Here’s Why Web2 Talent Is Flocking to Polygon

Polygon Labs

March 17, 2022

As more and more people in industries ranging from finance and technology to journalism and entertainment are choosing Web3 for the next step in their careers, Polygon has become a major destination for some of the top talent looking to build the next iteration of the Internet.

Technology investor Chris Dixon once observed that what the smartest people do on the weekend is what everyone else will do during the week in ten years. To put it differently, how the best and brightest choose to make their living is a leading indicator for mainstream adoption of a technology. One of the strongest signals that we are entering the Web3 era came when Ryan Wyatt left Google for Polygon.

For the past seven years, Wyatt has led YouTube’s gaming operations, a post he claimed while he was still 28. Wyatt has always been one step ahead of major changes in the gaming industry, starting with esports at Major League Gaming and Machinima and later with streaming. He is now leading Polygon Studios in its push to grow the Web3 game developer ecosystem.

“Right now, Web3 is a once or twice in a lifetime opportunity,” Ryan said. “Choosing Polygon was a no-brainer for me. It was a combination of having founders I really like and the broad visibility on the industry thanks to Polygon’s position right at the heart of everything.”

Activity on Polygon’s blockchain rocketed to one billion transactions last year, as people flocked to its network attracted by high speeds and low fees. The team has attracted top talents across the board, growing by about 20 people a month to 250 strong. Here are just some of the exceptional people who have recently joined Polygon to make Web3 a reality:

Neil Vidyarthi joined Polygon in January to oversee product marketing, bringing more than a decade of experience scaling go-to-markets across web3, gaming, and apps, with stints at Dapper Labs, Doist, and Electronic Arts;
Aashima Arora came onboard in January as the Investments Lead running Polygon’s $200 million Ecosystem Fund, leveraging her financial markets and banking experience from Citi and investing experience from her own angel network and A-PAG, working under India’s foremost private equity investor and HBS alum;
Dalip Tyagi, based in Seattle, joined in February as SVP and Head of Developer relations after more than 16 years at technology bluechips. At Microsoft, Dalip helped build a Parity tool for normalizing brand perception across different cultures; he led Facebook’s partner marketing team; and, most recently at Amazon, he helmed a cross-discipline team to drive the Alexa Skills marketplace;
Jaslyn Wang, based in Singapore, joined in February to look after APAC growth. She has previously worked at McKinsey, Amazon Web Services, and JPMorgan;
Urvit Goel, based in Seattle, joined earlier this month as VP of Business Development - Gaming after nearly 10 years at Amazon where he led BD teams for multiple global gaming initiatives.
Momoe Ikeda-Chelminska has just joined at the head of events in London. She has worked in a similar capacity at Bloomberg, CFA Institute, Financial Times and Lazard Asset Management;
Michael Blank is joining Polygon Studios as the chief operating officer. Michael spent almost two decades at Electronic Arts, where he launched the gaming giant’s Origin direct-to-consumer digital gaming platform and EA Access subscription service.

Competitive salaries, fully-remote positions and a commitment to diversity and inclusion are a given. But working at Polygon also means being at the very nexus of the latest developments in decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and blockchain adoption by enterprises. Polygon is building a suite of Ethereum scaling solutions, including Polygon PoS, Polygon Edge, and Polygon Avail, that is similar to what Amazon Web Services offers Web2 developers -- a tool for every possible use case.

It is also an opportunity to be on the bleeding edge of technology, which is saying a lot in an industry already at the vanguard of change. Polygon recently raised $450 million in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital India and is investing in advanced zero-knowledge (ZK) cryptography that will be key to onboarding the next billion users to Web3.

Check out career opportunities at Polygon, explore the broader ecosystem, and keep up with the latest news on the blog!