I got laid off from Siemens, taught myself Solidity in a few months, and built the most-used decentralized exchange in the world. My career counselor did not predict this path.
The beauty of an AMM is that it replaces an entire industry — market makers, order books, matching engines — with a single mathematical formula. Math doesn't take days off or play favorites.
I read a Vitalik blog post about automated market makers and thought "I could build that." Six months of coding later, here we are. Sometimes the best businesses start with a blog post and naive optimism.
Permissionless means anyone can list a token. That includes scammers. But the alternative — a gatekeeper who decides what you're allowed to trade — is worse. Freedom has costs.
DeFi isn't about replacing banks. It's about building an alternative for the billions of people banks won't serve. If you have a bank account and a credit score, DeFi isn't for you. If you don't, it might be your only option.