Hello builders! This past week has been one of the most emotionally charged experiences I've had in a while. After much thought, I've made the difficult decision to leave Ourkive, the startup I co-founded alongside two other incredible people. While I plan to tell you more about the reasons behind this move in a separate blog post, today, I want to focus on the future and share my evolving plans as I embark on this next chapter.

What's Next?

You might be wondering, "What's next?" Well, that's a question I've been asking myself too. Although my plans aren't entirely concrete yet, I’m excited to give you a glimpse into what I’m considering.

Blogging

So far, my blogging efforts have mostly revolved around the TWIL (This Week I Learned) series. However, I haven't been as consistent as I’d like, often pushing articles to the following week. I owe an apology to those of you following the series. I’ve been playing catch-up, but I’m back on track now. With more control over my schedule, I’m committed to delivering one TWIL article per week moving forward.

In addition to TWIL, I'm considering an idea of starting a new series called "Onchain Study." This series would focus on deep dives into technical learnings and discoveries within the web3 space. Given the depth of the content, these posts will likely be more sporadic than the TWIL entries, but they’ll be rich with insights.

You might wonder if there will be overlap between the TWIL and Onchain Study series. Don't worry, I'll do my best to differentiate the content, possibly even tweaking the structure of TWIL to keep things distinct. Stay tuned for more on that front.

Open Source Contributions

Throughout my software engineering journey, I’ve often heard the advice to contribute to open source projects. For a long time, I didn’t feel ready. I preferred to stay within my comfort zone, focusing on building my own applications. That changed when I joined Meta, where I had the chance to contribute to an open source project called Lexical, a text editor framework with a range of extensible plugins. Even though my contribution was a single commit, the experience of merging a PR into a project I initially felt unqualified to touch was unforgettable.

Now, without the demands of a full-time engineering role, I’m eager to step out of my comfort zone and dive into more open source contributions. I’m sure I’ll encounter some “newbie” moments along the way, but I believe these experiences will help me grow into a stronger engineer.

Mastering Design Principles

During my time at Ourkive, my focus was primarily on shipping new features fast, which left little room for exploring design principles and best practices. Now, I’m excited to dedicate time to learning these concepts in-depth. Understanding design principles is more than just knowing what they are. It’s about grasping the pros and cons so that I can apply them effectively in the right contexts. I plan to start with some classics by Uncle Bob, and I’m eager to see how these new insights will influence my engineering skills.

Reading for Fun (RFF)

I’ve realized that I need to make more time for reading purely for pleasure. To that end, I’m committing to setting aside a block of time each day to dive into a good book. The genres will vary, but I’m hopeful this will become a refreshing and stress-relieving habit, especially as I navigate this transition.

An Important Intermission

As I take this “intermission,” my ultimate goal is to find a new software engineering role that truly excites me. Before diving back into the job hunt and interview prep, I want to take this time to reflect on my past experiences, strengthen my engineering foundation, and immerse myself in projects alongside brilliant minds. This period of growth and self-discovery will be pivotal as I prepare for the next steps in my career.

Thanks for sticking with me on this TWIL series. Happy hacking! ☕️