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Founders Track @ Polkadot Blockchain Academy
Recorded: Oct. 4, 2023 Duration: 0:39:28Space Recording
Full Transcription
Good afternoon, good evening, depending where you are.
We'll be starting this space in just a moment.
All right, thank you so much for waiting, everybody, and welcome to this Twitter space about the founders track of the Apocadoc Blockchain Academy and how it's shaping the next generation of blockchain leaders.
And we are delighted to welcome a whole range of panel speakers of today.
So let me introduce you to them.
I would like to start with Dagmar, an alumnus from the latest cohort of the Apocadoc Blockchain Academy.
Dagmar, welcome.
Hi, hello, everybody.
Thanks for inviting me.
Yeah, maybe just a little introduction about myself.
I am the co-founder of OkAlice.
I am the co-founder of OkAlice.
Is everybody hearing me?
Yes, perfect.
Yeah.
I am the co-founder of OkAlice, and we are a small developers agency that builds tools within the Polkadoc ecosystem.
We are currently part of the first incubator cohort, and we're building a liquid staking DEP based on ink.
Yeah.
Wonderful.
Great to have you here, Dagmar.
We'll look forward to all the insights.
Yeah, thank you.
And let me introduce quickly our Academy team.
So let's start with Max.
Hi, Max.
Thanks, Alexandra.
Yeah, pleasure to be here as well.
I'm Max.
I've been with Parity Technologies, who's a leading contributor behind Polkadot for about three years now.
I came from a recruiting background, and I've been with the Academy team now for the past six-plus months.
And I'm responsible for putting together the FoundersTrack program and also collaborating with the ecosystem
and getting them involved in the Academy itself.
So, yeah, looking forward to the chat today.
Yeah, so we're super thrilled to have you in the team, Max.
So really great to have your input and support.
Thank you so much.
Next up is Tim.
Hi, Tim.
Hi, guys.
Yeah, great to be here.
So I'm a – by trade, I'm a technology recruiter or a recruiter generally.
I have been recruiting in the crypto space since 2016.
My work at Parity has been recruiting for technology but also recruiting for the PBA
and then helping PBA participants to find purpose in the ecosystem after the PBA is finished.
Amazing.
Thanks so much, Tim.
And last but definitely not least, Marta.
Hi, Marta.
Hi, Alexandra.
Hi, everyone.
I'm Marta.
I'm the Head of Admissions and Events at the Polkadot Blockchain Academy.
So if you have any questions at all about the process, applying, the forms, anything like that, please let me know.
Fantastic.
Yes, Marta.
And talking about the questions, if you have questions, please do not hesitate to put them in the comments here in the Twitter space
and we'll answer them either now or later on.
We'll be keeping an eye on this thread.
So really great to have you all with us today.
Maybe just a quick introduction to the Polkadot Blockchain Academy.
Many of the listeners will know about it.
But just a quick intro for those of you who are new.
So basically, the Polkadot Blockchain Academy was founded by Gavin Wood
and designed to really train the next generation of blockchain leaders, both developers and founders.
The first academy took place in 2022 in Cambridge
and it was focusing on really preparing blockchain engineers.
So we had only one core developers track at the time.
It was followed by two other very successful cohorts in Buenos Aires and in Berkeley.
And now we're looking forward to our next cohort in Hong Kong in January 2024 and in Singapore in May 2024.
Now let's jump straight into the founders track because this is really a new program that has been launched
within the Polkadot Blockchain Academy.
And I'd really love to know what inspired the academy team to introduce this founders track
and what is the primary objective behind it.
Max, maybe you want to take this question.
Yeah, sure.
I can start here.
So yeah, as Alexandra mentioned, right, we're coming up on our fourth, actually, edition of the academy,
which will be in Hong Kong in January.
A little bit more about that in a bit.
But in the first two waves where we were just doing the core developers track,
we saw a lot of those alumni actually go on to found their own projects within the Polkadot ecosystem.
So these are people that either, you know, went to an existing parachain to build a dApp there,
or they applied for a Web3 grant to continue working on their project,
or they went to the treasury for continued funding to keep building.
And we thought, well, that's great.
You know, we had kind of started the academy as like a hiring resource for Polkadot.
