made up. After more than three years at the headhunting firm, I was ready to take the leap of faith. It wasn’t about hype or money; I joined because I wanted to explore the space, get to know the people, and help them build something meaningful.
🌊 Swimming Against the Current
Within my first months at WOO, reality didn't hit me that hard, to be honest. It was mostly because I was working with engineering roles for our centralised exchange; we were still looking for backend, frontend, and QA engineers who either had experience in trading/fintech or wanted to try their hand in this space. So, the difference wasn't that significant compared to what I'd been doing before.
However, in November 2022, the FTX collapse happened, and the company's strategy shifted. I had to start working on both tech and non-tech roles across the APAC region, specifically hiring for Marketing, Business Development, Ecosystem, and Product&Design teams. That was the moment I realised just how much domain knowledge I was missing. Moreover, this was quite a pivot for me since I'd never worked with commercial roles before.
Along the way, I faced the following challenges:
- The learning curve is practically vertical. You need to grasp blockchain fundamentals, understand how both centralised and decentralised exchanges operate (essential for my company since we're building both CeFi and DeFi products), navigate the intricacies of web3 marketing, and distinguish between different key players and their unique selling points. It's like being thrown into the deep end of a pool that keeps getting deeper. Every time you think you've found your footing, the bottom drops out again (and you need to learn more and more).
- The market swings like a pendulum on steroids. Crypto markets don't just fluctuate; they can swing 50% in either direction within days, sometimes hours. What makes it even more challenging is how interconnected everything is. When FTX collapsed, it wasn't just one exchange going down; it created a domino effect that rippled through the entire ecosystem. Projects lost funding, partnerships dissolved overnight, and suddenly, half the companies either shut down or went into survival mode. You're essentially recruiting in a market where the ground beneath your feet is constantly shifting, and you never know if the company you're targeting today will still exist next month.
- The ecosystem evolves at breakneck speed. This is both the blessing and curse of web3. New L1s, L2s, and bridges appear seemingly overnight, each claiming to solve blockchain's biggest problems. Keeping track of which chains or projects actually matter, which are just riding the hype wave, and which will still be around next month became a full-time job within a full-time job. Without staying on top of these developments, it was nearly impossible to interview and hire top talent who expected you to understand the latest protocols/projects they'd been working with.
- Getting in is easy, but staying put is the real challenge. Breaking into web3 might seem easier than traditional tech, as the industry welcomes newcomers and values passion over degree. But surviving here is an entirely different story. The industry operates on extreme cycles: when there's a bull market, everyone is hiring aggressively and building like there's no tomorrow. When the bear market hits, companies slash headcount just to survive. They're dramatic swings that happen within months, sometimes weeks. While top talent usually weathers these storms, I've witnessed cases where even top performers got caught in the crossfire simply because companies had to make brutal decisions to stay afloat. The constant pressure to stay ahead of rapid changes, the emotional rollercoaster of market volatility, and the need to continuously upskill while managing regular responsibilities creates a level of professional exhaustion I'd never experienced before. It's like running a marathon where the finish line keeps moving, and you're not sure if you're gaining ground or falling behind.
Three years in, I've learned that succeeding in web3 isn't about mastering the current; it's rather about developing the power to keep swimming through whatever comes next. The exhaustion is real, but so is the opportunity to help build something genuinely transformative.
✨ Finding My North Star
Everything changed when I shifted from consuming everything to curating strategically. Instead of panicking about every new development, I built a system to stay informed without losing my mind.
Here's what actually helped me navigate the chaos:
- Building theoretical knowledge foundations. I dove deep into crypto Twitter, but with purpose. Following the right people and projects/ecosystems — not the shillers, but builders and researchers who actually understood the technology. Newsletters like Milk Road, The Defiant, Blockworks, web3 with a16z crypto and Weekly CIO Memos became my anchors. YouTube channels like Finematics and Whiteboard Crypto helped me visualise concepts that felt abstract in text.
- Getting hands-on experience. Since I was working in a trading startup, I started trading myself: small amounts, nothing crazy. It wasn't about making money; it was about understanding what our users experienced. How does slippage actually feel? What's it like to bridge assets between chains? Why do people get so frustrated with gas fees? You can read about these concepts all day, but until you've waited 10 minutes for a transaction to confirm during network congestion, you don't really get it.
