Ekaterina Sergeeva: Breaking The Glass Ceiling as a Woman in Web3

Exclusive interview with Ekaterina Sergeeva, VP of Developer Relations at Gateway.fm

Hi Ekaterina, thanks for taking the time to chat today. First of all, can you tell us a bit about your background?

I hold a Master's Degree in Engineering and have accumulated over 15 years of invaluable experience in IT, navigating through diverse specializations such as web and mobile applications, middleware, and hardware. My journey includes certification in Linux system administration, ISTQB, and completing a Management course from MIT Sloan.

Throughout my career, I've contributed to pharma and plant automation software, restaurant payment solutions, and automotive projects, working with clients like Daimler. Currently, at Gateway.fm, I'm managing the technical presence in the development community.

I oversee tech documentation, hackathons, and workshops, while also playing a pivotal role in enhancing brand awareness through technical blog posts and announcements.

Engaging with the developer community is a crucial aspect of my role, as I actively collect and incorporate feedback to refine our products. On top of that, I manage website development, CRM integration.

What attracted you to Gateway.fm?

I was initially drawn to Gateway.fm from its inception, being one of the first team members alongside the two co-founders, Cuautemoc Weber and Igor Mandgrigin. I actively participated in initial meetings, always believing in the huge potential of Gateway.fm.

My engineering background piqued my fascination in the cryptography and mathematics behind blockchain technology, and although I was also intrigued by VR, I ultimately chose to delve into the blockchain space.

Over time, I became increasingly interested in the DeFi and other implementations of blockchain, particularly its potential to democratize solutions and be a technological force for good.

I have seen first-hand how blockchain’s decentralized nature empowers individuals, removing traditional barriers and fostering inclusivity. This aspect always resonated strongly with me, underscoring my belief in technology's capacity to create positive, accessible impact for a broader audience.

Personally, I have also been attracted to the idea of solving big problems. Blockchain’s complexity problem has been one of the most pronounced issues hindering mainstream adoption. Navigating cryptographic algorithms, consensus mechanisms, and smart contracts comes with a very steep learning curve for non-blockchain native professionals.

I loved the idea of making blockchain easy to build on top of, much like how anyone can build a fully functioning website now, without extensive expertise in the underlying infrastructure.

At Gateway.fm, we are firmly aligned on a vision to abstract the complexity of blockchain technology, and also have a clear roadmap to execute this vision.

I also appreciate how Gateway.fm uses carbon-neutral data centers to minimize the environmental impact of operating blockchain nodes, contributing to a more sustainable and eco-friendly crypto ecosystem.

How has your experience been as a thriving woman in Web3?

Navigating the male-dominated landscape of the tech industry as a woman has been both challenging and transformative. The sensitivity of this issue is evident, demanding two to three times the effort for acknowledgment and respect.

Often, it's a struggle to be heard in meetings, where the repetition by male colleagues is more readily accepted. To tackle these challenges, there's a need to collectively recognize women as professionals, fostering mutual support. Regrettably, women's support for each other is not as widespread as it should be as well. 

I have had some unfortunate recent experiences, such as facing questions about reviewing code independently and encountering disbelief in my role as a technical judge during hackathons despite my experience, highlighting the challenges I've encountered because I am a woman in the tech industry.

For women professionals encountering similar issues, I recommend prioritizing self-care, maintaining confidence, and showing respect to other women. For men, it's crucial to reflect on the impact on loved ones and actively contribute to creating an inclusive environment, supporting women. 

I’m also lucky to have a huge amount of autonomy in my role and have been given ample space to grow and explore upskilling opportunities. The Web3 ecosystem offers opportunities for ambitious women, and compared to five years ago, there are more female role models establishing credentials at major Web3 companies in the world.

This can encourage greater levels of female participation moving forward. However, there’s always more room for female leaders at the top of the industry, and right now women working in developer and data science roles have a unique opportunity to segway into the blockchain space and embark on an exciting new career path.

What have been the highlights for you so far during your time with Gateway.fm?

I have been given the opportunity to learn from some of the best minds in Web3, and see the Gateway.fm ecosystem go from strength to strength.

We have secured partnerships with numerous industry leaders and worked on some major projects that demonstrate the power of our unique suite of solutions.

It is also been very fulfilling to see the growth of Presto – our Zero-knowledge based Web3 platform as-a-service, designed to greatly simplify the implementation of Zero-knowledge rollups.

What exactly is Presto?

Remember I mentioned making blockchain technology easy to engage with? Well, Presto allows any non-native crypto user to deploy an advanced full E2E zk rollup within a couple of clicks and minutes.

We already pre-integrate a lot of necessary tooling from the offset, such as explorers, faucet, data availability and many more ancillary services which greatly alleviate the workload of many developers and projects, enabling them to focus further on the actual use cases.

How does Presto simplify zk-rollup deployments?

We resolve the complexity of deploying the infrastructure, smart contract and additional tooling needed to have a fully functioning zk rollup which is quite difficult to pull off.

We offer over 20 Presto customization at the moment, and we anticipate this figure to grow steadily as more features and functionalities are added.

What can we expect from Gateway.fm over the next year?

Looking ahead over the next 12 months, we’ll be accelerating product development to meet the needs of our growing client base.

We want to define the future of decentralized technology and develop bespoke solutions that will attract traditional financial institutions and enterprises to explore the blockchain space.

We want to put our extensive infrastructure knowledge and unique core development experience to work in serving the leading DeFi solutions in the decentralized space. We are also in discussions with some prominent players with a view to building a unique traders platform to capture the value of perpetuals trading.

Where can readers learn more about Gateway.fm?

Anyone interested in learning more can follow us on twitter (@gateway_eth) or visit gateway.fm to check out our suite of solutions.