{"id":1234406,"date":"2022-10-25T17:48:06","date_gmt":"2022-10-25T17:48:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/10\/25\/technical-due-diligence-web3s-promise-how-to-hire-well\/"},"modified":"2022-10-25T17:48:06","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T17:48:06","slug":"technical-due-diligence-web3s-promise-how-to-hire-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/10\/25\/technical-due-diligence-web3s-promise-how-to-hire-well\/","title":{"rendered":"Technical due diligence, web3\u2019s promise, how to hire well \u2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In films, screenwriters always include a moment known as the Promise of the Premise. It\u2019s the part of the story where the audience settles in to the new world they\u2019ve entered.<\/p>\n

One of my favorite examples is in the first Harry Potter movie, when Hagrid takes Harry to Diagon Alley, the magical shopping district that introduces him (and us) to the world of wizarding.<\/p>\n

So far, web3 has not paid off on the Promise of the Premise: open source software that runs live on the blockchain.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still much easier to develop a Web 2.0 app simply because the ecosystem is mature and enjoys a large and thriving developer community,\u201d says Devin Abbott, who specializes in design and development tools, React and web3 applications.<\/p>\n\n

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Use discount code TCPLUSROUNDUP<\/strong> to save 20% off a one- or two-year subscription<\/i><\/p>\n\n

According to Abbott, the web3 development community is approaching \u201can inflection point where our own tools are becoming quite powerful,\u201d but \u201cthat doesn\u2019t mean Reddit is moving off its Web 2.0 cloud servers.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, most of the hype for web3 is coming from investors and journalists, so Abbott\u2019s perspective as a developer makes this a useful read.<\/p>\n

Most of web3\u2019s early use cases don\u2019t interest me. Then again, I\u2019m not a developer, so I didn\u2019t truly appreciate the value of mobile gaming, GPS and cloud storage until they\u2019d achieved product-market fit and were integrated into my smartphone.<\/p>\n

Today, I wouldn\u2019t consider buying a device that couldn\u2019t help me find a restaurant or hotel. When it emerges, I suspect web3\u2019s killer app will be similarly utilitarian.<\/p>\n

Thanks for reading,<\/p>\n

Walter Thompson
Editorial Manager, +
@yourprotagonist<\/a><\/p>\n

3 ways to hire well for your startup<\/h2>\n
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Image Credits:<\/strong> AndreyPopov (opens in a new window)<\/span> \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

For early-stage startups \u201cthis is arguably one of the worst times to be looking for talent,\u201d says Champ Suthipongchai, founder and GP of Creative Ventures.<\/p>\n

Opportunistic hiring managers might assume that widespread layoffs have shifted the balance in their favor, but \u201cthose were generally not employees executing core businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Usually, startup recruiting resembles scenes from heist movies where the characters are putting a crew together: it\u2019s an expedited process designed to fill knowledge or experience gaps, not necessarily find the best fit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever possible, it is far better to slowly integrate a great candidate in as an adviser or part-time contractor and let things play out,\u201d writes Suthipongchai.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as a customer pilots the product, companies should pilot their most important hires whenever possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

8 questions to answer before your startup faces technical due diligence<\/h2>\n
\"Magnifying<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong> kutaytanir (opens in a new window)<\/span> \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Outsiders study multiple facets of a startup to determine its value and quality, and codebase health is one of them.<\/p>\n

A pitch deck is just part of the story, writes Matt Van Itallie, founder and CEO of codebase analytics company Sema.<\/p>\n

After technical due diligence begins, no amount of storytelling can cover the secrets buried in GitHub and Jira.<\/p>\n

To help companies prepare for TDD, Van Itallie has written a primer with eight questions founding teams must be able to answer confidently. Tomorrow, we\u2019ll run his detailed TDD checklist.<\/p>\n

To better thwart ransomware attacks, startups must get cybersecurity basics right<\/h2>\n
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Image Credits:<\/strong> Bryce Durbin \/ <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Creating systems that are resilient against ransomware isn\u2019t top of mind for early-stage startups, but many companies don\u2019t even follow basic best practices, much to their detriment.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnable multifactor authentication (MFA) on everything you have,\u201d said Katie Moussouris, founder of Luta Security. \u201cEnable it on every account that you have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week at Disrupt, Moussouris and Brett Callow, threat analyst at Emsisoft, spoke about the need to invest early in locking down their systems, starting with MFA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a matter of stacking security layer upon security layer,\u201d said Callow. \u201cMFA in conjunction with staff training \u2014 in conjunction with other things \u2014 all serve to reduce risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Black startup founders raised just $187 million in the third quarter<\/h2>\n
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Image Credits:<\/strong> Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The downturn appears to be disproportionately affecting Black founders\u2019 ability to raise capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the venture capital industry catches a cold, underrepresented founders catch pneumonia,\u201d said Tiana Tukes, an investor with Colorful Capital.<\/p>\n

In Q3 2022, Crunchbase reports that Black founders raised just $187 million, \u201ca staggering decline from the nearly $1.1 billion they received in Q3 2021 and a sizable drop from the $594 million the cohort raised in Q2,\u201d writes Dominic-Madori Davis.<\/p>\n

Investors are sitting on mountains of cash: Where will it be deployed?<\/h2>\n
\"A<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong> H-Gall (opens in a new window)<\/span> \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

No matter what\u2019s happening in the public markets, bees make honey, and venture capitalists raise money: it\u2019s just what they do.<\/p>\n

But since the \u201cextreme valuation recalibration\u201d in the public markets, VCs are amassing more and more dry powder, write Jeremy Abelson and Jacob Sonnenberg of Irving Investors.<\/p>\n

More frustrating news for founders: investor fundraising \u201cis on pace to finish the year at $172 billion,\u201d but capital deployment is way down.<\/p>\n

\u201cDollars are flowing and will continue to flow, but it will be more capital to fewer companies,\u201d they write.<\/p>\n

Now that \u201ctraditional SaaS has become too expensive and secondarily saturated,\u201d sectors like web3, life sciences and agtech will attract more investors, they predict.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n