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Back to Building and Leading a Protocol Team

Assigned Reading

Every lesson references real sources: whitepapers, governance proposals, research papers, and protocol documentation. These are the materials our content is built from. Tap any link to verify or go deeper.

Chapter 1 | Lesson 1

From Solo Dev to Founder

Uniswap Birthday Blog V0

https://medium.com/uniswap/uniswap-birthday-blog-v0-7a91f3f6a1ba

Hayden Adams: From Ethereum Idealist to Business Realist

https://www.coindesk.com/consensus-magazine/2023/12/04/hayden-adams-from-ethereum-idealist-to-business-realist-at-uniswap

EigenLayer's Sreeram Kannan: King of the Professor Coins

https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2024/12/10/eigen-layers-sreeram-kannan-king-of-the-professor-coins

First-Time Founder Mistakes

Harvard Innovation Labs

https://innovationlabs.harvard.edu/how-to/founder-mistakes

The Technical Blind Spot

https://www.novidian.co.uk/technical-blind-spot-the-risk-founders-face-when-scaling-technology-teams/

Chapter 1 | Lesson 2

Founder Mode in Crypto

https://paulgraham.com/foundermode.html

Progressive Decentralization: A Playbook for Building Crypto Applications

Jesse Walden (a16z)

https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/progressive-decentralization-crypto-product-management/

Hayden Adams: From Ethereum Idealist to Business Realist

https://www.coindesk.com/consensus-magazine/2023/12/04/hayden-adams-from-ethereum-idealist-to-business-realist-at-uniswap

Everything Is About to Change at MakerDAO

https://www.dlnews.com/articles/defi/maker-endgame-reorganizes-defi-protocol-with-big-changes/

Progressive Decentralization Legal Playbook

https://www.legalnodes.com/article/progressive-decentralization-playbook

Chapter 1 | Lesson 3

Your First Hire

Uniswap Birthday Blog V0

https://medium.com/uniswap/uniswap-birthday-blog-v0-7a91f3f6a1ba

Who is Stani Kulechov?

https://www.bitstamp.net/en-gb/learn/people-profiles/stani-kulechov/

https://iq.wiki/wiki/robert-leshner

Web3 Hiring Trends Report 2025

The Crypto Recruiters

https://thecryptorecruiters.io/web3-hiring-trends-report-2025/

How to Hire a Cryptocurrency Community Manager

https://coinbound.io/hire-cryptocurrency-community-manager/

Chapter 1 | Lesson 4

Building Anon vs Doxxed

Can You Trust Anon Crypto Founders?

https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/07/12/can-you-trust-anonymous-crypto-founders/

Andre Cronje on Leaving and Returning to DeFi

https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/03/07/yearn-finances-andre-cronje-reportedly-leaves-defi-again/

The Rise and Fall of Do Kwon

https://www.cointelegraph.com/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-do-kwon-a-timeline-of-terra-luna

Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?

https://www.coindesk.com/learn/who-is-satoshi-nakamoto/

MiCA Regulation Framework

https://www.esma.europa.eu/esmas-activities/digital-finance-and-innovation/markets-crypto-assets-regulation-mica

Chapter 2 | Lesson 1

Team Structure for Protocols

Dragonfly Crypto Compensation Report 2024

https://dccr.dragonfly.xyz/report

Electric Capital Developer Report 2024

Electric Capital

https://www.developerreport.com/

Coordinape: How Yearn Finance Pays Contributors

https://coordinape.com/

Lido DAO Organizational Structure

Lido Governance Forum

https://research.lido.fi/t/lido-dao-organizational-structure/3558

MakerDAO Governance Deep Dive

https://www.pitchbook.com/news/reports/q4-2023-crypto-report

Chapter 2 | Lesson 2

Hiring in Web3

Web3 Hiring Trends Report 2025

The Crypto Recruiters

https://thecryptorecruiters.io/web3-hiring-trends-report-2025/

How Much Do Blockchain Developers Earn?

https://beincrypto.com/how-much-do-blockchain-developers-earn/

Web3 Salary Data

https://web3.career/web3-salaries

ETHGlobal Hackathons

https://ethglobal.com/

Electric Capital Developer Report 2024

Electric Capital

https://www.developerreport.com/

Chapter 2 | Lesson 3

Compensation and Token Allocation

Dragonfly Crypto Compensation Report 2024

https://dccr.dragonfly.xyz/report

Liquifi Crypto Compensation Data

https://www.liquifi.finance/

Uniswap Blog: UNI Token Allocation

https://blog.uniswap.org/uni

TokenUnlocks: Impact of Insider Unlocks on Token Prices

https://token.unlocks.app/

Keyrock: Unlock Events and Token Price Impact

https://keyrock.com/research/unlock-events

Chapter 2 | Lesson 4

Outsource vs Build In-House

How Much Does a Smart Contract Audit Cost?

Zealynx Security

https://zealynx.com/blog/how-much-does-a-smart-contract-audit-cost

Sherlock Protocol Audit Marketplace

https://www.sherlock.xyz/

Immunefi Bug Bounty Platform

https://immunefi.com/

Uniswap V4 Security Competition

https://blog.uniswap.org/uniswap-v4-bug-bounty

Cantina Audit Competition Platform

https://cantina.xyz/

Chapter 3 | Lesson 1

Managing Distributed Teams

Dragonfly Crypto Compensation Report 2024/2025

https://dccr.dragonfly.xyz/report

Async-First: A Guide for Distributed Teams

https://www.fissioncodes.com/blog/async-first-a-guide-for-distributed-teams/

DevCon 6: Mental Health in Web3

Ethereum Foundation

https://archive.devcon.org/archive/watch/6/mental-health-in-web3/

Sleep and Mental Health

Harvard Health Publishing

https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/sleep-and-mental-health

Coordinape Documentation

https://docs.coordinape.com/

Chapter 3 | Lesson 2

Security and OpSec for Teams

SEAL 911 Security Alliance

Security Alliance

https://securityalliance.org/

Three Sigma OpSec Guide for Crypto Teams

https://threesigma.xyz/blog/opsec-guide

Polygon Multisig Practices

https://polygon.technology/blog/polygon-zkevm-security-council-is-now-live

Wormhole Exploit Post-Mortem

https://rekt.news/wormhole-rekt/

Ronin Bridge Exploit Post-Mortem

https://rekt.news/ronin-rekt/

Chapter 3 | Lesson 3

Scaling Without Breaking

Coinbase Cuts 18% of Staff

https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/06/14/coinbase-cuts-18-of-workforce-as-crypto-winter-hits/

Coinbase Lays Off Another 20%

https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/01/10/coinbase-lays-off-950-employees-20-percent-cut/

Crypto Industry Layoffs in 2022

https://www.npr.org/2022/11/16/1137023664/crypto-layoffs-2022

Electric Capital Developer Report 2024

Electric Capital

https://www.developerreport.com/

Uniswap Labs Company Info

https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/uniswap-labs

Chapter 3 | Lesson 4

Module Capstone

Dragonfly Crypto Compensation Report 2024/2025

https://dccr.dragonfly.xyz/report

a16z: Progressive Decentralization Playbook

https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/progressive-decentralization-crypto-product-management/

SEAL 911 Security Alliance

Security Alliance

https://securityalliance.org/

Paul Graham: Founder Mode

https://paulgraham.com/foundermode.html

Sources are updated as lessons are revised. If a link breaks, tap the feedback button in any lesson.