Download to read offline
Uploaded byAimee Maree
Pioneering Technology - My Story
Aimee Maree Forsstrom discusses her diverse journey from tailoring to technology, emphasizing the importance of open source and cryptocurrency in shaping the future. She highlights the challenges and loneliness of pioneering new tech, as well as the necessity of perseverance, continuous learning, and adapting to change. Forsstrom encourages others to follow their passions, embrace new technologies, and be prepared for both successes and failures in their careers.
More Related Content
![[WSO2Con Asia 2018] Are You a Software Company?](https://cdn.slidesharecdn.com/ss_thumbnails/2018-08-asiacon-keynote-180808114848-thumbnail.jpg?width=640&height=640&fit=bounds)
Similar to Pioneering Technology - My Story
![Accessibility with Joomla [on a budget]](https://cdn.slidesharecdn.com/ss_thumbnails/joomla-accessibility-141123061021-conversion-gate01-thumbnail.jpg?width=640&height=640&fit=bounds)
Pioneering Technology - My Story
- 1. an unusual journey AimeeMaree Forsstrom Electric Tailor Aficionado Tech PTY LTD
- 2. Different background story StudiedTailoring Worked in Clothing production and visual merchandising Started studying Network Engineering Then moved into Systems Administration Studied Two Bachelors Degree in Computer Science Horizontal move to Web Development Horizontal Move into Web 3.0 Founded some companies along the way
- 3. It was atime long ago 2012
- 4. Travelling and SMS Payments Runningacross Europe Volunteering, Volunteering Playing with SMS currencies such as M-Pesa
- 5. an email wasanswered An email was sent to numerous OpenSource leaders for help No one would respond, but I did One email can/will change your life
- 6. Open Source Open Sourceethos was adopted in the crypto community Open Source helps to lower barriers to entry Crypto would push Open Source to new heights more reminiscent of Free Software ethos from Richard Stallman (RMS)
- 7. Bitcoin London 2012 “..held in a large conference room full of hackers, socialists, anarchist programmers and other journalists.” Vice ~ Jake Hanrahan 18/09/2012 I hung out with geeks and anarchists at the annual Bitcoin conference to figure it out
- 8. Anarchy in theUK What does stateless money mean? What could the future be? Why should we care about financial bailouts? Look around the room and note the people who will change the world
- 9. Seeing the Future TheBlockchain is as important to the web as the Linux Kernel was It is not just about creating digital currencies
- 10. The future can belonely… Not many people cared in the beginning, Everyone laughs at you, Pioneering an idea is lonely, at the beginning…
- 11. Pioneering tech isnot easy Working long nights Working day job in old tech Waiting, Waiting, Waiting for everyone else to come onboard There is a lot of learning and you still have to pay the bills
- 12. There is alot of hand holding Introducing people to new concepts Discussions with Lawyers on licensing and licensing and licensing Helping others to see not just your vision but their own Eventually you stop holding hands and the tech speaks for itself
- 13. helping others learnto play Advocating for technology Running Workshops, Running meetups, Running Events Helping others learn the technology and Educating whomever wants to learn
- 14. Birthing new ideas Futurethinking, predicting what is around the corner You can never touch the same water twice because the flow has changed The earlier you are in a tech the more opportunities to shape it Sooner or later the trickle becomes a river and then an ocean
- 15. Eventually others joinyou Bitcoin and Blockchain have become household names More people are aware of their existence than Linux Governments and Banks start to notice crypto as a means of transaction Crypto community starts to grow into new areas outside of finance New protocols and projects being released
- 16. So what isit all about? What is the secret sauce? What am I trying to say?
- 17. Riding Waves Pick theright technology Do NOT follow the crowd Think what will be important tomorrow Learn from the past to help see the future
- 18. and Sinking Ships Sometimeswe can’t avoid them Jump into a lifeboat whilst you can Don’t go down with the ship
- 19.
- 20. to grab theBull by its horns, Ride high in the bull times Bank your money Spend it on lasting investments to carry you through
- 21. to walk withthe bears. The bear years are building years Start a company, join a startup Work out who stays around and who goes Study and play with new code bases
- 22. Understanding, It is ajourney Life is a journey
- 23. there are dreamersand losers, Not everyone always win, in fact no one ever wins all the time Don’t give up Follow what you care about
- 24. there are gooddays and bad, Some projects are better than others It is exciting and new and changing every day Not everyone gets to the finishing line first You have to pivot and change
- 25. it can belonely. Being early to a new tech is lonely There are long hours Not everything you work on will succeed It is about perseverance
- 26. So why amI here? To tell my story, To encourage your story…
- 27. I was at theright place at the right time Followed my passion Worked on Open Source Code Cared about Community Deep desire to learn Capacity to see change and move with it
- 28. Being at theright place and time Requires preparation Is not just sheer luck
- 29. Study and Education Somuch learning Study Finance Ongoing learning, continuous study, life long learning
- 30. Staying ahead ofthe curve Follow the technology and embrace change Live in the present but keep your eye on the horizon Don’t be afraid to walk away from a project or a job Attend meet-ups and Join discord channels
- 31. Taking your ownapproach Don’t follow the crowd Follow the tech Learn from the past mistakes of others
- 32. Carving an unseenpath Go in your own direction Take a risk and go for a role that challenges Don’t be afraid to go it alone
- 33. It’s your move! Don’tbe afraid. Changing careers Vertical and Horizontal moves How do your passions intersect that’s the only Venn diagram you need
- 34. Positions, Positions The rolesof the future The future of FinTech Unwritten
- 36.
