Jackson Kelly is a software engineer (ex-Amazon), smart contract auditor and career coach with over 10 years of experience in tech. In this conversation we discuss his move from FAANG to working in the crypto space, his smart contract auditing methodology, opportunities in web3 and advice for students considering a career in tech. LINKS: https://www.youtube.com/c/JacksonKelley https://twitter.com/sjkelleyjr https://jacksonkelley.gumroad.com/l/how-to-become-a-smart-contract-auditor/ https://medium.com/coinmonks/5-solidity-code-smells-87bb2f259dde https://code4rena.com/ https://yacademy.dev/ https://spearbit.com/ OUTLINE: 00:00 - Background 8:04 - Working at Amazon 14:13 - Software Engineering vs Smart Contract Auditing 16:46 - Lessons learned from Amazon 19:09 - Adversarial/Hacker Mindset 21:53 - FAANG Interview Tips 28:13 - Coding Interviews 30:32 - Do you need a Degree 32:08 - Smart Contract Auditing Methodology 35:23 - Developing Intuition for Vulnerable Code 38:54 - Learning Resources for Smart Contract Auditing 47:43 - Getting a Job as a Smart Contract Auditor 55:12 - yAcademy 1:01:43 - Spearbit 1:05:11 - Senior Smart Contract Auditor Salaries 1:07:49 - Working at Robinhood 1:14:31 - Working as a Developer vs Auditor 1:17:24 - Cyber Security background vs Developer background 1:19:53 - Web3 security in the next 2-5 years 1:28:35 - Advice for Students 1:32:55 - Deciding what to work on 1:35:36 - Being a new dad 1:40:24 - Jackson's YouTube Videos ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHAOoANmSNA

We sit down with Pashov and discuss his decision to all in on web3 security as an independent security researcher. Pashov shares alpha on auditing, obtaining clients and building industry connections. Links: https://twitter.com/pashovkrum OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 3:52 Going Independent 5:47 First High Severity Bug 10:45 Learning Mindset 14:06 Reading code4rena Reports 20:23 Building Intuition for Vulnerabilities 22:46 Focused Hours 24:55 Spearbit 28:49 Understanding Code in Depth 31:34 How Beginners Should Approach code4rena 36:38 First Solo Audit 41:26 Getting Clients 45:52 Solo Auditing and Auditing Partnerships 55:30 Day in the Life of Pashov 59:22 How to Study 1:09:02 Independent Security Researcher vs Auditor Job 1:13:07 Experience Auditing with Spearbit 1:16:28 Deep Understanding of Code 1:20:02 Small vs Large Codebases 1:24:38 Immunefi 1:30:21 Building a Business 1:35:25 Making Industry Connections 1:40:30 Setting a Good Example for Others 1:46:43 Tips for Newbies ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KONVlS7azMQ