But we're actually, you know, interested in increasing all sorts of adoption and growing the community, basically, in any way.
And what better way, basically, than having people found their own project?
So we then implemented the first founders track in the last wave of the academy in Berkeley, California, this summer.
And this, we expanded the focus, actually, from just being focused on technical founders.
And we allowed all sorts of different founders, so business founders as well.
And we created a new curriculum to give them, you know, number one, that knowledge of like how to build on Polkadot
and the technology behind it, which we have the expertise in.
And then we also welcomed in the ecosystem to show them, you know, what else is being built around the ecosystem,
allow them to establish that network, and also meet, you know, different kinds of experts that are useful along the founding journey,
whether those are legal experts or, you know, investment partners that are friendly to the Polkadot ecosystem as well,
to really give them this, you know, fully well-rounded education as a founder.
Amazing. Thank you, Max.
You've touched upon the curriculum.
Can you maybe expand a little bit how it's structured and maybe a little bit of insights
into the specific modules and topics that the founders could expect?
Sure. Yeah, happy to.
Thank you. So the Academy is an in-person, month-long, basically intensive learning experience.
And the two tracks are actually joined together for the first two weeks, and they learn a lot of blockchain fundamentals.
So everything from economics, game theory, tokenomics, cryptography, basically like the building blocks of blockchain.
And then they get a bit of an introduction into blockchain, some core concepts like smart contracts as well.
And then we break the two tracks up, right?
And the founders track focuses specifically on what else is being built within the Polkadot network.
So just from like an informational standpoint of, hey, how are people using this technology that you just learned about?
And also here are some projects that you can collaborate with, right, as a builder.
Not everyone needs to be building a chain or, you know, not everyone is building infrastructure.
Not everyone's building one type of solution, I mean to say.
So it's meaningful for them to kind of have those connections with existing builders across the ecosystem.
And then as I mentioned as well, we provide education on like general kind of business-related topics, including funding, legal support, you know, refining your use case, community building as well.
And then, yeah, the track basically culminates with this pitch day where you are allowed to have exposure, allowed to pitch your project basically, and you get exposure to a number of investment partners and leaders in the Polkadot ecosystem.
Basically, that facilitates continued building following the academy.
That's exciting.
That's quite a full curriculum and definitely a lot to take in and a lot of topics to cover on to make sure that you start your project because really there's a lot that are into building something new.
You've touched upon having industry experts and leaders being part of it.
So maybe, Tim, if you don't mind, can you elaborate a little bit on what is the role in actually delivering the content?
Who have been our instructors in the previous Founders Track in Berkeley?
Sure.
So the course is delivered by many different parties, right?
So if you come to sit through the Founders Track, you'll sit through a load of lectures that are actually shared with the Developers Track.
And a lot of those lectures are delivered by engineers who have built Polkadot to where it is today, including Gavin Wood, including Kian, Sean, et cetera, some of the big names you'll find on the Parity Tech GitHub repositories.
But then when the Founders Track splits off to become its own syllabus, that's when we bring in lots of people from around the ecosystem teams, ecosystem team founders and ecosystem team key people, right, to come and teach the different modules and to share their wisdom with the students, essentially.
You know, you're getting the viewpoint of engineers that have built the substrate to where it is, and then you're getting the viewpoint of people that are building on it, kind of further ahead than you are with your projects, essentially.
Hopefully that paints a bit of a picture.
Yes, absolutely, Tim.
And it's really an unique opportunity for those who are joining the Popular Blockchain Academy to learn from those who are building.
And so you're actually getting really the latest knowledge of the technology.
It's not a professor who has acquired the knowledge and then is just delivering it, but it's actually those people who are building.
And we really have a heated debates in classes sometimes and our students challenging the instructors and coming up with solutions.
And it's an amazing learning opportunity and also a growth opportunity.
It's actually a journey for both the instructors and the students.
But now that you've all have a bit of an understanding, a bit of a better and deeper understanding about the Founders Track, let's maybe speak to somebody who has been through it.
Dagmar, I'm referring to you.
So what motivated you to apply to the Academy's Founders Track?
Yeah, well, with our little dev agency, OKLs, we were already working within the Popular Ecosystem.
