028: Live From The Solana Conference: Community & Culture Go Hard
And now the post you've probably wanted to read from the beginning š
By now you should know that the technology is a race against time, a desperate struggle to build faster than the competition that will most definitely come along and knock down your sandcastle walls. This is the situation for any new technology in the Web3 space. Some barely have the correct infrastructure, never mind UX and a good Community Manager, but again they are getting to the money. Iām happy to report Iāve secured some big meetings in January and if youāre interested in hearing more, donāt unsubscribe!
Competing on the fundamentals prevents the new technology from scaling and deters investment while competing on an application built on top of the underlying protocol-prolongs its use and gives it the longevity it needs. Thatās why much of this conference was just giving clout to the applications that are being built on the protocol. Shoutout to Swim.io, Vault, Stardust. gg, and of course everyone else who didnāt have a website but the backend was *super* legit! Another guy who went to the same party got invited to London on a private jet (see below) and was able to pitch his shitty idea.
Watch my TikTok video on the conference here
The real magic happened when we all gathered at random places around the city. I started the night in perfect form, listening to live music and drinking red wine. We were baptized in oyster shells and other delicious Portuguese dishes. For once, my stomach wasnāt in knots. Let the celebration of the web3ās version Ā Eternal September commence!
I think the culture of Solana is super bullish. People showed up to places by *themselves*, took over the city of Lisbon, and have been actively building on a new protocol that may not even exist in the next 10 years. How crazy is that? Dedicating your time, money, and attention to getting something to work. The code is broken and you need to fix it. In my day *new* job, Iām just writing stuff to inspire the engineers to keep going, we got this!
People these days think life happens on Instagram. News flash, it doesnāt! Iām grateful that Dani came along on this journey. The value proposition of Solana may be muddled, but the culture goes hard. Every night, we went to two parties and events on average, meeting so many interesting people from all over the world in between bouncing along to some of the wildest EDM beats Iāve ever heard. This is the official music genre of crypto. It makes you type code faster, or in my case, write fast as hell. Engineers are very much creative and thatās why I get along with these creatures so much, as Iāve expressed in the previous columns apart of this series.
Live from the womenās room
Side note: The support for this series has been insane with almost 2K views so far accumulated from three articles, I am so appreciative. It may not seem like a lot, but it is. So start sharing the gospels of Mel Writes, please, and thank you.Ā
One reader wrote to me: āIāve never felt so hot in my entire life than at Solana parties lmaaooo.ā āI would try and light my own cigarettes and random men would come out of the woodwork to light them for me. šā
Itās not that we were the only girls in the town at the conference it was the fact that we were the only hot girls at the conference and knew exactly what was going on among the boys club. I naturally met acquaintances in the bathroom. I got plugged into aĀ Women in Blockchain LisbonĀ Telegram chat with over 200+ women building on different protocols. We are now planning a women's hackathon. š
The best party I attended promised a jetski in the infinity pool located in the countryside of Portugal. By 5 pm Lisbon time the Telegram chat grew to 100+ degens, RSVPed, and all eager to party with this startup who raised a stack. I happened to meet one of the founders of this staking company at a Solana party on my first night in Lisbon and his name was even on the release form everyone was prompted to sign upon entrance to this villa. Our Uber could barely navigate up the dirt road. I was forced to walk in five-inch boots I just bought from Zara to the main entrance. Here we go again. This was the euro trip you couldnāt have imagined on your wildest nights in New York.
Now playingā¦ Monolink.
Key Takeaways From This Series
The Solana blockchain is designed to be fast. The goal is to be useful for real world applications like machine learning systems, decentralized exchanges, video games, and social media networks.
Solana is a protocol that is currently being used to build play-to-earn games and mint / sell NFTs for free. Solana has been backed by private equity.
Melissa and Dani went to Solana Breakpoint to learn, network and build on web3.
Follow Daniās New Tech Venture
Iām super excited to share the journey of a female founder and best friend here in Miami. She is building a product that will ensure a more secure blockchain navigation experience for you. Please welcome Korii. Follow them on Twitter here and sign up to be part of their beta launch. Letās wish her well in raising tons of capital! šš§°
Key Takeaways From This Series
The Solana blockchain is designed to be fast. The goal is to be useful for real world applications like machine learning systems, decentralized exchanges, video games, and social media networks.
Solana is a protocol that is currently being used to build play-to-earn games and mint / sell NFTs for free. Solana has been backed by private equity.
Melissa and Dani went to Solana Breakpoint to learn, network and build on web3.
Column Glossary
Smart contracts: standing operating procedure that can include math.They are algorithms that perform a function.Ā Nick Szabo coined the term 23 years ago.Ā Smart contracts is a standing operating procedure that can include math. They are algorithms that perform a function.Ā Nick Szabo coined the term 24 years ago.Ā
Cool Startups I met at the conference building on Solana
Synchrony.Fi Truly Decentralized Asset Management Powered by A.I. & Analytics || Copy-Trading + Indices || Join us! http://discord.gg/synchrony
Vault: #NFT creator platform built on #Solana. Unlock exclusive creator vaults by owning a key. The twist? The keys are fully tradable NFTs #CreatorsUnlocked
Insider Job Opportunities
Adriaus is looking for a female Co-Founder for his new NFT platform called Catch. I met him on a tut-tut going to a developer session so heās already totally vetted by me! He just raised a small seed funding round and sounds like a big opportunity. DM to learn more.
Read Crypto in the City: Lisbon Series
028: Day 4 (youāre reading it!)