Editor's Notes
- #2 Thank you very much for the welcome, so as you know my name is Aimee Maree Forsstrom and today, I am here to tell you a story, because every journey in life starts with a story...
- #3 My background is not a traditional one, I have made vertical and horizonal career changes, first starting my working life in the Fashion Industry on clothing production and visual merchandising in the late 90s and moved into Technology in 2001, moving between network engineering, cyber security, and web development to blockchain Now that you know the backstory, it is time for our story to start,
- #4 Our story starts in the year 2012
- #5 I was running around Europe and volunteering in various Open-Source conferences as well as promoting the Australian Open-Source Developer Conference. I had been working in the space of SMS payments for a few years and was working at the time with MPESA, which was an SMS payments system largely used on the continent of Africa at that time. I had heard about Bitcoin and been around the digital currency space for some time and thought bitcoin was a cool concept and project however I was focused on SMS payments and getting Linux onto mobile phones, so I had put bitcoin on my every growing "to do" list.
- #6 During my travels fate would have her way and I would receive an email from Amir Taaki asking me for assistance with his Conference in London which was going to be on this thing called "Bitcoin". I responded back to the email as it would seem by chance I was in London at the time and would be for the bitcoin conference dates so I let him know I would be happy to help in anyway. I would later find out that Amir had sent that email to various Open-Source leaders at the time asking for assistance, as fate would have it only, I would respond and this my friends is the reason I am standing here now. Call it fate, destiny, luck, or hard work whatever it may be, sometimes one email can change your whole life.
- #7 Why did I get that email? I had been working in open source and had been pioneering it to Government and enterprise and was well known in certain communities, an important part of the web 3.0 journey is the open-source component. The original bitcoin code was licensed under MIT Open-Source License, Ethereum would be licensed under GPL, which is the same license type as Linux. What we would see in Bitcoin alone let alone other projects such as ETH, LTC, Link would be some of the largest ever user base for an Open-Source project, you see it seems not everyone wants to run Linux on their phone or laptop, but when it comes to finance well everyone has a need. So, as it stands today bitcoin and crypto projects in general have the biggest userbase for Open-Source projects and this is an important fact to understand. Because in many ways there is Corporate Open-Source model and then there is the Crypto Open-Source models which are much more aligned with the free software ethos of Richard Stallman. So Open Source and being early to ride that wave had led me to being able to receive an email requesting for help with the Bitcoin conference and thus introducing me to the Bitcoin code.
- #8 So, where were we, ok, so it was 2012 and I was running around Hackney Hacker Space going to EMF the first open field hacker and camping festival and helping on Bitcoin London 2012. The Bitcoin conference was wild and to this day my favorite event and one which would change not just my direction but the direction of technology itself. There was a loose group of us under Amir’s direction and we pulled off a conference. and as Vice Journalist Jake Hanrahan says, ““…conference room full of hackers, socialists, anarchist programmers and other journalists " and he was right. The three rooms we had in the only conference place that we could get in the financial district of London was full and buzzing with discussions on future possibilities. Those rooms were filled with free thinkers, anarchists and hackers and we would go on to have not just a bitcoin conference but one that dared to ask the question of what the future could look like if we could dream impossible things and rewrite whole systems and institutions, what would the future look like decentralized. The fact that it was in London Financial district was important you see Amir wanted it to be there he wanted to make the statement to the world Look Bitcoin is here in the Financial Heart of the world and you should notice before it swallows you up.
- #9 It was Anarchy in the UK and just like the first-night sex pistols played you could look around that audience and, on the stage, and you would see the faces that have gone on to shape and change the space of Crypto and Bitcoin. We would have what would go down in history as a true crypto, anarchist hacker conference... on the last night of the conference after drinks a group of us whilst walking back to the hotel took an office chair we found on the street and had turns saying what we wanted the future to be if we had the chance to change it, the people in that group around that chair that we dragged through the streets of London in their own way are changing the fabric of technology and with it the online world as we know it today If you ever want some nostalgia or some thought-provoking talks search "bitcoin London 2012" in, you tube, and I trust you that you will be entertained, and your brain will be stretched.
