Changing Lanes

A reflection on my transition from Trail of Bits to Paradigm

Changing Lanes

In early 2020, I was given an opportunity to join Trail of Bits over the summer. I was familiar with the high quality of work that they produced so I happily accepted the opportunity to meet and work with some of the brightest minds in software security.

During my time at Trail of Bits I worked on numerous engagements with coworkers who were experts in all sorts of subjects, from cryptography to binary analysis to formal verification. It was a truly great experience to be able to collaborate with and learn from so many talented individuals.

When I wasn’t helping clients secure their software, I spent time improving Slither, a static code analyzer for Solidity, alongside Josselin Feist. Although program analysis isn’t my strong suit, I was able to improve quickly thanks to Josselin’s mentorship and I’m proud to have been able to contribute back by implementing support for inline assembly as well as identifying and fixing a handful of internal bugs.

However, as summer drew to a close, I began considering what I wanted to do next. At the same time, Matt Huang from Paradigm reached out with an offer to meet the team. Not knowing much about Paradigm beyond the fact that two people I respected, Dan Robinson and Georgios Konstantopoulos, worked there, I figured it couldn’t hurt to chat.

After talking with Matt, Fred Ehrsam, Alana Palmedo, Gus Coldebella, and the others on the team, I realized that Paradigm had amassed a group of extremely talented people, each a leader in their respective fields. The thought of being able to work alongside them and learn from their experiences was extremely exciting.

As such, I’m happy to share that I’m joining Paradigm as a Research Partner. My responsibilities will include helping evaluate the security posture of potential portfolio companies, assisting current portfolio companies, advancing the overall security of the Ethereum ecosystem, but most importantly, learning new things.

I’d like to thank Dan Guido and everyone at Trail of Bits for having me this summer as well as Matt Huang and everyone at Paradigm for bringing me on board. I’d also like to thank the community for your continued support. I wouldn’t be here without you, and I hope you’ll join me in facing whatever the future holds.