Behind The Blockchain: an interview with Ivan Pavičić, Engineering Manager at Shard Labs

During this interview Ivan talked us through the mindset shift when moving into Web3, his career journey and what he loves most about the space. He introduced us to Shard Labs and the problem the business solves plus gave his advice on sculpting a career as an engineering manager in Web3.

So, let's get into it...

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Jack "For people who don’t know who you are, could you Introduce yourself?"

Ivan "I'm a former software engineer turned engineering manager. After working for around 7 years in Web2 I've found new joy through challenges in the web3 space and contributing to open source!"

Jack "Can you talk us through your career journey so far?"

Ivan "While in college I was involved in a lot of projects, but the one I'm most proud of was an educational software for children with autism. It was made for a competition, but the goal was to deliver a working product that helps educators in their day to day work! We succeeded in that, however in the end failed to turn it into a company but it was a great experience! After college I hopped around several companies, some small some very large (Ericsson), in the end I settled in the online gaming industry where I was given the chance to try out a management role. I was also semi-involved in crypto and in the end the call from Web3 was too strong, so I fully transitioned to my current job and role."

Jack "Could you talk us through your current job and what it entails?"

Ivan "My current job is to manage a remote team of software engineers who work on various projects related to StarkNet - a Layer 2 network that scales Ethereum. We also collaborate with a lot of partners on a daily basis and it's super fun! Our department's name is SpaceShard so don't let that confuse you if you search for us!"

Jack "Can you introduce us to Shard labs?"

Ivan "Shard Labs (https://shardlabs.io) is a fully remote blockchain R&D company, which provides full software development life cycle support for customers, as well as developing our own products. One of them is Lido on Polygon, a liquid staking solution for MATIC staking providers."

Jack "What problem does Shard Labs solve?"

Ivan "Shard Labs aims to improve the world by utilising the core principles of blockchain: decentralisation, transparency and trust. Whilst doing that, we focus on putting a lot care and consideration into improving the user experience of Web3 products!"

Jack "Could you talk us through the skills, both soft and technical, which you needed to develop to reach your current position?"

Ivan "Regarding technical skills, learning a strong foundation of fundamentals is key. Once you grasp the core principles, they can translate to any language, technology or industry. This makes it much easier to pick up the new and shiny stuff. Also the willingness to learn and improve your skills is key. Regarding soft skills - taking responsibility is huge, but in doing so you have to deliver! And genuinely caring! Caring about yourself, your craft and people around you - it goes a long way! If you want to transition to management, it also helps if you try and see the bigger picture and identify gaps in the industry."

Jack "Why did you initially take an interest in Web3 and Blockchain?"

Ivan "Initial interest came when I was approached to help with a couple of features for a small local cryptocurrency exchange (BitKonan) around 2016. After that came "investing", trading, learning about the tech and generally following the space."

Jack "Now you’ve been involved in Web3 for the last 7 months, what is it you like about the space and why?"

Ivan "Two things stand out for me, the awesome, enthusiastic, smart community and the fact that most of the software is open source. Those two facts allow innovation to flourish! It's really crazy following what people come up with, things are released almost on a daily basis! The community will really support and help you if you want to contribute! Since it's still early, you can make a name for yourself much more quickly than in Web2 and become a recognised figure in the space."

Jack "Talk us through the mindset shift when working in Web3 compared to Web2?"

Ivan "Contrary to most of web2, the open source nature of most web 3 projects brings a lot benefits such as people becoming publicly proud of their code, reviews and comments etc. They care more when everyone has visability! Basically, your Github profile becomes your resume! Also, you get some "unexpected" contributors to your project. People can identify a bug and submit a fix when you've never even met that person!"

Jack "In your eyes, what is the biggest impact blockchain and Web3 will have on the world and why?"

Ivan "I think blockchain will have a major impact on the financial world, like trading, self-custody of funds etc. Also having a trustless environment is huge - not having to rely on some central authority. These things simply weren't available to majority of people before! That being said, blockchain is not a silver bullet and definitely has it's problems However, so much innovation is going on that it will continue flourishing and improving over time"

Jack "Talk us through some of your predictions for how the landscape of Web3 will change over the next few years?"

Ivan "I believe the next step in blockchain innovation will leverage the zero-knowledge technology, meaning that you can prove something without revealing the actual thing you want to prove. Imagine the use cases!"

Jack "Could you give an example where zero-knowledge technology could make a difference?"

Ivan "Sure! One use case example would be in insurance. You could prove you are healthy for something that requires it, e.g. driving license or health insurance, without having to give away your medical details"

Jack "In your opinion, what are some of the potential problems which need to be overcome before blockchain becomes mainstream?"

Ivan "The user experience. There is still a lot of friction for people. This includes performance and prices of using the networks. However, given time, it will be solved."

Jack "As an engineering manager in Web3, what advice would you give to people looking to follow in your footsteps?"

Ivan "My advice would be to reduce friction between you and the people who collaborate with you. Actively look for ways to make their lives easier and they will appreciate it a lot"

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We really enjoyed understanding Ivan's career journey and why he loves working in Web3. He shared some interesting thoughts on the future and shared some brilliant tips on skills to learn and develop to build a career in the space.

We'll be keeping a close eye on Ivan's journey!

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To get involved with Behind The Blockchain or for recruitment related conversations reach out to Jack on Jack@unveilrecruitment.com