a16z: not just academic qualifications, find more encrypted recruitment methods

Ben Wu, a16z

Edit Chopper, Foresight News

Original link:

https://www.techflowpost.com/zh-CN/article/30478

The emergence of encrypted currency is not just intended to reshape the currency or move the database to the chain. It represents a more profound change: from a non-transparent system to a mechanism that can be examined, validated and promoted directly. Codes are transparent, transactions are predictable and rules are enforced by non-subjective software。

But when it comes to recruitment, many of the builders of these systems quietly forget these principles. Recruitment in the encryption industry is often an unexpected tradition: academic background, curriculum vitae, endorsement by well-known institutions, and still dominates early screening。

These signals, while convenient, are essentially based on trust. They allow decision makers to extrapolate capabilities rather than certify them. This paper will describe how we are recruiting in a way that is more in keeping with the spirit of encryption and more likely to produce excellent results。

Funnels for academic qualifications and qualifications

Traditional recruitment relies on experience rules: degrees, former employers, official titles, which are reduced to filtering labels, allowing teams to make decisions quickly when time and effort are limited. If used with caution, these shortcuts are not irrational。

Over time, however, seniority-based recruitment has led to bias: for example, neglecting those who learn through practice rather than discipline; giving too much weight to the institutional context and neglecting actual skills; or postponing proof of real competence to a later stage (or even outright neglect) in the recruitment process。

Crypto already has a verifiable signal

One of the core features of the encryption industry is the default public availability of work results. The builders do not need the permission of the centralist gatekeeper, nor do they need a third-party certificate to prove their capacity, and they just have to do something。

As a result, individuals in the encryption industry leave a record of continuous and accessible outputs, including:

• Open code repository, submission of records, consolidation request and code review
• Deployment to test network and main network, source code-verifiable smart contract
• Link activity that can be viewed via block browser and protocol interface
• CONTRIBUTION TO HACKERS, DAOS, OPEN-SOURCE COMMUNITIES

The curriculum vitae is simply a statement and the technical work will leave evidence. They can be examined directly and need not rely on endorsement, referral or institutional reputation。

In an encrypted world, a person ' s work can be recognized without institutional support. The output can be directly tested wherever you graduate and work for。

For technical posts in particular, displays are much more compelling than background. Moreover, these contributions will accumulate: the submission of records will be permanently accessible, deployment will continue to operate, contributing to an ever-increasing history. Many encryption builders have proven themselves with their ability before their resumes are reflected。

THE CONTRIBUTOR EMERGED BEFORE THE FOUNDATION WAS GIVEN A FORMAL POSITION; THE BUILDER WON A REPUTATION IN DAO BUT NEVER HELD ANY TITLE。

Output follows and recognition follows。

When the signal starts to fail

WHEN VERIFIABLE WORK BECOMES MORE VISIBLE, IMITATION BECOMES EASIER. OPEN-SOURCE CONTRIBUTIONS HAVE LONG BEEN A POWERFUL SIGNAL OF TECHNOLOGICAL CAPABILITY, BUT WITH THE SPREAD OF AI TOOLS AND INCREASED INCENTIVES FOR OPEN CONTRIBUTIONS, THIS SIGNAL HAS BEGUN TO BECOME OBFUSCATED。

Some of the contributors sought quantity rather than quality: a large number of minor changes were made in multiple warehouses, there was a lack of follow-up and little progress was made towards more difficult issues. These changes may be correct and occasionally accepted, but do not reflect deep understanding and continued accountability。

Even in the face of these problems, certification remains valid, provided that the work itself is truly evaluated. Code quality, problem selection and long-term contribution to history are more important than isolated outcomes。

High-value builders show depth and continuity, and their work continues to accumulate. One thing you know how to tell is that low-value builders are easily seen。

Towards a "validation of priority" recruitment model

In order to be more efficient, more teams can use the preferred method of recruitment:

• Early release of verifiable signals: prioritize code quality, go-live systems, contribute history, use curriculum vitae as a background reference rather than a threshold。
• Direct integration of chain and open source data into the recruitment process: these results are considered important in the recruitment system。
• EMBEDDING RECRUITMENT IN THE REAL SCENE: DEEP INTO HACKERS, DAOS, OPEN-SOURCE COMMUNITIES, WHERE THE TALENT IS。

The "validation priority" requires teams to change the way they attract talent: they no longer wait for candidates to be delivered, or rely on narrow filters such as target companies, famous schools, etc.; founders and recruitment teams can proactively identify builders who have produced high-quality works in public: core warehouses, deployment systems, governance or design discussions, and the infrastructure on which other teams depend。

For example, good Solidity engineers usually appear at:

• Core protocol and tool library on GitHub
• OPEN DISCUSSION AND SUBMISSION OF THE EIP
• Etherscan contractual deployment and chain activity on browsers

This logic applies to all ecosystems, including the Move Public Chain, Rust Engineer, Zero Knowledge Systems, and various application protocols. Hackers pine is a high-value talent pool where events like ETHGlobal and Solana Breakpoint gather builders who can write codes and deliver under pressure。

Finally

This is not to replace another set of certificates with a set of certificates, but to shift the focus from indirect to direct evidence。

Education and qualifications remain important but are most effective when combined with observable outputs. In an industry centred on transparency and enforcement, encrypted recruitment should begin with validation. Let trust be the background, not the premise。

This is the core creed of the industry: Don't trust, verivy. Now, use it to find the best。