- #10 It was about seeing the future, it was about what could be, it was about a change... during my time in London Amir Taaki would introduce me to the bitcoin code base. And there birthed my love and passion of bitcoin and the blockchain. It is truly magic when you read the code and you understand it and you see what its potential is... all I could do was step back and say WOW this is like Linux it has all the same components, and it was going to be as important for web as the Linux kernel was. The concept of an immutable decentralised transaction ledger, no ability to modify past data, a true historical record, it was not hard to see the idea of a blockchain as taking over. and whilst it was hard to see all its uses back then it was not hard to see its potential. After the bitcoin London 2012 conference, many of us would start preaching about bitcoin and its potential uses....
- #11 But you see the future can be lonely, and well its cold on the stage alone talking to a room of a handful of people, pushing new boundaries and asking for people to see into the future and beyond current limitations, you get used to being laughed at, but none of us seemed to care much because in the early days there was such a buzz in the air. After Bitcoin London 2012 it felt like anything was possible, impossible dreams were becoming possible, could society start to tackle the larger problems we face in the financial system, what else could blockchain do and what else could it give us?
- #12 Everyone likes to talk about how “if you had bought bitcoin in the year 2010 then you would be worth millions by now. But people fail to acknowledge the fact that you would have also had to have not gone broke from then until now, or not needed to use your “rainy day savings stash”. In the early days most of us worked in normal tech jobs during the day to pay the bills and in the evening’s, we would meet up at bars that someone had somehow coerced into accepting bitcoin with the aim of educating more people about bitcoin. The early days where fun, but there were also late nights a lot of learning and a lot of working on non-crypto projects. But slowly and industry grew around us and there was starting to be crypto specific roles, slowly but surely a crypto industry was born.
- #13 But the early days of an industry are also full of discussions and hand holding and advocacy. It is a lot of introducing people to new concepts, advocating for the technology, and keeping up with the latest news, which oddly is easier to do in the early days of an industry. There is always a lot of discussions with Lawyers on licensing and what “Open Source” MIT licenses means for Bitcoin and then what GPL means for eth, what are compatible licenses what does it mean for your startup etc and what licensing should your project use. And in Bitcoin it was especially challenging because it was not just having to explain the concept of bitcoin to people but also what open-source means and how it impacts the bitcoins code base.
- #14 But that’s just what it is like in the early days, if you want to see more people using a technology you have to Advocate for said technology. You have to run workshops and you have to run meetups to get the word out to whomever wants to learn. You need to sometimes spend a lot of your own time and money promoting the technology or lobbying for the technology, It is not easy, but it is all aimed at increasing understanding and awareness of the said technology.
- #15 Birthing new ideas is not easy, but it is fun and being early in a technology allows for more opportunities to shape it. Technology is like water, and you cannot force the direction of water, nor will you ever touch the same water twice simply because of the nature of the changing flows, So, you need to take risks and opportunities when they present themselves especially in the early days because sooner or later all great projects move from the small groups of hackers and early adopters to groups comprising of retail investors, enterprises, governments, criminals, mums and dads, the uber car driver, the kid down the road and the abc news presenter. Sooner or later the trickle becomes a river and then an ocean
- #16 Now, Bitcoin and the Blockchain are household names and crypto exchanges are starting to become too big to fail. We see traditional hedge funds starting to have a look at bitcoin and crypto industry, banks looking at it for transactions, farmers looking at it for quality control audits. The blockchain is here to stay and web 3.0 is not going away We have started to see the use of blockchain for wider purposes than simply finance… the crypto community like the hacker communities of the 80s and 90s would start to envision and collaborate on new concepts like Decentralized Autonomous Organisations, Non-Fungible Tokens, Distributed Finance, Token engineering and privacy engineering.
- #17 What is the secret sauce? What am I trying to say?
- #18 Well, it’s all about riding waves, picking the right technology and being able to see future value in projects. The earlier you get into a technology the more opportunities you will see. And studying past cycles will help you be able to see patterns in new technology, You want to be able to catch a wave early and get it before it reaches the shoreline.
- #19 It is also about sinking ships, And well the truth is that you cannot avoid them. It is impossible to only work on perfect projects. The moment you write code in many ways it becomes legacy code. So, treat projects like you are writing legacy code that you yourself might one day be forced to work with and upgrade. So, the reality is you cannot avoid sinking ships, but you can know when to see the warning signs so your able to find a lifeboat. Loyalty is a good thing to have but, in all honesty, bailing on a sinking ship can be the best thing for your career and sanity in the long run. Even if it is your dream job or project sorry sometimes dreams fail, so jump before you sink.
- #20 So, I guess what I am trying to say is that, It really is learning.
