AMA with David Furlong
🥳🎉 Let’s go! Our AMA with David @df is starting, reply with your questions for him 👇🏻
David is a passionate BUIDLer who has been contributing to the Farcaster Ecosystem with his innovative projects and ideas for quite awhile! 💜
- Thank you David, for taking the time to do this AMA 🤝 Would you like to give an introduction about yourself, and share a little as to what you have been up to recently?Hey everyone :) engineer by trade, trying to stop making the same silly engineer-minded mistakes as a founder & become more product oriented over the years. Live in Berlin but I'm polish/german/british & got into DeSoc as a means to make a more open internet. Currently seeking an exit to the idea maze with @mod
- Some users might not be aware of your contributions to the Farcaster Ecosystem, could you share some of ideas which have been implemented, and that you are most proud of?Here's a couple Built discove.xyz as the first third party FC client w/ user created feeds Wrote an FIP for Subcommunities (pre channels) https://github.com/farcasterxyz/protocol/discussions/92 Wrote an FIP for Cast metadata for Mini-apps via OG (pre frames) https://github.com/farcasterxyz/protocol/discussions/136
- Could you give an overview as to what @mod does and how and why you decided to start BUIDLing it? Do share your inspiration behind @mod too!Mod is a standard to securely write and share Mini-apps. We've come up with a new way to write Mini websites similar to Frames, except Mod's design is more flexible and powerful. Mod enables both web3 and web2 experiences as Mini-apps, such as games, voting, videos, minting, and interacting with any smart contract
- How does @mod compare to similar toolkits or protocols in the market? What sets it apart in terms of functionality, ease of use, and developer support?Mini-app protocol tradeoffs imo Snaps: [JS] focused on wallets, very limited UIs, very powerful APIs, not focused on UX/UI, needs an iframe (bad performance on mobile) Mod: [JSON] focus on social, expressive UIs, focused on UI/UX, no need for iframe Frames: [OG+] simple, very limited on UI/UX, will be extended w JSON
- What are the future development plans or enhancements for @mod? Are there any upcoming features or integrations that users/developers can look forward to?We're shipping something later tonight 👀 We're shipping something even bigger on friday too. Beyond that we're releasing a way for Apps and Mod creators to make money from other protocol's referral fees automagically. Lots more Mods to come
Hey @df, thank you for doing this :) How does your normal Tuesday look like?A normal tuesday: - at desk either coworking or at home by 9 - 30 mins deal with FC notifications + telegram + email - Work on top prio work; split between - strategy - code - partnerships - prepping fundraise - unblocking team - finish around 6.30, cook dinner, work a bit in evening, post memes- Have you tried out any other Web3 Social Platforms besides Farcaster? How do you think Farcaster stands out to you in comparison?I tried out Lens in early 2022 & Bitclout before that; I started building on Farcaster in 2022 instead, even tho it was much smaller & less hyped because 1. Farcaster's technical choices made more sense for mass consumer 2. The community was very high quality 3. It wasn't financialized Now things are even clearer
- As a BUIDLer, what advice would you give to other fellow BUIDLers who are trying to innovate and create on Web3 Social? Could you also share as to how you stay inspired, and maintain momentum when facing challenges or setbacks in your projects?Start with distribution. Always start with distribution. Especially if you're an engineer. Admire @jayme's launchcaster for nailing this. I probably wrote 30x more lines of code with discove and didn't. LOC to DAU ratio matters Stay inspired: Building in consume social is much less lonely than building in SaaS.
Hey @df! What inspired you to create @mod, and what was the journey like from conception to implementation?Big picture: Experienced a problem with how Farcaster clients like my own (discove) were limited by interoperability of building on protocols like Farcaster & wanted to help enable a more open internet. Actual: day of deadline for decks for CSS demo day & wasn't convinced of my pitch. Pivoted that day, pitched Mod.- Oh another question - what drives your passion for developing innovative solutions like @mod?I think I'm either 100% engaged/addicted to my work, or disengaged; I've always felt like one has a bigger lever on the world as a founder as the counterfactual on founders is very different from employees. And breaking the walled gardens of the internet is one of the most important missions to try to help fix
- Hey @df, what’s the most challenging thing you’ve done so far? (Doesn’t have to be work related but can be).tough question. Probably being studious enough for exams and not dropping out of university. I studied computer science and philosophy, and I found much of the philosophy very frustrating and pedantic - too much reading and essays for my taste
- Hello! Are there are narratives in 2024/2025 that you are most excited about?Farcaster growing 100x qDAU & Mini-apps being the thing that fuels it
- I miss dicove.xyz 🙃someone will bring it back in spirit - community created feeds are coming in many places and will be the norm in DeSoc; see bluesky
- How long have you been in Germany and do you plan on staying?I grew up in Munich & wanted to get out of Germany. Moved to Oxford for studies, then Amsterdam for 5 years (startup) then since approx 2021 chose Berlin (2 yrs been here) Germany has high taxes and cold winters and crazy taxes on unrealized gains around moving away as a founder if you live here more than 6 hrs
- @df how would you compare @farcaster to 1) Bluesky and 2) Reddit ; what would you say is the main draw for people to move onto warpcast versus such other platforms?Farcaster vs Bluesky: GTM: Crypto & Tech vs Left wing oriented/Mainstream. Think the prior is much easier/better for building a protocol. Reddit: Controversial, but imo has failed to innovate for a long time. Right product, right time & now has network effects; didn't get their culture/leadership right
If you’d join Farcaster today what advice would you give yourself?depends on my goal - probably cast in 1 or 2 channels max, go to IRL FC events, set notifications for people I want to help boost or connect with more