PMFers with Joseph Delong

Joe DeLong shares his journey in blockchain, beginning with foundational research on Byzantine fault tolerance and evolving into DeFi. He discusses the limited growth opportunities in protocol research, which can lead to negative perceptions of forking Ethereum or creating new protocols. His experience at Sushi, where he engaged with significant on-chain user activity, solidified his interest in DeFi.

Joe emphasizes the use of Next.js for server actions to streamline API development and Foundry for smart contract creation. He notes that while initial development focuses on smart contracts, the front end becomes a priority, requiring adjustments to the contracts post-development. His projects, including Astoria and the experimental Untitled, showcase innovative approaches like minimizing indexing needs through Solidity pagination.

He introduces the "AK-47 design" philosophy, advocating for reliable and cost-effective designs in decentralized applications. Joe reflects on the evolution of dApps, highlighting the importance of rigorous testing in smart contract development and utilizing Foundry's tools for comprehensive coverage reports. He discusses the ideation of useful applications as a primary challenge in Ethereum development education and emphasizes the necessity of validating ideas before full commitment.

Joe critiques protocols that overly depend on others, likening Uniswap V2 to a "magic vending machine" for its efficient liquidity operation. He introduces the Vickery auction, explaining its mechanics and innovative design, including a contract that utilizes Create2 for fund recovery. The conversation features a detailed discussion on transferring ETH into contracts, emphasizing the risks involved in recovery and the use of a commit-reveal scheme for bids.

Phyllogy's innovative on-chain market utilizes Create2Deployer and counterfactual addresses for Vickery auctions, where bidders transfer ETH blindly. The necessity of ZK proofs for maintaining privacy in blind Vickery auctions is discussed, along with the importance of considering human behavior and incentives in system design. The speakers critique the complexity often embraced by DeFi developers, advocating for simplicity in design.

The Blend NFT lending protocol, designed by Dan Robinson from Paradigm, is praised for its straightforward approach. The discussion includes the importance of efficient pricing mechanisms in lending protocols and critiques the limitations of oracles for price determination. The Blend protocol operates by having a lender hold the NFT while the borrower receives funds, with the auction mechanism indicating asset value.

The conversation transitions to AI tools in development, highlighting Cursor's integration with VS Code. The speakers discuss the benefits of resources like Stack Overflow and the challenges of relying on AI-generated solutions, emphasizing the importance of writing core code themselves. They reflect on the advancements in natural language processing and the necessity of human input in architecture and systems thinking.

Skepticism about the effectiveness of audits is a recurring theme, with the speaker arguing that audits do not guarantee security. They advocate for thorough testing and peer reviews instead of relying solely on audits, sharing experiences of significant issues found even after extensive audits. The speaker critiques audit contests and bug bounty programs, recommending dedicated emails for reporting vulnerabilities.

Reflecting on personal growth, the speaker emphasizes the importance of simplicity in protocol design and the need for modular contracts to be less effective than standard libraries. They stress the importance of defining clear trade-offs in finance and establishing straightforward rules for interactions. Networking is highlighted as crucial for builders, encouraging engagement with the community for support and feedback.

Joseph DeLong discusses the challenge of creating elegant solutions without clearly defining the problems they aim to solve. He critiques the trend of gambling-related applications, emphasizing the need for meaningful projects and insights from past projects that struggled with user adoption. DeLong identifies his superpower as overcommitting to challenging projects, which drives him to learn new skills.

He expresses concern over the current culture that prioritizes extensive audits and investments before deployment, which he believes hinders innovation. Delong emphasizes the excitement of the building process, advocating for a focus on creating something valuable for users, which ultimately leads to achieving product-market fit. He contrasts the motivations of early Ethereum adopters with later participants who prioritize financial success, underscoring Ethereum's role as a decentralized settlement layer.

In closing, Delong stresses the importance of continuous hacking and building, encouraging listeners to pursue product-market fit and connect with others in the community, reinforcing the collaborative spirit essential for innovation.