NFTs, NFT Teams, Investing
Doxing is Not a “Privilege”; Vet the Living F*** Out of Your Web3 Dev(s)
… or don’t at your peril.
Continuing the editorial of my previous piece, I was reminded of a remark I saw on Twitter a few weeks back, in which some “woke” dev was pontificating about doxing being a privilege. I saw it as a strange way to suggest to NFT teams that they go ahead and hire anon devs (specifically, web3 devs about which the team knows nothing — not even their identity beyond, presumably, their Twitter or Discord handle).
Maybe in some highly unusual circumstances could someone argue that doxing oneself is a privilege. For example, maybe you’re a dev living in a country that has outlawed crypto and you’re literally risking jail time for being doxed? That’s about the only circumstance I can imagine that, in my mind, might justify such a stance. (Anyone else care to chime in? I’m open-minded and would like to know if I’m missing out on some issue I don’t understand.)
But, at the end of the day, while I might feel badly for such a person, I’d say old school web2 (and previous) rules apply at a minimum when it comes to web3 devs.
Can you imagine interviewing for a tech job at, say, Facebook or Apple — and, when they ask you for your ID for their HR and tax records, you respond, “Oh, I’m an anon dev with, trust me, legit reasons to be anon, so if you could just pay me in crypto, we can forgo the formality of documenting who I am”?
As they say in California: Yeah, no.
For web3, hiring ought to be considerably more stringent, in my view, as the stakes and potential exposure are both much higher. Doxing isn’t a privilege enjoyed by privileged developers; it’s a responsibility for any and all devs. (And web3 devs should be compensated accordingly — not only for doxing themselves, but having stellar qualifications and for working in this high-stakes environment with (often) millions in crypto on the line.)
I’m pretty reserved here on Medium, as I don’t like to point fingers at NFT teams I’ve talked with who don’t seem to understand the space and, as a result, do not appreciate why doxed web3 devs matter (and, as a result usually grossly undervalue said devs). Quick aside: One guy (a Hollywood A-lister rep, actually) didn’t like my fees, hired someone cheaper (without even negotiating with me), and then had the gall to write back later asking if he could hire me to review the work of the cheaper dev! (I declined.)
BTW, I can certainly attest that, early-on in the web3 space (meaning just one short year ago), it was nearly impossible to find anyone doxed who was willing to work. I remember scouring tech Discords looking for devs and being approached routinely by anons from god-knows where offering to help — so long as I never knew their identity or location.
Even back then, I was like: “Sorry, my background isn’t with the CIA working on clandestine operations. I’m a run-of-the-mill web developer by trade and no one on Earth would ever hire me with a line of BS like that.”
And that was almost a full year ago now. In the span since, I could sum it all up in one popular meme:
Of course, time passed and the anons lost their grip on the space (some of whom were dropping ERC721s for 65% shares of the drops!).
After a while, it became more of a challenge to find anyone good. And, really, that’s where the state of things remained. But, slowly, web3 devs are becoming more available than ever before. And, at least for NFT teams, my advice is to keep certain web3 truths strongly in mind — things that never changed such as the high-stakes nature of the space.
Don’t let anyone BS you into believing they have a good reason for being anon on your NFT team. Maybe they don’t want the world to know they’re on your team. That’s understandable at times. But, as far as your needs go as an NFT drop team, the bottom line is this: You need good people and you need to know exactly who they are. Period. (And, well, you need to pay them accordingly.)
‘Course, that’s all just my opinion. You’re gonna do what you’re gonna do.
