You want to get a promotion in Web3. What’s the best way to stay up-to-date with the latest trends?

There is something called "Crypto Twitter." It is not just one entity, it is following the right people on Twitter. Here is a starter kit: @VitalikButerin @aeyakovenko @TimBeiko @BrendanEich @gavofyork @evan_van_ness @peter_szilagyi @gakonst @VittoStack @IvanOnTech @PatrickAlphaC @thatguyintech @dabit3 @iam_preethi @austingriffith @oliverjumpertz @balajis @cdixon Good Luck and enjoy Crypto Twitter. Ken

Google's executives, like Sundar Pichai, actively share insights on emerging technologies and corporate innovation strategies. By emulating Google's approach of fostering an innovative culture and staying informed through thought leadership, Web3 professionals can gain strategic and technical knowledge crucial for advancing their careers. Google’s leadership in AI and computing advancements, with a commitment to publishing research and trends, serves as a model for staying ahead in fast-evolving sectors.

The best way to get a promotion is to start by learning. Engage with startups that are closely aligned with the latest market trends. Observe what they are doing and learn to analyze the scope of their work and potential outcomes. Pay even closer attention to start-up founders who are hands-on with their projects. Examples include: A) The leadership team of LayerZero B) The leadership team of ZK C) The leadership team of DEGENF Follow them on LinkedIn and Twitter to understand their actions and strategies. This approach allows you to learn from leaders who are newly taking the stage, in addition to those who have been leading for a while, enhancing your learning experience even further.

If you're into Social Media platforms like @Twitter/X @discord or even @Opensea?-establish a presence. You don't have to become a fluffy 'influencer' just master the tools and become a developer on the platforms that interest you. Follow the high-level leaders in the worlds of Academia (@MIT) Crypto (@jackdorsey) and Venture Capital (@JasonCalacanis) Resist the trendy borrowed-tech products via superficial user-level 'billionaires' like @MarkZuckerberg or @TimCook. And of course keep your good eye on the innovations of hardware-centric Elon Musk! #WEB3 #Crypto #OriginalDigerati

True innovation doesn’t come from following trends. Innovation is a function of understanding technology at a very deep level, and then applying it to every day problems. Reading social media, following Twitter, loitering on Facebook will do nothing in terms of advancing your knowledge. Pick a technology and then focus on it to where you intrinsically have mastered it. Understand that a technology is not a solution, but a tool for you to fix a problem in a discipline of which you are probably very well-versed. Chasing buzz words like web3, distributed, ledgers, machine, learning, “AI”, and all this other clickbait only contributes to the hype.

Microsoft has cultivated one of the most robust developer communities, offering extensive resources, forums, and events for skill development and networking. By participating in or forming communities similar to Microsoft's, individuals in the Web3 space can share knowledge, collaborate on projects, and uncover opportunities for career advancement. Engaging in communities focused on blockchain and Web3 technologies, similar to how developers engage with Microsoft's platforms, can foster significant professional growth.

Console, discord and telegram are must have apps to engage in web3 communities. But when you are using these apps, make sure your privacy setting are tight and do not answer DM from people wanting to help you. These platforms are full of scammers as well as awesome communities.

Don't forget attending conferences can be an incredible way to stay up to date with the latest trends. Valuable insights from speakers and panels as well as networking with peers and hearing from exhibitors all can help keep you up to date! Check out London Blockchain Conference.

Start by researching and identifying relevant communities in the Web3 space. These could include forums, subreddits, Discord servers, Telegram groups, and online platforms dedicated to blockchain, cryptocurrency, decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and other Web3 technologies. Look for communities that are active, vibrant, and have a large and engaged membership base. Pay attention to the quality of discussions, the frequency of updates, and the level of engagement within the community. Don't limit yourself to just one community. Join multiple communities to broaden your exposure and access to different perspectives, insights, and resources. Each community may have its own focus, culture, and areas of expertise.

Don't be afraid to read whitepapers and other related documents. Some can be dauntingly technical and over my head. A good workaround I've found is putting it into a service like ChatGPT and asking it questions and having it explain in terms I understand. A lot of questions I have when I start to look at a project can be found in the whitepaper or documentation.

If you plan to develop on EVM stacks, spend a lot of time becoming familiar with the EIP standards and proposals, they are the backbone of interoperability of smart contracts.

Start by identifying the specific Web3 technologies you're interested in learning about. This could include blockchain platforms (e.g., Ethereum, Solana, Polkadot), smart contract languages (e.g., Solidity, Rust), decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, NFT standards, and more. Once you've identified the technologies, access their official documentation. Most Web3 projects maintain comprehensive documentation on their websites or GitHub repositories. These docs typically contain guides, tutorials, API references, code examples, and other resources to help developers understand and use the technology effectively.

This is something overlooked by many trying to stay up to date. Actually USE the tools in the ecosystem. Get to know the wallets, the services, the main node etc. I find it is equally important to do this with service providers. Get to know them, and when they're best to use in what scenario.

No amount of reading, watching tutorials will prepare you for the real-world experience of developing, building and deploying a full web3 application. You have to spin up your development environment, and make and break code to learn it. And at some point you will have to be confident to deploy, take the plunge , you will learn even more. A Tip is to use test driven development with the amazing testing frameworks available for Solidity. Spend time with indexing, you won't understand the value of designing verbose events until you need them when it is too late.

Set up a development environment on your local machine or use cloud-based development platforms to get started. Install any necessary software, such as programming languages, development frameworks, blockchain clients, and other dependencies required for experimenting with the selected tools. Look for tutorials, guides, and documentation provided by the tool's developers or community. Follow step-by-step instructions to set up and use the tool effectively. Many tutorials include sample projects or code snippets that you can use as a starting point for experimentation.

Tesla, under Elon Musk's leadership, continuously disrupts the automotive and energy sectors by closely monitoring and implementing emerging technologies. Web3 professionals can learn from Tesla’s strategy by monitoring trends and innovations within blockchain and cryptocurrency markets, identifying opportunities for innovation and disruption in their field. Staying abreast of shifts in the Web3 ecosystem, just as Tesla does with technology trends, can position professionals as forward-thinking leaders in their organizations.

Stay updated on the latest news, insights, and analyses from reputable industry news sources covering Web3 technologies. Subscribe to newsletters, follow blogs, and regularly visit websites such as CoinDesk, CoinTelegraph, The Block, Decrypt, and others. Keep an eye on social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Reddit, where discussions about Web3 technologies often take place. Follow key influencers, thought leaders, developers, and industry experts who share insights, opinions, and updates related to Web3 trends.

I personally look to the EIP proposals to be at the very front of emerging standards, there is risk of no adoption, but there is also amazing opportunity and reward if you pick the winner and are first to market. It is not wasted time, as all the tech, adopted or not, adds to your knowledge and rounds out your experience.

Don't let the finality of immutable smart contracts scare you, be super specific with your code, keep it really clean and simple and clear. Use the testing frameworks to ensure, future changes don't cause unintended behaviour, and have other developers look at it, or purchase an audit to really feel confident. Spend time learning and testing past documented contract exploits to get a feel for the natural vulnerabilities of the EVM.