Decoding Web3 Series #1: A Chat with arndxt of Parallax Finance
Demystifying Careers in Crypto with Visionaries
Hey🙂 Welcome to the Decoding Web3 Series hosted by 0xShinChan!
Why Decoding Web3 Series?
Starting off in a government role, I was knee-deep in organizing institutional events, building relationships with different departments, and navigating policy work. Cryptos and DeFi? They weren't even on my radar 😶🌫️.
Yet, here I am, deep-diving into Web3/fintech project management, marketing and genuinely loving every bit of it 🥰🥰🥰. It's wild how life works. I wanted to share this journey and maybe shed some light on the vibrant world of Web3 😄. So, I've been chatting with some awesome folks in the field — from KOLs to founders.
If you've ever wondered what it takes to carve out a path in the world of crypto or what the day-to-day looks like for those immersed in blockchain, you've landed in the right place. The purpose of this series is to shed light on the myriad roles within the crypto space, opening doors for those curious to jump into the Web3 revolution (despite bear market🤪).
About Parallax Finance
0xShinChan’s inaugural guest is arndxt from Parallax Finance. To those who are not familiar with Parallax, it is a platform focusing on providing liquidity infrastructure. It empowers individuals, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), and other protocols to generate yield on Arbitrum and zkSync.
Parallax concluded its IDO and launched PLX 0.00%↑ token in late having raised almost $700K+. 4 vaults are now live on Arbitrum with most of its liquidity concentrated in Balancer Aura LSD vault.
Without further ado, let’s get started!
Chatting with arndxt
What is your role at Parallax?
My role is as a Project Lead with Parallax. Basically, helping out the project in all non-technical areas, maintaining the docs, doing up the infographics, threading, medium articles, partnership/DAOs outreach and also coordinating internally to align on the strategy and development milestones.
Could you share some details about your background? Have you previously worked in any other Web3/crypto/DeFi protocols or funds?
I’ve had a couple of experiences in web2 from business strategy, business development/partnerships and operations.
In web3, I started with random experiences.
First with a blockchain gaming company, helping with partnerships and managing the team’s reporting metrics, streamlining their lead hunting methodology, and some bits of project management tool rollout.
Then, with a NFT social launchpad with BD and optimizing operational workflows.
Then finally, with Parallax Finance, where I started off as a research analyst and helped with broad-based market research, which eventually landed us building Parallax.
How was the team formed? Are you personally acquainted with your team members?
The team is very experienced and has already been in the defi space for a good amount of time. They have also built other defi projects. Though I can’t share too much on that because the team likes to be anon. Team was pretty much already form before the development phase and I was involved with the hiring and screening process of our BD and Partnerships Lead.
I’ve had previous working relationships with the team and that’s how I got involved with building this project. That's also how I got started with the arndxt account as well. I felt like there was a need to have a proper Twitter account too.
What abilities or skill sets do you consider essential for your role?
I think everyone will have an area that they will do well in. I don’t see any specific skills required for success in this role, but generally, it's good to be:
Adaptable to changes by being sensitive to market changes
Have your own ideas on some best way to do certain things (given that crypto is always changing, best approaches aren’t always the best at any time)
A good sense of the Defi landscape, not necessarily a strong knowledge, but knowing the general concept i.e. delta neutral, staking, defi wars would really be helpful, so I will know what key stuff to lookout for
Able to handle criticism, sometimes community questions get tricky to handle, and we’ll have to think of good answers for the community. We've got to be smart about using the right language when talking to the community too.
Communication is key here. And I can’t emphasize how important this is. Because we are all working remotely, different timezones, many topics all flying around. A concise messaging would be super crucial if I want to bring certain cases/causes to get alignment with the team. So presenting certain ideas in a clear manner and laying out the cost vs benefits in the way for the founder to see that it's worthwhile to do it.
Are there any additional skills or abilities that you believe would be advantageous in your role?
Generally, I would think that being resourceful would be super helpful for any role in the web3. Knowing where to find what information and getting things going. Sometimes it’s uncharted waters that I’ll have to tread into so I'm still picking up things along the way
Being organized is also super important. I am trying my best to be more organized as I am generally a little untidy. But I do know where to find my stuff :)
Please describe your day-to-day work routine.
Crypto lives on Twitter, Telegram and Discord, so I will check up the Twitter account to engage in all the posts and our flooded DMs in both Parallax and my arndxt inbox.
Telegram to go through all the messages with all that we are in contact with, reply and update them all about any exciting things that they will have to know. i.e. we are raising the private sale right now and there’s a lot of communication is ongoing in the chats
Discord will be the place where I hop on to respond to community questions along with our community mods and my teammate o-dose.
I will spend the rest doing outreach to new partners, connecting with our advisors for new ideas, and maintaining the docs.
Does your role necessitate prior experience in crypto/Web3?
I don't think so! If there is a keen mind for learning, I think anyone could do the role too. Willing to get their hands dirty and I think I have learnt alot; way more and way faster than a BAU desk bound job for sure.
Do you think building connections is necessary in building projects?
If it’s just building projects, I would think a good dev and marketing is all you need.
Having connections would give projects some advantage with smoother roads to get partners. Connections will breed more connections, and I personally value every connection I have made in crypto, be it for Parallax or personally. My bottomline is treat everyone like how you want to be treated.
Closing Thoughts
Riding the crypto rollercoaster in a bear market is no joke. You're basically burning cash to keep the project going, whether it's for marketing, tech, or making new friends in the industry. It's been a real treat getting arndxt's take on the crypto career journey.