- Attending web3 events and conferences. You'd learn more about the space in one day of conference talks and corridor conversations than in weeks of online research. Plus, nothing beats hearing directly from founders about what they're building and why they think it matters.
- Regular discussions with colleagues. When you're constantly consuming web3 content, it's easy to get caught up in hype cycles. Having regular conversations with colleagues at WOO helped me separate signal from noise. They'd often deflate my excitement about some flashy new protocol by explaining why the technology wasn't as revolutionary as claimed.
- Learning from candidate conversations. I started ending every interview with the same question: "What project in the space are you most excited about right now, and why?". This question became my window into what people actually building in web3 found compelling. Candidates would tell me about obscure DeFi protocols they were farming, new consensus mechanisms they found elegant, or tokens they thought had interesting dynamics. Some of these conversations led me to discover new projects that became major players months later.
- Developing emotional intelligence and mental health practices. This was crucial and often overlooked. Web3 can be overwhelming, and developing emotional intelligence has become essential for navigating the constant ups and downs. Learning to recognise when I was getting caught up in hype cycles, managing FOMO when missing out on the latest trend, and staying calm during market crashes were skills I had to actively develop. I learned that taking short breaks when things got too intense wasn't a weakness; it was necessary. Whether it was a 10-minute walk during a market crash, stepping away from news for a weekend, or simply acknowledging when I felt overwhelmed, these pauses helped me process information better and make clearer decisions.
One thing I quickly realised: traditional work-life balance doesn't really apply in web3. Sometimes work demands more — when markets are moving, protocols are launching, or urgent hires need to be made. Sometimes rest takes priority — during bear markets, after intense conference weeks, or when you're just mentally saturated. The rhythm follows market cycles, project milestones, and your own energy levels rather than a strict 9-to-5 schedule. Learning to flow with this rather than fight it made everything more sustainable.
🌿 What Makes it Worth It
People often ask if I regret leaving traditional recruiting for this chaotic space. The answer is always the same: absolutely not. And here is why:
- The people are unlike anywhere I've worked before. They're not just building another app — they genuinely believe they're working on infrastructure that could change how the world handles money, ownership, and trust. That kind of mission attracts people willing to work with incomplete tools, navigate regulatory uncertainty, and rebuild from scratch when something better comes along.
- The learning never stops, and that's energising rather than draining. One month you're learning new staking solutions, the next you're diving into zero-knowledge proofs. It keeps your brain active in a way that feels more like playing than working.
- The impact feels more direct. Hiring for a DeFi protocol means helping build financial tools that millions of people without access to traditional banking could one day use. Hiring for a centralised exchange means bringing in the people who will help onboard the next wave of crypto users. Either way, it feels like the work actually moves the needle.
- Being part of something that's still being written might be the most rewarding part. The best practices are evolving, winning architectures aren't clear, and there's room for new ideas to reshape entire categories.
Sure, I miss the predictability sometimes. Web3 might be chaotic, but it's never boring. If you're thinking about making the jump: don't wait for it to make perfect sense. It never will. Find good people building interesting things and figure it out as you go.
Final Thought
If you've made it this far, maybe you're sitting there wondering if web3 is worth the chaos. Maybe you're already in the space and questioning whether you made the right call, or maybe you're still on the sidelines trying to figure out if this whole thing is just elaborate gambling with fancy terminology (it's not!).
Whatever brought you here, I hope my journey shows you that nobody really knows what they're doing, and that's exactly why there's still room for you. The people building the future are just figuring it out as they go, one breakthrough at a time.
The space doesn't need more experts. It needs more people willing to learn, adapt, and build something meaningful while the rules are still being written.
Until next time, embrace the uncertainty. The chaos is where the opportunities hide 💪
Cookies She Left Behind
If you'd love to dive into web3, you can check out the following. These resources helped me a lot at the very beginning of my journey:
- BitPanda Academy by BitPanda
- Doing Business in Web3 by FutureLearn
If you'd love to explore more sophisticated topics, you can check out the below:
- Cryptopedia by Gemini
- Educational Blog by Chainlink
- Crypto Startup School 2020 by a16z crypto
- Crypto Startup School 2023 by a16z crypto