Hey Jake! Sorry it took me forever to get back to you.
To answer your question, yes. I have reflected a lot :) I hope you don’t mind the long answer!
I have many a takeaway; lots of different puzzle pieces that fit together to form a greater whole. I could go deep into topics like arrogance and distraction; culture and “the most important thing”; etc. But I think I’d sum it up in a single umbrella:
I wasn’t a good fit
There are many reasons for this. On the technical side, my strengths/skillset wasn’t needed. On the interpersonal side, I wasn’t ready—for the politics, for the very different communication styles (than I’m used to), nor was I ready to push a product forward in an industry I’m brand new to.
I know that I have a lot to offer an org. I was hungry, and I learned a lot quickly. But what happened, was that I was unable to offer what was needed. And what ensued was me, grasping, for some semblance of security, some semblance of impact.
When it comes to my domain—consumer-facing UX (not necessarily UI)—I think I have good intuition for “the most important thing.” I know how to collect (the right amount of, and good) information from users. I know can get into their heads, and figure out how to balance their needs with stakeholders’. I know I have it in me to shape the vision as-you-go.
But my skillset simply… didn’t transfer to the type of startup that Layer is. Blockchain is so interconnected; the layers of its history build on itself, compounding—and recalling those storylines is necessary to make strong, nuanced product-led decision-making. I don’t have that internal encyclopedia of knowledge. And that meant the key thing I needed to do in my role—i.e. develop good AVS ideas—was out of reach.
Our domains were misaligned. I didn’t have the resources/help/conversations/mentorship that I would’ve needed to become aligned. This, of course, is of no fault to anyone on the team (including yourself). Layer is a startup. It’s early stage, it pivots. And that’s not to say there weren’t any resources, because I actually had plenty—I got very good advice from you + Nick; many great info dumps from Ethan + Evan. But I wasn’t on the same train, and as a result, I drained the people around me. I took resources, and put those resources into dead-ends. I never really found my footing, because I didn’t have a solid domain of contribution I could fall-back on.
If Layer had a consumer-facing product in these early stages, I think it would’ve worked out. I think I would’ve been able to massage my flaws if my talents were even marginally aligned with “the most important thing.” But the fact of the matter is that my talents were not needed, and I was not ready to bridge such a large gap.
So in all this failure, I was a net drain on the company. I’m sorry for that! I’m sorry it didn’t pan out. But I’m extremely appreciative that you took the chance on me, because I learned so freaking much from the experience, and in short it’s been very, very formative. I think you saying “the most important thing” is going to follow me for the rest of my life, lol (which is a good thing). I hope it wasn’t all bad for you either. I did really enjoy working with you, but again—to my perspective, it was just a mismatch.
Anyways! Would love to hear what you think, and if the vision does develop into something that I can contribute to, I would be open to talking about it! But if that day were to come, it would be good to reset my relationship with the company and try to start fresh.
Also, I would love to go to Feÿ again, thank you so much for the invite 🙇🏻♂️ I might apply for next year!