WEW15 - The Future of the Web is All About You

Happy Friday everyone. It’s been a busy week for me, and I’ve covered a lot of ground. From reading about the politics of semiconductors, to how baby brains work, to getting deep into decentralized identities. My struggle this week was narrowing down what to write about. I think I landed on some solid topics.

As a reminder, I’m still accepting new clients in need of fractional CTO services. If someone you know could use some of my time, put us in touch.

This email is a 9-minute read. A real whopper.

In this week’s Email:

• Decentralization - We tried to build a tower out of loose gravel

• Targeting - The future of the web will be about YOU

• Management - Please remember its all your fault

• Further Reading - I’ve been learning a lot about semiconductors…

Decentralization

Blockchain Tech’s Missing Foundations

In an article, I wrote a while ago for Forbes, but just syndicated to medium, I hit on some of the major misses we have had with blockchain adoption. I just recorded a talk based on that article for the Decentralized World Summit that will premiere late this month. But as I’ve been reading a lot about the history of the computer business, I’ve seen even more failings than before in our building of foundations and understanding of the market position.

We are at a point in blockchain-powered technology similar to the earliest of mainframes, giant cumbersome computers that you need a degree to use (I’m talking about the complexity of wallets like Metamask).

We have all this cool tech and we are trying to position it to people that don’t really have a need for it. A working-class head of household in the U.S. likes their bank just fine, it works, their paycheck goes in and bills go out. There isn’t a problem to solve for them.

The part of the development cycle that we skipped was general-purpose computing, ease of use, and miniaturization. Just like computers didn’t become apparently valuable until there was software that people could leverage for everyday needs (spreadsheets for business, games of boredom), blockchain won’t take off until the same happens. But with computers, it didn’t go right from mainframe to iPhone. Chips were developed, they got smaller, screen technology advanced, and batteries became rechargeable. All of these were frankensteined together into a high value add object.

For blockchain, the winners are going to be the companies who are advancing these blocks, building foundational components that future companies will cobble together into the “iPhone” level breakthrough of the future. We’ve been trying to lug a mainframe around and sell it to farmers where we should’ve been working on making it small enough and functional enough for the average engineer to see value in leveraging.

Targeting

Web 3.0 Isn’t About Blockchain, Its About YOU

We had quite the ego to think of blockchain as Web 3. The idea that one technology no matter how powerful would define the next phase of the web is quite a bold claim. This feels especially true as we see the shift in hype from blockchain and decentralization toward the AI advancements and integrations that roll out every day.

I don’t think that what we really define as the next step of the web will be defined by either technology. What “Web 3.0” will be is about YOU. The first phase of the web was static content, and the second was content created by users. Web 3.0 will be content and experiences created FOR specific users. This will leverage robust identity systems, potentially powered by crypto wallets, a heavy helping of AI, and a foundation of trust through compliance, regulation, and security.

We are just at the start of this transformation. Blockchain wasn’t Web 3.0 it was just the scouting party that we mistook for the revolution.

Management

As A Leader, Remember, Its All Your Fault

My favorite part of taking my time with this job search is that I’ve been able to engage and grow my network consciously and exponentially. Part of this has been a lot of coffee chats with young leaders.

A common conversation I have is about underperforming employees or teams that are really failing on delivery. The manager thinks highly of themselves (and often they should!), and we work together to pinpoint what’s going wrong.

In one example, an engineering director I was coaching was having issues with one of her direct reports (a manager). The manager was clearly dispassionate which bled into missed deadlines and apathy about missing them. We talked about some strategies, but the more interesting revelation that the director hadn’t considered was that regardless of why the team was underperforming, or who was causing that, the failures trickled up to her.

As a leader, you are responsible for everything that happens in your department. Yes, that means as a CEO you are responsible for everything that happens in the company. If someone that reports to you fails to deliver and that causes your goals to lag, it means your department or team is lagging. The “why” is valuable because it’s how you learn to fix it, but it doesn’t shift the responsibility off of you.

After chatting about this, there was apprehension about telling that manager that things needed to change, but that the Director saw it as her own fault.

This makes sense, if you have an underperforming team member, you can’t take on any of that blame when coaching them, they need to understand how they need to improve. If their failure is because of something explicit you did or didn’t do that is fair to admit. But if the person is lagging, the conversation needs to be about how they get better and how you can help.

You need to internalize the fact that you could have fixed this sooner or prevented this via coaching, hiring, firing, or many other methods. But that’s something to get coaching on from your boss or peers.

Further Reading

Silicon Valley, Taiwan, and The US Gov are BFFs

Between algorithms, the upcoming birth of my first child, and friend recommendations, everything I’ve been reading seems to be circling back to semiconductors. In particular, this has been triangulated across The Code, Taiwan in 100 Books, and Chip War.

The Code - If you ever felt like you couldn’t win, or that you had the talent to be the next Bill Gates, but it just didn’t work out you aren’t alone. These figures we herald were in the right place at the right time and born to the right parents. Sometimes that meant wealth, but more often education and luck were a big part of it too. The Code is the history of Silicon Valley and its icons and how they integrated and created the government and politics as we know them today.

Chip War - Goes through the history of computing from the lens of chip manufacturing in terms of academia, government involvement, weapons, manufacturing, and more. Quite a global view.

Taiwan in 100 Books - It’s surprisingly hard to find good books on Taiwan, especially audiobooks. I say surprisingly because it’s a country that has had a massive influence on the world in terms of technology and continues to today (via TSMC). Taiwan in 100 books is a fantastic telling of modern Taiwan history and politics through the lens of the 100 most influential books written about Taiwan. Pretty meta.

Blogposts By William

It’s been a slow week for blogging for me, but I’ll catch up. I have some great posts in the works on some of what this week’s issue discusses but in much more depth.

If you are feeling what I’m saying about blockchain foundations though, give this a read:

• The Three Hurdles Holding Back Blockchain’s Mainstream Adoption - William Every Week

And if you are still struggling to get a handle on prompts for effectively using AI, don’t forget my handy guide to writing better prompts.

• How To Write GREAT AI Prompts - William Every Week

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