Philippine developers Carl (Velo), Mark (Treasure), and Armie share their Web3 onboarding journeys and APAC Hackathon experience in a Rise In Builder Spotlight. They discuss how community support, mentorship, and hands-on hackathons helped them shift from blockchain skepticism to building live projects on Stellar.
Three Filipino builders—Carl, a software solutions architect and Velo founder; Mark, a full-stack developer from Treasure who onboards Web3 developers; and Armie, part of Rise In's community—discuss their journeys into blockchain development. Carl started through academic research on blockchain in 2024 after initial skepticism. Mark entered Web3 via crypto mining and has since built on EVM chains, Solana, and now Stellar. Both highlight how Rise In's hands-on mentorship, community events, and structured bootcamps removed friction from onboarding. They reflect on the APAC Hackathon experience—the stress of pitching, the quality of feedback from judges, and how competing alongside developers from Indonesia and Vietnam raised the bar. The conversation touches on what makes successful projects: starting with real problems rather than technology first, and the evolution from education-focused community work to shipping products that people actually use.