And one of our team members was part of the first PBA Engineer Track in Cambridge.
And yeah, he really, really loved it.
So when I received an email from Marta, if I would be interested in applying, I was super excited and applied right away.
Absolutely. And can you share maybe some of the key takeaways and insights from your time in the Founders Track?
Yeah, well, my background is in political and social science.
I learned some basics in Python coding.
And I also took a course at MIT about blockchains.
But I don't have a very technical engineering background.
And as surprising as it may sound, I really love the classes about cryptography.
And those were so crucial to me to help me understand the very core basics of what decentralized blockchains are built on.
And it wasn't a walk in the park and it required some dedicated efforts.
And I often had to spend extra hours in my room delving deeper into it.
But I believe that extra effort made the learning experience all the more rewarding.
Yeah, absolutely.
The academy experience is quite intense.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's definitely not a walk in the park.
Yeah, you have to dedicate those five weeks and be there to do the assignments.
And there's also additional activities.
Maybe, Dagmar, if you could speak a little bit more also about the academy's network and the connections that you benefited from after the academy.
Well, yeah, I have benefited tremendously.
And I think one of the differences between the founder's track and the engineer's track is that at the founder's track, you have the chance to receive classes and meet other successful founders in the ecosystem.
And I specifically remember classes from Merriam from water, Derek Yeo from Moonbeam, which was amazing to me because for me, he's like one of the big examples of someone who's building the ecosystem from the start.
Yeah, I also loved connecting with Michelle from Eluvio, who gave a very inspiring talk about their whole journey building their projects.
Chris Lee from Oak, who's building one of the key elements for automation in the blockchain space.
And it's a tool that we are definitely using with OKLs.
Yeah, I loved hanging out with the guys from InVarge, After Hours, and discussing also possible collaborations.
The same goes with Chris Lee from Oak.
And it's really great to have the chance to connect with those people with all that experience.
Then also you have the chance to meet with investors, you get valuable feedback from them.
And I think, like, in my case specifically, we are currently in a research phase for a project that started during the PBA, after some classes from Toxin Winter, the VP Talent at Verity.
And the project kind of merges a project that we started building during a hackathon for Toyota.
That was in a hackathon organized by a star network.
And it kind of merges some ideas from Toxin and Tim Dobie that were discussed during the PBA.
And, yeah, I think in general, like, in terms of, like, connections, it's really cool.
If you go through the five weeks of the PBA, you just stay connected with the alumni.
And, for example, at the SubZero event, we all gathered together.
We partied, kept on discussing our projects with each other.
So, in terms of, like, networking and connections, yeah, it's of tremendous value, I believe.
Yes, thank you, Dagmar.
Absolutely.
We're building a really strong network, a global network of students and alumni after the academy.
And the learning doesn't stop once the academy has finished, of course.
It's really an ongoing opportunity to stay connected within this global system of all the students.
Yeah, and we're also doing really specific efforts in terms of that within the academy,
doing side events and networking opportunities.
Dagmar, what has been your experience with that?
Yeah, I mean, I just, I mean, I think, like, naturally, everybody just keeps on being connected with each other because you really build a personal relationship.
I mean, together with the engineers and the other founders, we just, we also help each other.
We get constantly feedback from each other and we get advices from each other.
So, and then together with the PBA, the things that the PBA are organizing for the alumni, it's just really cool to stay connected.
Great. Great. Thank you. Thank you, Dagmar, for this awesome feedback.
I'll revert back to you a bit later on.
I just actually want to jump in.
And also, now that you've kind of shared your experience as a student at the academy, maybe jump to Tim.
And what is actually PBA looking for in terms of applicants?
We have a lot of potential listeners here who will probably be interested in applying.
So, can you tell us a little bit more about that?
Yeah. So, the net's pretty wide, right?
We, if you look at the pilot of the founders track we did in UC Berkeley in the summer,
we had a Web 2 business that already has 100,000 customers that is looking to convert to Web 3.
We added a lot of value to his knowledge base and his network, et cetera, to, you know, help his journey towards building on Polkadot.
But that's one end of the spectrum.
But the other end is, like, we will consider an undergrad who has a lot of promise, who interviews really well,
who's got some really interesting ideas, who's obviously well-researched in the sector who wants to build a business.
