Top 3 challenges in building Web3 platform & how MetaMask overcame them
+ awesome Web3 event in Lisbon
GM and happy Monday🖖
Welcome to Epic Web3 Newsletter — today we are going to learn why MetaMask decided to create MetaMask Snaps and what challenges they encountered.
🦊Why MetaMask decided to change itself from product to platform
In recent years, MetaMask has encountered several problems:
The rapid growth in Web3 resulted in an increase in use cases and technologies.
Metamask, despite its success, found it challenging to keep pace with the expanding ecosystem.
Various wallets have emerged, with many specializing in certain areas, creating stiff competition.
The company needed to grow and provide new functions for various customer groups, but building new solutions internally is impractical:
6-12 months lead time = always behind «the next big thing»
New solutions mean more specialized knowledge, which means creating new teams
Many features aren't revenue-producing
The solution came in the form of the MetaMask Snaps, transforming MetaMask into a platform, allowing third parties to add features like extra blockchains, recovery options, transaction insights, custom alerts, and more.
Here are three challenges the company faced and how they addressed them. But firstly, an important announcement:
🧞DeFi Security Day in Lisbon is this week
We’re having a half-day technical event for DeFi builders, researchers, auditors, and hackers in Lisbon, on November 2nd!
🔎This time, we'll discuss security audits, building defenses for protocols, and other Web3 security topics.
The full agenda is already available:
16:00 — doors open and networking
16:40 — 17:00 — Victor Suzdalev, Protocol Dev @ Lido.
Keynote: "Changing wings on the fly: Lido on Ethereum upgrades from the DAO Ops seat"
17:00 — 17:20 — Rasikh Morani, Co-founder & CEO @ Arcadia. Keynote, topic to be announced
17:20 — 17:40 — Pavel Shishkin, Backend Dev @ Zerion. Keynote: "How making a wallet with good UX may make it more prone to security attacks"
18:00 — 18:40 — panel discussion: "Security Audits and Beyond"
Gonçalo Sá, Co-founder @ ConsenSys Diligence
Rasikh Morani, Co-founder & CEO @ Arcadia
Mitchel Amador, Founder & CEO @ Immunefi
João Garcia, Developer Advocate @ Cartesi
Moderator — Eduardo Morgado, CEO & Co-founder @ Three Sigma
18:40 — 19:20 — panel discussion: "Building Defense: Best Practices for Web3 Protocols Security"
Nick Dodson, Co-founder & CEO @ Fuel Labs
Mounir Benchemled, Founder & CEO @ Paraswap
Alex Bashlykov, Co-founder & CTO @ Zerion
Moderator — Dyma Budorin, Co-founder & CEO @ Hacken
19:20 — 21:00 — snacks, drinks & networking! 🧞🧚
🗺️Address
See you on Thursday at
R. Neves Ferreira 13, 1170-070 Lisboa.
We start at 16:00 sharp!
⏰The number of seats is limited, so be sure to secure yours:
Challenge 1️⃣: How to execute the vision
It took four years to bring the project to fruition. During that time, the MetaMask team grew from 10-15 to 115 members, but a large team doesn't guarantee success. Also, they faced issues like distractions, limited support, and inefficient mechanisms.
So MetaMash created the “Team Topology Readiness” framework to help structure and support teams more efficiently. As a result, the roadmap became more focused, leading to the general availability of “snaps” soon. This framework includes:
Single domain for the team
Line management & functional reporting lines
The single-threaded focus for individuals
Autonomous builds and releases
Max reporting lines
Team size
Challenge 2️⃣ : Platform development is harder than Product development
MetaMask's team noticed developers' difficulties in getting their Snaps into production. Platform development is demanding and goes beyond documentation and Discord channels, unlike product development.
Communication: multiple communication channels are needed, so be open to platforms beyond Discord, like Slack, GitHub Discussions, Telegram, and more
Tooling: we need testing environments, design systems, and clear examples to help them understand their product's functionality and how to build it.
Financial support: many small teams in Web3 face financial challenges, especially for non-revenue projects. MetaMask introduced grants for Snap developers to aid this transition to production-ready products.
Challenge 3️⃣: Solutions require user validation
Many teams jump into creating solutions without proper validation. The chance of building the perfect solution without this validation is low. This was evident with the initial iteration of “snaps.” To avoid wasting time and resources, it's crucial to prioritize user validation early in the development cycle.
A good approach is to form a group of design partners, around five to seven, representing diverse potential customers. They can provide insights into essential features and ensure a match between the problem you're tackling and the target audience.
Remember, there's often a gap between what users say and their actual behaviors. Thus, diving deep into their motivations is essential.
Alright, that’s all for today! 👋 But wait…
You didn’t say “gm” on Twitter! Let’s catch up there for daily insights.
Sending growth your way,
Epic Web3