Follow my journey as a successful web2 founder building a web3 startup

I’ve read about it. I’ve thought about it. I’ve talked about it. Now I’m doing it: here’s my #BuildInPublic #Manifesto.

I’m feeling vulnerable as I type this. The idea of sharing my life’s work in such an open manner — warts and all — makes me nervous. So here’s my countdown… 3… 2… 1… Go.

Hi there, I’m Rod Fuentes. I’m a tech entrepreneur that has been building startups for the last 11 years, usually in product, sales, and marketing roles. My last startup, ListenLoop, was an account-based advertising software that was acquired by Integrate.com in 2019. After selling my startup, I spent three years at a fast-growing B2B SaaS company as a VP of product. Then, a few months ago, I got the itch to start another venture––this time in web3. But as I shared my plans with crypto-natives, they gave me surprising feedback:

That feeling reminded me of my first startup experience in 2007, back when I was naive enough to ask for NDAs before sharing my precious ideas. 🤣 (Thank you, Joe, Leonard, Michael, and Cesar, for entertaining my delusions.) Just as I had to get comfortable with sharing ideas without an NDA back then, I now must get comfortable with sharing my product and forkable code.

Honestly, it’s not easy overcoming the knee-jerk desire to protect one’s economic interests. So I have wondered, “am I such a boomer that I can’t transition to web3?” Watch me. #LFG

If we can prove that’s successful, then we aim to convert the backend into a DAO-governed protocol that anyone can use or build into their dApps. That would allow anyone to permissionlessly and composably host our flavor of gamified auctions. But more on that later. The purpose of this post is not to schill the product. Indeed, it’s possible we will undergo many pivots as this idea is only a few weeks old!

Now, with that product in mind, here is the type of content I intend to share going forward:

I’m excited (and nervous!) to start this journey with you. If you’re vibing with this post, then follow the journey using the links below.

I look forward to meeting you soon!

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