Some exciting personal news: I recently joined the Decentralized Wireless Alliance (DeWi) as a Community & Developer Relations Manager.
Now, this is not my typical blog post; it's a post that I hope will answer the questions I've been getting and help many understand my decision-making process moving from web2 to web3. Additionally, I've been sharing all my journey, and well, this is a significant part of it.
The background
I've been at Cisco for 2.5 years; January 14th was my last day. It was a tough decision to leave. I had a fantastic team, a very supportive manager, and great mentors & sponsors.
I'm super grateful for all the opportunities and, with that, incredibly excited for what's next!
Why web3?
Glenn says the following in his post on why he moved to web3:
"This was not a simple choice; there was no 'push' to leave. However, there was a powerful pull, web3."
It's way better than I could ever put it.
Now I've written many posts on why I'm overly attached to web3 at this point. So, you can jump to my blog to read about them. But, in short, I've never been as excited about a particular space and especially the potential of it as I am right now.
What I was learning and seeing in the web3 space made me question many processes and forced me to ask different questions.
The community blew my mind. I met amazing people on Twitter and Discord, who I can now call my friends, mentors and sponsors. It's hard to put into words. Likeminded people, having the same values and goals form a connection that makes you want to cancel your Friday night plans to hang out on Discord.
With these, it's fair to say that I wasn't ready to make the switch until it was at a project and role I was interested and involved in, also at a right time.
It seemed way easier when I read updates of people moving from web2 to web3. But, trust me; it wasn't like that. I took time to understand, learn and find the place that clicked with me.
Once I did, I realized that moving from web2 to web3 was an opportunity I just couldn't miss.
So, what's next?
I'm thrilled to be joining the Decentralized Wireless Alliance(DeWi) as a Community and Developer Relations manager. DeWi is the non-profit foundation supporting the Helium Network, on a mission to connect the world's devices.
I'm very excited to work for a future of permissionless, global, low-cost wireless connectivity for everyone & everything: #ThePeoplesNetwork.
First, let's take a step back to talk about Helium.
Helium's mission is to create a global network for anyone to access without any permission and at a low cost. Such a network would create a connected world that connects those who otherwise would not be connected and brings to life many unique use cases from fire prevention to smart cities.
Creating such a wireless network is challenging with centralized infrastructure. First, the infrastructure was inadequate; now, it's economically challenging. That's where Helium comes and creates a decentralized network instead.
So, what is Helium? Helium is a protocol for deploying large wireless networks. It's a business model that changes how wireless networks are deployed and managed by distributing the ownership, which reduces the cost structure and increases the network reach.
Here's more details on how Helium changes the business model. A disruptive model giving individuals key roles.
Now, the people create and operate the network.
Helium started on the LoraWan network, a network for IoT devices (small devices such as dog collars, sensors, smartwatches etc.) Now, it has started to create a 5G network.
How so? People like you and I can get a Helium hotspot and contribute to the network and, in return, earn Helium tokens (HNT). Every single person that sets up a hotspot becomes a service provider. Basically, the hotspots create the network infrastructure. Devices can connect and pay per usage to the network that we create.
Today, Helium has a strong community powering over 533k hotspots.
Let's go back to DeWi 💫 DeWi is the foundation arm for the Helium network. It's a steward for the community as described on the DeWi blog:
Our role is not to control or lead the development of the Helium Protocol, only to contribute to it. We are a part of a larger ecosystem including many stakeholders who all contribute to and govern the network collectively.
DeWi supports areas such as improvement proposals, community calls, ecosystem grant programs to facilitate this goal.
*I'm not going very deep on Helium & DeWi here; they will be topics for another post.
Overall, I think it's one of the most ambitious goals to connect everyone and everything by creating a network powered by individuals (aka the people's network). The potential is mind-blowing.
Looking forward to working on such a mission with a great team and community 🎈
Want to join?
- Join the Helium Discord
- Head over to Helium and checkout DeWi
- Special call for builders and creators ➡ check out our Grant's Program
Hope that this was helpful. It's been a crazy journey, and I couldn't be more excited to be sharing it!
If you have any questions or comments, drop them below, or reach out to me on Twitter!