Memories of muChiangmai

First Impression of muChiangmai

We work from home, and we are isolated, even if surrounded by cyber-neighbors. However, humans are inherently social creatures. As crypto nomads, how can we create a lifestyle that fits us just well?

After Zuzalu, more and more people have initiated pop-up cities all around. Since ShanhaiWoo, my desire for community life continued to grow. I was quickly drawn into the next developer co-living experience, venturing from the northeastern enthusiasm to the warm and welcoming Southeast Asia.

In the chilly yet international city of Chiang Mai, Thailand, nestled within the protective embrace of the city's ancient walls, a permissionless developer community, muChiangmai, formed. It was a six-week "pop-up city" event that provided a unique accommodation experience for developers and mentors, bringing together tech enthusiasts and serving as a platform for global community cooperation.

The vibe here was just right. In the co-working space, most screen up and head down during the daytime. When various workshops and boot camps happen, we gather together to listen and discuss.

During this event, we no longer adhered to traditional conference formats. There is no more boundary between "organizers" and "participants", replaced by casual academic and technical meetups.

Mentors in muChiangmai offered a rich curriculum. Every week featured a variety of regular recurring workshops, including Solidity, Cairo Bootcamp, and read smart contract with AI-assistant, zk circuits tutorial, etc. There were around 60-70 sessions and events like "Meet Starkware", "How and Why Kakarot" and “Chiquito” provided participants with opportunities to delve deeper into ecosystems and exposure projects as well.

It was this open-minded atmosphere that brought together core contributors from organizations like Starknet Foundation and Ethereum Foundation PSE(Privacy & Scaling Explorations), as well as attendees from over 20 countries, to share their projects and collectively explore how to build Web3 better. For example, Shina from CollegeDAO organized a roundtable discussion that sparked valuable conversations:

What makes a good builder?

From an ecosystem perspective, Taiko believed that "asking good questions" is the key. First, there must be a space for good questions to emerge, requiring a place for public discussion. Second, the questions themselves must be clear, defining the scope and providing proper definitions.

Communities would say that, having the right atmosphere is essential. Communities need shared narratives and shared imagination to guide, inspire, and activate members' creativity.

From the view of founders and developers, Social Layer believed that resilience and thinking beyond code (considering the consequences of technology) are essential. viaPrize regards taking initiative, being communicative, and teamwork as crucial factors.

How should we solve the Real-World Issue?

Some suggested a grounded understanding of the world, recognizing the demographics and geographic factors as the foundation for identifying key issues.

Others emphasized practicality, asserting that creating sustainable business models and staying in the world is essential for making an impact.

Some approached the issue from a humanitarian perspective, advocating for empowering the powerless with public goods and using technology to bring positive externalities to the world.

On a personal level, being healthy—eating well and getting enough sleep (7-9 hours)—was seen as a practice for a good life.

Key Success Factors for Organizing a "Pop-Up City"

Location: Chiang Mai, with its international atmosphere, became the ideal place.

「According to the "2023 Latest City Safety Ranking" on the Numbeo website, Chiang Mai ranked 11th, surpassing Tokyo. In the global safety index (421 cities), Chiang Mai ranked 32nd, making it the top-ranked city in Southeast Asia.
The significantly lower cost of living in Chiang Mai, with hostels at $7 per night, $1.5 for fried rice, and $1.5 for coffee, reduced financial stress for digital nomads. In the realm of digital nomads, Chiang Mai has long held the second position on Nomadlist.com.
」
reference

Safe, with no risk of war, and a low cost of living, coupled with easy entry for foreigners, Chiang Mai has attracted a significant number of talents.
A group of outstanding souls, such as Leo Lara and Louis Guthmann, who are filled with passion and leadership, as well as energetic individuals like Dragan, Shina, Noah, Sandro, have infused this event with high-energy vitality."

Collaboration with the local communities: Weekly Thai boxing sessions and occasional Thai language classes inspired us a lot. Many participants even tried a traditional Minnan-style dice game during the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration at 706.

Mid-Autunm Festival in 706

Diversity: This community includes hundreds of developers from more than 20 countries, including the US, China, India, Thailand, Ukraine, Finland, France, Ireland, Spain, Belgium, Israel, and more. They lived, worked, and shared their lives. Activities ranged from Thai boxing and yoga to ice baths, hiking, motorcycling, and trying out Thai massage and chicken slaughtering in Thai.

Meeting People

"AW, ZKP, MPC, EF, Starknet, FTX, etc.… We see real people behind those buzzwords"
——Sun

Many remarkable individuals left a profound impression on me.

I had the opportunity to chat with Starkware ecosystem lead Louis, who was passionate and a good listener. He explained why Starknet was willing to do so many bottom-up, community-driven initiatives.
He mentioned that it started in Cairo, a super challenging coding language. To attract the most geeky developers, Starknet created a supportive community atmosphere with the value of “TCL” (tenderness, caring, love). They aimed to retain developers in the ecosystem and build stable, trusted, and mutually beneficial relationships. As for their sponsorship of muChiangmai, Louis said it was just in line with Starknet's goal to experiment with developer co-living. As a result, the partnership was super successful.

The number of Starknet Full-Time Developers increased 14% in the past 1 yr

Source: https://www.developerreport.com/

A developer from a village in northern India and I bonded over Muay Thai. He was the only one in his hometown who knew coding and had learned it online without attending university. He is now designing his zkFi middleware project and planning to attend devconnect in Istanbul next month, all thanks to Twitter. Encountering self-taught individuals like him reassured me that one can create his or her path by getting enough information and taking action.

