Hello Hello! Matthew here … coming at ya from Kansas City.
I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself to the Polkadot / Kusama community, especially since I recently launched a Kusama validator and was accepted into the Thousand Kusama Validators Programme.
A little bit of background about myself:
For the better part of 20 years, I was a developer working on a variety of projects and with a variety of companies. This time of life took me to all parts of the world including San Francisco, Sydney, and Vancouver, just to name a few places.
In 2010, I co-founded my first tech startup with the goal of democratizing corporate philanthropic giving. After that startup, I co-founded several more startups with a variety of goals and missions. In addition to being a tech entrepreneur, I also became a startup community builder. I and a few others co-founded the world-famous Kansas City Startup Village, the birthplace of Google Fiber, as well as some other social ventures and nonprofits. So many stories to share, but I’ll save those for another day.
Fast forward to today and I’ve been fully entrenched in the crypto scene for over 3 years. I wasn’t smart enough to jump in when I first learned about Bitcoin in 2012. No, it took me refinding it in 2015 and then finally “getting it” and getting involved in 2017. So I’m not an OG by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m also not a noob. I have basically breathed, slept, and eaten crypto each and every day since 2017. I’m absolutely loving the space and watching it all develop in realtime at a rapid pace.
Being a computer nerd my whole life has allowed me to grasp a lot of the technicals when it comes to the infrastructure, protocols, etc of crypto networks and projects. I’ve been a sysadmin for many years in various roles, and therefore have a sound understanding of how to manage things on the backend.
Aside from being an avid trader and researcher of crypto, I’m also a miner and staker. I am currently operating a DIY hotspot on the Helium network, an ETH2 validator, a Centrifuge validator, a Theta Guardian node, and a few Theta Edge nodes as well.
With regards to my setup, I’m running a dedicated Intel NUC complete with an 8th gen i7 processor, 32GB RAM, 2TB m.2 SSD drive, 1TB SATA SSD drive. Additionally, it’s connected via RJ45 to the router which is powered by Google Fiber running at a dedicated, synchronous 1Gbps up/down. No throttling. No data caps. Also, all of the equipment (computer, fiber jack, and router) is connected to a CyberPower UPS to ensure always-on connectivity even in the case of power failure. Decentralization at it’s finest! :)
The node is named “Good Karma” as an ode to my mother who passed away in 2010. She was a guiding light in my life and without a doubt helped steer me down the path to where I am today. And for that, I shall always be grateful.
There ya have it. That’s me in a nutshell.
Please feel free to reach out to chat crypto and/or ask me any questions. And I, of course, would love to receive your nomination if you’d like to be a member of Team Good Karma.
Validator address: JKbJoCsgUEgjbGmGq7VdSNgSVQt8k43e3WWAYGCpiNP9r6D
Validator stats: https://polkadot.js.org/apps/?rpc=wss%3A%2F%2Fkusama-rpc.polkadot.io#/staking/query/JKbJoCsgUEgjbGmGq7VdSNgSVQt8k43e3WWAYGCpiNP9r6D
Cheers Polkadot / Kusama fam!
Matthew
P.S. Go Chiefs!!!