Decent presents The Builder’s Journey podcast, featuring intimate discussions with the builders behind the most exciting and innovative protocols, products, and communities in Web3.

On moving from TradFi to DeFi…

Brian: My experience in the banking side actually enables me to see some of the pain points and some of the bottlenecks for traditional finance where it's quite centralized. And the moment that web3 came and I was I was still on the sidelines, just doing a little bit of coin collecting and speculation. And the moment that DeFi summer came it kind of blindsided me. And that was kind of a eureka moment for me.

Jane: I know a lot of it is about rebuilding the financial basics in the world of DeFi, but what Brian and I really believe in is we really want to take the best parts of TradFi, because we don't really believe in reinventing the entire circle. So we want to take the parts that are already working, and then work on the parts we already know don't work, and hopefully, we can solve those with web3.

On the major challenges in building zkLend so far…

Jane: Staying nimble with our timeline. We had set out a very rigid roadmap when we first went out to fundraise and build the team. But we were one of the first DeFi protocols building on StarkNet, and StarkNet itself isn't even in full production yet. So what that means is, we actually have to adapt our timeline to StarkNet's roadmap.

On opting to build on StarkNet…

Brian: We were quite impressed with [StarkNet’s] technical deliveries and also how the team has grown. It’s far more advanced compared to the other kind of parties. So for us, it was really fascinating and really exciting for us to build at the bleeding edge of technology. And we felt that the StarkNet ecosystem is definitely going to explode when mass adoption kicks in.

Brian: I think there are definitely going to be applications that have fared better when using for example, Optimism or Arbitrum. But I think it's just a matter of how you imagine your setting and also your values for the protocol. And I think that actually dictates your speed of development, how quickly you want to launch it, and also fundamentally where you want to position yourself in the long term.

Jane: I would say the majority of our community tends to be retail users who really just want to learn more about StarkNet and the network, and then how to start using the protocol. Because ultimately, it's great to learn about zkLend. But you can't really learn about zkLend without learning StarkNet.

On the zk community…

Jane: I wouldn't necessarily generalize it to a zk community because there are very distinct communities between zk sync and StarkWare just because the languages are different, right? For the zk sync group, I would say, it's potentially more for developers who are very familiar with solidity, maybe already have a protocol, and they want to port over onto zk sync and take advantage of the pros of being able to be on the zk layer two. Whereas the people building on StarkNet are genuinely trying to build something brand new and push the boundaries.

Jane: StarkWare developers tend to be a little bit more scrappy because, number one, Cairo is a brand new language that people have to learn. There's not a whole lot of documentation of libraries. So you really have to be a very resourceful dev, to be building using Cairo. And second of all, I think the reason why people decide to build on Cairo is because they're genuinely curious about the possibilities of what you're able to build on Cairo, versus what you're able to build on Solidity.

On if there’s a future for under-collateralized lending in crypto…

Jane: I think it's difficult to test out under-collateralized lending unless you have some form of identity or some form of guarantee that the borrower is going to pay back. I think as it stands under-collateralized lending for retail users is very, very difficult. But I do know that there are protocols working on KYC checks, working towards a solution where part of your identity is revealed to these protocols that then issue an NFT guaranteeing your creditworthiness onchain. I don't have an answer. But I think the next piece to unlock is institutional under-collateralized lending before we start thinking about retail under-collateralized lending.

On the collaborative nature of zk ecosystem…

Brian: I think this is a good thing for a young ecosystem where there is a lot of connecting, and everyone is just building together and trying to accommodate each other and be a part of the solution. So I think the first step for getting into the ecosystem is just to raise your hand and learn and then people will notice you.

On why the Ethereum merge is good for layer 2 solutions as well…

Jane: I would say that, since the merge has happened, anyone who starts using Ethereum will have a much easier time understanding what happens under the hood. And I think that makes it a lot less intimidating for people to start using, and just overall a much more pleasant experience. So speed and scalability aside, I would say that's a huge plus for most users.

Check out the full episode of The Builder’s Journey with Brian Fu and Jane Ma, and be sure to follow for new episodes every Tuesday!

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