If that person can convince us over an interview that they're worth a spot, we can do it.
And so, everything in between those.
If you already have an established business, but you're trying to figure out which network to build on, for example,
because you know you want to use Web 3 technology for your business, then that's another scenario.
So, basically, the net's really wide.
But also, you know, whatever use case you're chasing, you know, to utilize Web 3 technology, we'll consider anything, right?
So, we're just trying to bring the prime lines to the ecosystem to study the technology, to study Polkadot and start using technology.
Especially with new core time functionality coming, it's going to be much easier for projects to come and tinker with our technology rather than trying to win a parachain auction, right?
So, we're timing this push into Asia and with this, the cohort sizes that we're bringing to Asia to tally with new functionality coming to Polkadot, right?
So, you know, you need to convince us that you're committed and you have interesting ideas.
But other than that, the net really is pretty wide.
So, kind of, if you're interested, come and have a go, come and apply and we read every application, every word of every application, and we'll consider anything.
So, you know, we're receiving applications for some time to come, another few weeks.
We haven't actually completely figured out when we're going to stop applications for the Hong Kong cohort.
But, you know, we'll have a lot of reading to do, a lot of interviews to do, but if you come and give it a go, you stand a chance of being given a place.
Last thing I'll say on it is that, you know, a VC accelerator will spend, say, $65,000, $70,000 US dollars to put a team through an accelerator program.
Well, it costs us a lot less.
It costs us about $15,000 to put a student through the academy.
So, we can make some sort of more wildcard type bets on people that we just think are really good and deserve a spot.
So, you know, we're teaching on maths more than accelerators generally do, which we think has various benefits.
So, but it also mainly means that we can, as I say, we can make some bets on just interesting people.
Thank you, Tim.
So, here you have it.
Definitely don't hesitate and apply and just make great use of case for yourself.
And what are the other perks, actually, does the academy offer us?
Like, while we are at the topic of applications and admissions, Marta, can you maybe speak to that a little bit?
Yeah, of course.
So, I think the number one thing that is really, really important to note is that the academy, almost all of the costs are covered for the students.
So, the academy arrange and pay for accommodation, tuition, and some of the meals, half-board meals.
So, all that we ask for students is to make their way to the academy, to the host city, so whatever travel costs that they may have, and just to cover whatever meals that we don't actually cover.
But, as I said, a half-board meal plan is included.
So, the academy is actually incredibly great value for money.
And whilst it is, we do ask for quite a time commitment from everybody because it is four or five weeks.
But, in terms of expenses, it's not a huge amount.
And the other thing that happens whilst we're on site is, as well as being educationally very intensive and really full-on, we also try to make the most of being together in person.
So, the academy put on a lot of events.
Being in person gives us a really great opportunity to socialise together, and there's so many events and other things that go on around the academy.
We really make the most of the opportunity that we're presented with, of having 100 students, all super keen, and working together in that space.
As well as the great experts that we have that come together to teach the curriculum.
So, we have lots of social events, which are both put on by the academy or by the local community, whether that's local polka dot community, power chains, ecosystems teams, and also just organic social events that take place.
I know in Berkeley, we had lots of things organized by the students themselves, like hikes around the beautiful California countryside, trips into San Francisco, lots and lots of things that the students actually put on themselves.
And we also have other events like fireside chats, panels, and other kind of more, I guess, academically minded events, which are a real added value to coming to this course.
Those fireside chats and additional events are put on by the experts, and they're only available to our students.
So, as well as getting the amazing curriculum, you also have an opportunity to meet with and interact with the experts who are currently building the most exciting technology in Web3 at the moment.
So, lots and lots that happens around the academy that students can join.
Amazing. Thank you so much, Marta. Absolutely, yes.
This is an incredible value for many and an incredible once-in-a-lifetime opportunity where you get to go in person, to live out your dream, to really share, make sure that your idea comes to life,
and get all this network of support, all the knowledge, and have people around you who are into the technology, who really live and really want to make sure that the Web3 future comes into play.
Max, but what are the other unique features and experiences in the founder's track?
What does it set apart from the educational programs in the blockchain space?