My tablemate was also from India, an electrical engineering major, and a dedicated otaku. He wore a short-sleeved shirt featuring Goku from Dragon Ball and had a notebook with ukiyo-e art on the cover. He rarely ate meals during regular hours and often slept on the couch in the co-working space. He was an intern at Lambda Class, working on his project, the e-sim empowered wallet, and helping develop a gamefi platform.

A young Japanese developer, focusing on developing cross-chain games. He was reserved and, in casual conversation about life, rarely made it to the third round. The right way to engage with him was through discussions about AW(autonomous world), which would trigger his passionate and endless flow of words.

A DeFi builder from Taiwan, known for his outward enthusiasm and inner diligence, possesses a delicate and profound writing style. He articulated his thoughts and exhibited a keen curiosity and scrutiny towards life. For the past five years, he has consistently updated the blog. Via him, I got to know about FAB DAO, a Foundation for Art and Blockchain, which blew my mind.

A developer from South Korea, engaged in the construction of Herodotus, caught my attention. In a keynote speech, she demonstrated a poised and articulate style, maintaining a seamless flow and creating a lecture-like atmosphere. The project, aptly named Herodotus, is dedicated to tracing the history of the blockchain, focusing on L1-L2 storage proofs, and pays homage to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus.

A freelancer from Peru, primarily contributing to the StarkNet ecosystem with involvement in projects like Kakarot and Dojo, studied computer science in Beijing a few years ago. He has traversed most China cities and boasts a commendable command of the Chinese.

A cross-chain bridge developer from Japan relocated to Southeast Asia in search of a digital nomad community due to the high costs in Dubai. He discovered muChiangmai through Twitter.

A former fitness coach from the United States embarked on a journey in the world of DeFi after contracting dengue fever, leading him into the adventure of Web3.

……

Faces pass, coming and going, I delved into the myriad of diverse lifestyles in the world.

Views on Co-Living

During my one-month stay in ShanhaiWoo and three weeks in muChiangmai, I observed that:

How culture and networks form;

How small groups integrated, evolving from peer-to-peer connections to collaboration between communities;

The community's developmental process inherits its essence from previous initiatives like Zuzalu's pop-up city.

Long-term co-living represents a novel paradigm for people’s interaction, allowing Web3 professionals to establish more long-lasting and profound collaborative relationships. Unlike previous short-term events, muChiangmai's "pop-up city" provides participants with more common life experiences beyond technology and business. Participants have more opportunities to explore and immerse themselves in the Web3 community.
Furthermore, many people rekindled the sense of community and neighborliness. In this public life, people shared experiences, and everyone had the chance to try something new.

Within the just-right spatial confines, we can know everyone in the community and have every public service within walking distance. We speak the same language and meet like-minded individuals. A simple gathering could commence with a few friends sitting on the ground. We can build lifetime friendships. We cherished this "readily accessible" public life.

In an ideal duration, you will be free from the fear of missing out (FOMO). We have ample time to create shared memories. For example, sitting on a couch with a tablemate you had never spoken to, she asked you for keynote notes, and you naturally exchanged contacts. Or sitting face-to-face in a dimly lit tuk-tuk with people from six different countries, two more hanging off the side, creating a South Asian featured scene.

An increasing number of pop-up communities are emerging worldwide, offering people more social and creative opportunities through long-term co-living. This model may become a new paradigm for Web3 professionals to establish relationships while providing fertile ground for the incubation and iteration of new technologies.

Developer Community Events in the Future

**The choice of how to organize a developer community event depends on the goals. **

Pursuing a clear input-output ratio for projects in the developer community can be challenging but not impossible.

Direct metrics include event costs, the number of participants, and the number of ecosystem projects created.

Long-term tracking should focus on long-term project conversion rates and developer retention rates.

From a venture capital perspective, hosting a developer community event is more about building a brand and gaining deeper insights. The concept of a hacker house serves as a starting point for non-technical VC professionals to establish a development network from scratch. There is no need for the heavy format of months-long dev co-living experiences, which can cost up to $100,000. Instead, 2-3 days with clear objectives and higher intensity hacker houses are sufficient.

Projects born within developer communities also have limitations. They are suitable for early-stage open-source projects that provide developers with room for contribution to community building. These projects often do not generate mature business models, making community support even more critical. Their tracks are also limited, such as developer tools or public goods. However, the conversion rate into long-term projects is worrying. Regarding developer retention, reliable retention methods are based on shared interests, long-term friendships, and financial support.

From the perspective of public goods communities, if the initial aim is to improve the livelihoods of practitioners, foster broader and deeper connections between ecosystems and developers, and explore the possibilities of future human life as social beings, then the pop-up city would be a good practice.

Views on Hackathons

The value of participating in and organizing hackathons is worth contemplating. Hackathons are not just about competitions, but provide opportunities for co-learning and collaboration. In events like muChiangmai, participants are motivated not only by bounty but also by the desire to experience, find partners, and establish long-term collaborative relationships. Combining hackathons with developer communities may be a key success factor in dev-targeted projects. However, since those projects do not originate in a commercial environment, it’s hard to verify the product-market fit (PMF), and few hackathon projects progress to penetrate the market.