Who are you?‍

My name’s Jeff! I’m currently working on Flow’s JavaScript SDK as a member of Dapper Labs. Previously, I worked on CryptoKitties, the world’s most successful blockchain experience.

I grew up in Halifax Nova Scotia and moved to Vancouver to study Computer Science at The University of British Columbia at age 17. Like many other engineers, I fell in love with programming in my teenage years. Perhaps it was spending too much time on the computer as a kid, or a general habit of asking “how does that work” too often that led me to this career path. After launching my first app on Apple’s App Store I knew I was hooked.

‍What lured you into the world of blockchain?‍

I remember hearing about CryptoKitties during its explosion in popularity in 2017. After my internship at Electronic Arts finished, I knew I wanted a new challenge in an emerging industry but I still wanted to remain in the gaming space. Dapper Labs presented a unique opportunity to continue in the gaming world while working on bleeding edge challenges with colleagues who are the best of the best in blockchain. When I got the offer to work on CryptoKitties during my final internship of my undergrad degree I was ecstatic. It was a no brainer to accept, and now the rest is history!‍

How did you get hooked on Flow?‍

The best things in life are simple; cold beer, witty puns, beautiful sunsets and clean interfaces. While working on CryptoKitties I quickly realized how the current tooling available for dApp development on other blockchains is often a barrier to entry to the decentralized world for many developers. My dream is to make creating decentralized apps on Flow as easy as it is to build such an app in a centralized manner; moving the mindset of developers away from purposefully creating decentralized applications towards creating applications that just so happen to use blockchain. To achieve this, the tooling available for building apps on Flow needs to be simple. What got me hooked on Flow is how I can go about solving this problem. As a member of this team I have the ability to design our software in ways and with principles that aim to reduce those barriers to entry, to keep things beautifully simple, and ultimately achieve my decentralized dream. ‍

What should I read next?‍

Some of my favourite books include Simon Sinek’s Start With Why and Ben Horowitz’s The Hard Thing About Hard Things. I highly recommend both if you haven’t had the chance to read them yet!‍

What’s your favorite sandwich and why.‍

Easily the best sandwich is a Reuben made with Thousand Island dressing. Everything else pales in comparison. Well, except maybe a nice tuna sandwich… or a classic peanut butter and jam… or a club sandwich… or a Nova Scotian lobster roll. Is a roll considered a sandwich? Now that I think about it there’s a lot of great sandwiches…