Unpopular opinion:
Knowing Solidity doesn't automatically make you a blockchain engineer.
Smart contracts live on the application layer. The fun part happens in the layers beneath.
There’s a career trap a lot of Nigerian developers fall into without even noticing.
Most Engineers optimise for breadth instead of depth.
React today, NestJS tomorrow, Django after that, then Go, then Rust, then whatever framework is trending next week.
Every new tech feels like progress because it adds another line to the CV.
But none of it actually builds a reputation.
One thing you all should know is this: developers who are getting the highest leverage in the Nigerian remote market right now are not the ones who know the most tools.
They’re the ones who are known for something specific.
“The engineer who builds payment systems.”
“The engineer who can scale Node.js services to serious traffic.”
“The engineer who understands Nigerian fintech infrastructure deeply.”
That kind of clarity compounds over time.
A wide skill set without a clear identity just becomes a long list of things you’ve touched.
At some point, it stops being about what you can use.
It becomes about what people associate you with.
So, as a person, here's my advice:
Pick a lane, go deep, then stay there long enough for it to start speaking for you.
@Akintola_steve I just had a conversation with a friend about this.. Building reputation in a specific field and knowing it deeply is the best way to gain advantage in this markets.
@zord4n we've spent years optimizing transaction costs while ignoring coordination costs. fragmented liquidity has to be the bigger UX problem in crypto.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make now as a developer is to try and fight the use of AI.
There’s no point fighting with a machine, the odds are against you.
While I do admit that good things take time to build, I think this generally applies in their time, 8 years ago it'll take 2 months and a team of 2-4 engineers to get MVP ready, now it takes 2 days and a guy without real development experience to get the MVP ready.
The times have changed massively.. hence the demands on startups and founders to move at that pace..
@SimonHoiberg I think being a generalist keeps the mind open, and it's always easier to pivot with changing tools and methods faster than specialists who are sold to their way of doing things.