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#DAppInADay Stage 1 Complete!

Last edited time

Nov 28, 2024 4:15 PM

#DAppInADay Stage 1 Complete!

November 27, 2024 | 6 min read

The end of the beginning…

After a decade of building Radix, there's no time to lose in putting its tools into the hands of tomorrow's builders. That's exactly what we set out to do in partnering with the Radix Foundation, the Radix Community Council, and RDX Works to run three #DAppInADay Scrypto workshops across London universities.

The mission was simple: teach students to build and deploy their first Web3 applications on Radix.

What we discovered after landing at Westminster, St Mary's, and Roehampton Universities was both challenging and enlightening – and might just hold the key to how Radix wins the race for Web3 adoption.

Workshop Overview: Three Universities, Three Stories

Each workshop followed roughly the same playbook: introduce Web3 and Radix, dive into Scrypto, then help students deploy their first dApps. Simple enough in theory – but as with all good stories, reality had other plans.

Westminster: The Pionooors

Our first workshop at Westminster University began with around 45 students. The session kicked off with an introduction to Web3 and Radix, followed by @beemdvp's Scrypto overview and @f_pieper's deep dive into application building.

Our first reality check was that the documentation really needed work. Some of the details were out of date and the layout made it confusing to distinguish between instructions for different operating systems.

A second, even bigger reality check, was that outside the Crypto Twitter bubble, most computer science students are complete Web3 newcomers. Even installing Homebrew was a first for many.

The mentor-to-student ratio of 1:15 proved challenging. By 16:30, we'd lost about half the group to installation hurdles. There was a silver lining however: those who persevered were so inspired that they started planning their own hackathon society.

St Mary's: The Deployoors

Two days later, we set up shop within St Mary's stunning ESports Arena. With a smaller group (~15 students) and a better mentor ratio of 1:5, magic happened (having the Radix founder, Dan Hughes there certainly helped!)

A third of students deployed to Stokenet (up from ~7% at Westminster). Some even created and shared their own NFT collections, which felt like watching Web3 adoption in real time.

Roehampton's Plot Twist

The third workshop at Roehampton University on the 4th of November brought two of our biggest surprises yet. Instead of the expected ~20 students, 70 showed up! This forced us to reluctantly turn away 20 due to room capacity. Then, back down to earth, a critical external dependency had been updated over the weekend, throwing our installation process into chaos.

Despite Florian's heroic fix, many students had left before we could get them started. Final score: one lonely deployment to Stokenet. But sometimes you learn more from failure than success.

Each workshop taught us something crucial about onboarding the next generation of Web3 developers. The RDX Works team, seeing these challenges firsthand, started working on a one-click installation solution. Because let's face it: the easier we make it to start building on Radix, the faster we'll get to that Web3 future we're all dreaming about.

Key Learnings: The Good, The Bad, and The Surprising

The GenZ Challenge and Opportunity

Initial workshops revealed that explaining Web3 to GenZ presents unique challenges. While Bitcoin has familiarized them with digital money, concepts like decentralized operating systems still raise eyebrows. However, this challenge comes with a silver lining: today's Computer Science students typically start coding later (around age 17 versus 12-13 previously), giving them a "clean slate" advantage. Without preconceptions about EVM or smart contracts, they're more receptive to learning asset-oriented programming the Radix way.

Technical Realities and Solutions

The workshops exposed several critical areas for improvement in the Radix ecosystem. Documentation needs significant enhancement for newcomers, and the mentor-to-student ratio proved crucial – 1:5 works significantly better than 1:15 (big surprise!). The path from installation to testnet deployment must be streamlined, and dependency management requires careful attention. These challenges are being addressed through improved documentation and the development of one-click solutions. The results are already showing: testnet deployment rates jumped from 7% at Westminster to 33% at St Mary's with better documentation and mentoring.

Growth Catalysts and Market Timing

A crucial discovery is that Radix is inherently enjoyable to build with. When students deploy their first NFTs and share them with friends, the technology transforms from abstract concept to practical magic. This excitement creates natural advocates for the platform, each representing a potential catalyst for exponential ecosystem expansion.

The timing couldn't be better. With Web3 adoption outpacing the internet's growth curve, these students will likely work in the industry regardless – the question is which platform they'll choose. By engaging them early, Radix positions itself as their default choice through hands-on experience rather than marketing claims.

Strategic Vision

The vision for scaling these workshops follows a clear progression aimed at establishing a Radix version of ETH Global, where events become self-sustaining through sponsor funding.

This evolution unfolds across three strategic stages.

The initial proof of concept at Westminster, St Mary's, and Roehampton validated the core concept. Next is the refinement stage, which will evolve through university-initiated workshop requests and strategic partnerships with blockchain societies. A four-tier sponsorship model will be introduced, ranging from merchandise providers to financial sponsors, while operational costs are optimized through improved catering strategies and the development of an alumni mentor pipeline.

The third and final commoditization stage aims to create a globally scalable model by expanding beyond UK universities and transitioning to a professional event series with multiple sponsors. This will create a virtuous cycle where successful events at prestigious institutions attract both other universities and sponsors, while growing blockchain society networks facilitate peer-to-peer promotion. The evolution will create a sustainable model that doesn't rely on grant funding, with a target for full sustainability by the end of 2025.

Each successful deployment and workshop will strengthensthe foundation for future expansion, creating a multiplication effect that benefits the entire Radix ecosystem. This strategy leverages the initial success of university workshops to build a sustainable, scalable model for ecosystem growth. By meeting developers where they are – in university classrooms across the world – Radix is positioning itself to become the default Web3 platform for the next generation of builders.

The door is open for everyone who wants to help build this future. Whether you're a developer who can mentor, a university that wants to host workshops, or just someone who believes in what we're building – there's room for you in this story. They say the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now. The same goes for growing a developer ecosystem. Right now, there are students sitting in university classrooms across the country, waiting to build something amazing. We have the technology. We have the proof of concept. Now it's time to scale. 🚀