Please tell me about yourself!

My name is Samuel Agbonkpolo. I'm a software engineer and graduate of Computer Science from the University of Benin. I specialise in building backend services and APIs.

How did you get started as a software developer?

‍When I was 16, my dad bought a computer. I got curious about how the applications in the computer were built. This led me to get interested in programming textbooks that my aunt had. She was a student of computer science education at the time.  So I started reading and practicing how to program. This curiosity eventually led me to study computer science in the university. Post university, I started out as an android software engineer and then transitioned into backend development.

How did you get into the web3 space?

In 2018 I was contacted by a friend to join an ICO project during the [ICO boom](https://www.gemini.com/cryptopedia/initial-coin-offering-explained-ethereum-ico#:~:text=ICOs raised %246.3 billion in,company %241.7 billion in 2018.). The project was a tokenized real estate project that enabled people to buy lands using cryptocurrency. At first, everything was new to me. There were not so many tutorials and videos on web3 programming. I had to learn Solidity. I also learned how to build wallets and  tokens. I was able to learn all these majorly through Github projects.

What resources has helped you in your web3 transition?

Github projects were the major learning resource for me. Other resources that helped are Bitcoin magazine, YouTube videos, stack overflow, and various online tutorials.

Sounds Interesting! What are the common mistakes that you see budding devs make in their journey?

There are two mistakes that budding developers make in their development journey.

The first is not understanding the fundamentals and logic behind the programming languages that they are trying to learn. It is worse when they start using platforms because of tech influencers on social media. Tech influencers are usually paid to promote platforms. Using a platform because of an influencer is not the right move.

The second mistake most budding devs make is over-engineering things. They use features and techniques that are not necessary for the tasks at hand, when they could have used a simpler approach.

What is something that you have learnt in your career journey that you think not many people know?

Sleepless nights of work are counter-productive in the long run. Software development is a journey that takes time and people should embrace the process rather than try to beat time or cheat nature. Working this way leads to burnout.

Burnout is damaging and degrades your life. Your productivity declines. This leads to abandoned projects, which then leads to technical debt where you can’t keep up with the tasks that you have agreed to accomplish.

What's next for you?

I am open to opportunities to work with crypto companies. I am also building a DeFi project. It is a fiat to crypto exchange but for bulk transactions with b2b companies. The project aims to supply bulk fiat and cryptocurrencies to other crypto businesses.

Awesome! It has been a pleasure speaking to you Samuel. How can people find you?

Thank you for having me, Lanre. You can find me on Twitter @samuelagm or send an email to samuelagm@gmail.com

‍