- #21 It is learning to grab the bull by its horns and be able to stare it down. Seeing good times as they, when market prices are up technology companies and individuals can be persuaded to spend big thinking the high times are here to stay. But nothing is always up and certainly not the markets. Bank your money when you can save for the rainy days if you can because you will face them. You will face the bear years.
- #22 and you will need to learn how to walk humbly with the bears. learn to perfect your skills and craft. Keep an eye on the news and markets watch the companies who can outlast the winter and expect a whole bunch of companies and projects to fail. This is the natural cycle of technology.
- #23 It is about understanding that it is a journey and life requires balance.
- #24 There is always dreamers and losers and the reality is that not everybody wins all the time. Not everyone gets to the finishing line first. A lot of projects we work on will fail that is the nature of technology but don’t give up and keep following your passion and what you care about. Engineer for the future and have risk mitigation plans just in case.
- #25 There will always be good and bad days and some projects are better than others. You need to remember to enjoy the good days and remember them on the bad days Be able to be flexible and pivot and change. This comes to projects, technology, and communities, don’t be afraid to desert a codebase move onto the latest thing. And don’t also be afraid to make your money off doing something that is less exciting so in your spare time you could be studying for your real passion. Not everyone can take time out of life to start a new business venture its ok to grow something slow and organically until you find your feet.
- #26 Being early to a new tech is lonely that is just a fact being new to anything in life generally is. At the beginning there is a lot of long hours and lonely nights. This is why it is important to investigate the community channels around projects, for web 3 you will find most have a discord channel or mailing list. Join up to meetups in your area or create one yourself. It is so important to have like-minded people around you online or irl just to bounce ideas off and learn from.
- #27 To tell my story, To encourage your story…
- #28 I was at the right place at the right time the day I received that email about the Bitcoin London 2012 conference, but I had also spent over a decade in Open-Source leadership, was it really luck? Or hard work?
- #29 I prepared for that email every job I had and education certificate I held, all my past roles and projects where able to get me to the position so that when I was in the right place and the right time, I could make use of that opportunity and I had the capacity to see the wave rise. So, no it was not just sheer luck, it was years of preparation,
- #30 It was years of studying and education courses and then also teaching others. But yes, study is a big part of why I am here.
- #31 It is also about staying ahead of the curve and being able to see the waves on the horizon and prepare your surfboard and just like when you’re on a surfboard you need to adjust and change with the waves flow. So, with technology you need to be able to embrace change and foster innovation. Living in the present but keeping your eye on the horizon.
- #32 You do not need to follow the crowd. Infact it is better if you don’t, and you work on carving your own path. Listen to other people’s stories and be able to learn from other mistakes that is why people share their stories to inspire but also to warn so heed warnings. And follow the technology and the people crypto is a moving target have you heard about zero knowledge proof protocols such as zcash and darkfi projects? If not have a look and start thinking of how trustless protocols without the need for self-identification could benefit people and online privacy, think about how it could benefit business or government, think about why it might be important to have anonymous communications, consider the need for people more vulnerable than yourself, and consider the impact the things you build have on those more vulnerable.
- #33 Seek out the new and latest trends knowing which projects to pass over and which ones to investigate more deeper Sometimes the only way to do that is the waste the time reading and learning a whole bunch of projects and watching a plethora of you tube videos. Social media and community channels can help with learning what the latest projects are that people are talking about. And as I said before not being afraid to change your code base today, you’re working with bitcoin code tomorrow you’re working with eth code the next day algo code. Change projects as you see fit and don’t be afraid to take a risk at learning a more obscure technology or application if it seems relevant to the problem at hand. And carve yourself your own path.
- #34 So now it turns to you, what is your story and what will it be, don’t be afraid to change careers or make horizontal moves, you do not need to make only vertical ones, horizontal moves are how you gain the breadth of technical experience. There is one Venn diagram you should care about and that is the one that shows the intersection of your passions and in the middle of all your passions colliding is your web3 project.
- #35 The roles of the future are unwritten and in the space of web 3 we are only just getting started with seeing new areas of engineering such as token engineering and privacy engineering emerging it is quite hard to think of all the possible roles. The best way to prepare is to educate yourself and stay ahead of the game Monitor keywords on job sites such as indeed, linkedin, seek, get an alert when jobs come in with key words especially in the early days of a technology as there will not be as many jobs available in that space early on so it’s easy to stay across them. Look for obscure keywords that are related to your passions or hobbies in life and set an alert on them you never know when “NFT Museum Curator” might become an actual role and when it does you want to be all over it.
- #36 and I will close off with a tweet from one of my favorite writers/journalists the amazing Laurie Penny " the future still belongs to the wiredos, to those who put hope before hate. They always dream harder and brighter..." So be bold and go forward in the direction of your dreams.
- #37 My story is not over, there will be more chapters, your story is not over, maybe your web 3 chapter is about to start? Thank you