Yeah, I think, like, Dagmar mentioned this a little bit, right?
But I think one interesting facet of the Founders Track program is our Meet the Founders sessions,
where we have basically existing parachain and Polkadot project founders come and really spend this, like, one-on-one, cameras-off kind of time with the Founders students.
And because the cohort is relatively small, you get to get really into specifics.
So we had founders basically sharing, you know, their biggest mistakes that they made in the past,
how they would have approached their funding journey differently,
and even, you know, some kind of insights into how they're pivoting their product or, you know,
what they're delivering to their community at the moment now.
So stuff that you wouldn't necessarily be able to pick up other than, you know, kind of having this great access to them there.
I think another great opportunity that the Founders students have that we're looking to expand upon
is this direct time with Polkadot-friendly investment partners.
So we had, like, a dinner and a cocktail hour with investors.
Some of the investors developed or delivered curriculum content as well in Berkeley.
And we've already got more engagement basically for Hong Kong already.
So I think this, you know, kind of promise of one-on-one time with investors,
many of whom are already committing to have some sort of engagement with those Founders,
whether that be mentorship or acceptance into a program or even funding support after the program,
that kind of exposure I think is really invaluable for an early-stage Founder as well.
So, I mean, it's a really exciting kind of environment.
And I think having everyone engaged and having really, like, those key people all together
makes for a special experience.
Amazing.
Yeah, this insight and knowledge and this opportunity to speak to people
you actually wouldn't normally have access to is absolutely incredible.
Max, we're working hard in this curriculum.
How else are you making sure that it's relevant and up-to-date in this rapidly evolving blockchain space?
Yeah, I think Tim had kind of touched on this already, right?
But we can...
There's a lot of information out there about, like, where Polkadot is now.
But I think what we really want to focus on is, like, where we're going, right?
And a big part of this is core time and kind of reframing, you know, the relay chain,
the parachain system as, you know, core time.
And that block space is really, like, the kind of resource that Polkadot provides here.
And showing how each different use case, whether you want to build a chain yourself,
whether you're more focused on, like, kind of building a dApp,
or, you know, if you're working on infrastructure,
even, like, some sort of community technical initiative,
we're going to split all of those kind of different use cases up
and show them the Polkadot, basically, of the future
and where they can, you know, build their desired solution on.
So I think this is, like, a little bit of a different approach
to the curriculum that we're taking this time.
It's just having that more specificity and more relevancy, basically,
to exactly where Polkadot is at the moment.
Amazing, Max.
Thank you so much for all the hard work that goes into it.
And I know we've touched upon this before,
but I think it's important to highlight, actually,
the benefits of having both tracks together
and some of the success stories that have come out of it.
Max, maybe you can really tell us, after Berkeley,
it hasn't, not much time has passed since,
but we've already had new projects come out of it
because of those two tracks being together.
Yeah, I think, I think so.
Our initial cohort, we graduated 16 students,
and I think at least two or three,
I'm not sure the exact number off the top of my head,
but I think about three have already made connections
between the two tracks
and are continuing to build their project
with alumni from both tracks.
So that means, like, a founder student
recruited a dev or devs to work with,
and then they're continuing to work together
after the academy.
I think this is, like, you know,
a big testament to the promise of featuring both tracks
and the kind of synergies that come
from having those two groups together.
And it also allows us to impart more knowledge
with a single cohort,
import more knowledge into newly engaged people
into the Polkadot ecosystem
by focusing on basically two different skill sets.
So, yeah, this is something I think
we're really excited about,
and, yeah, I'm looking forward to continue building.
Amazing.
Tim?
Alessandra, yeah, we can add a couple more bits
of, like, success that we've seen so far
off the back of PBA 3 in Berkeley.
So we have three teams from,
three founders track students,
and three teams from that cohort
on the Polkadot Relayers program,
which is a community-led accelerator
that's running now for a few weeks.
And then we also have a load of our teams
talking to investors that we've introduced them
to on an ongoing basis, right?
And they're going through digital agence process
and all that sort of stuff.
It's really early, as you said, Alexander,
it's really early to know whether we've struck gold
and created a unicorn off the back of PBA 3,
but, you know, there's some really good early signs.
And bear in mind that was just a pilot that we did
and we had a smaller cohort size.
In Hong Kong and in Singapore,
we're going to have 100 students in each cohort,
50 founders, 50 developer track students.
So we're going to have more people in the room,
more investors, refined syllabus,
and just, you know, an Asia bias to the cohort,
although we're going to have people
from all over the world.
So it's going to be really interesting
to come to Asia and see what we can create.
Amazing.
Thank you, Tim, for all the efforts.
There's a lot of work going on in the background.
So to put all of this together
and we are a small team, but a mighty team,
but we also have a lot of support
from all around the Polkadot ecosystem,
which is absolutely amazing.
And yeah, in terms of what Max was alluding to
in terms of founders hiring alumni,
it's not only from the same cohort, actually.
We have just an example of a founder
hiring somebody from a previous cohort.
So just it shows that it's a big family
and everybody's connected
and an opportunity to grow together
and develop new projects,
share and develop this technology further.
Now we're coming to the end of our Twitter space
and I really want to end this
with a question for Dagmar.
So Dagmar, we've really talked about this founders track
and all the different aspects of it,
but how can prospective students prepare themselves
for this founders track?
What is your opinion on this?
Well, I definitely would recommend
to try to prepare a little bit beforehand
because it can be quite challenging.
You get a lot of information
and if you go prepared,
it's going to help you a lot.
What I personally did,
I went through the recommended reading list
that I received beforehand.
I also took an online course
at ADEX that helped,
but I believe the PBA
is also going to launch something,
maybe like even a better preparation tool.
But besides that,
just also relax and enjoy.
It will be tough,
but it was a lot of fun for me.
And I believe like this combination
of like really hard work
and dedicated work
with fun and personal relations
that you built during the PBA.
It made this like one of the most memorable adventures
in my life.
Amazing.
Thank you, Dagmar.
Oh, maybe also like one tip.
Don't hang out after 10 p.m.
with Tim Doby
because you will probably end up
drinking picklebacks until midnight
and regret it the next morning.
Oh my gosh, Tim,
what are you going to say
in your defense of this?
Yeah, it's true.
I mean,
we want,
this is really,
it's a proper experience.
This is not just learning
and networking
and everything
kind of very vanilla.
it's having fun as well
and making a real experience
for people.
And Dagmar,
you echo the sentiments
of a lot of people actually
in saying that it's like,
you know,
a kind of a landmark experience
in people's lives.
It's a,
it's a really significant event
to be a part of.
I recommend to listeners
who are interested in this,
try your hardest
to get yourself a spot
on this academy, right?
Or one of these two academies
that are coming up in Asia.
But one last thing
I want to say actually,
Alexandra,
is that,
and this is something
that you're heavily involved in,
is that alumni
are super important to us.
Like,
our success is measured
on how our alumni do
after the academy.
And so,
once you're,
once you're a PBA alumni,
you're a PBA alumni forever
until you tell us to go away.
But,
you know,
we are invested in
helping people
to find their way
in the PokerDot ecosystem
after the academy is done.
And we're going to be building,
hopefully building platforms
to help support that,
that sort of thing
in the future.
But like,
the academy is just
kind of the start
of the journey, right?
After that,
it's like,
go forth and,
and conquer,
you know,
go build stuff
with this technology,
with this new learning
that you've got.
Yeah,
I love that,
Tim.
What was it
that Gavin Wood
talked about
in the graduation ceremony?
now you've got the tools
and now you can go ahead
and solve the problems.
Is that correct?
Yeah.
He's used the phrase
be dangerous as well
before,
which is kind of,
yeah,
for real.
Yes,
great.
thank you,
Tim,
for that.
Thanks so much.
Well,
thank you everybody
very much
for this Twitter space
for coming up.
Thank you so much
for the speakers.
Please do not hesitate
to reach out
to us
if you have any questions
or post them
in the thread
here below
and we'll make sure
we'll keep an eye on it
and do share it
with anybody
who is interested.
We'll also post
the link below
where you can apply
for the founders track
of the Pocket of Blockchain Academy
coming up in Asia.
thank you so much,
everybody.
Have a great day.
Bye-bye.
Bye, guys.
Thanks, everyone.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
