Rooftop Vibes & DeFi Real Talk – Jameson’s Journey from College Dev to Building Parsa
CryptoMondays Philly - Episode 07
You ever find yourself on a rooftop in Philly, staring out at the skyline, sipping something cold, and thinking, “Man, crypto’s come a long way since 2019”? That was the vibe at the latest CryptoMondays Philly event—our first rooftop edition, by the way—sponsored by the fine folks over at Story Protocol. They’re building tools for creators to license and monetize IP on-chain, which is as cool as it sounds. But let’s talk about the real star of the night: Jameson.
If you’ve been around the DeFi scene, the name might ring a bell. If not, no worries. He’s one of the co-founders of Parsa, a decentralized exchange where you bet on price ranges instead of just going long or short. Sounds spicy? It is.
From CS Undergrad to DeFi Die-Hard
Jameson kicked off his talk by rewinding to 2019—he was just a junior in college majoring in computer science, mostly doing creative coding and web dev. He stumbled across Vitalik’s blog and was instantly hooked on Ethereum. Why? Because it wasn’t just tech for tech’s sake—it was programmable money, censorship resistance, and transparency all rolled into one.
And if you’re thinking, “Ah yes, another ETH maxi origin story,” you’re not wrong—but Jameson’s journey wasn’t just starry-eyed theory. He dove in.
Hackathons, Gitcoin, and Building Skills on the Side
In 2020, he entered a hackathon for NEAR Protocol and ended up winning second place. Not bad for a first-timer. He also dabbled in freelance dev work on Gitcoin, built prototypes for carbon-accounting NFTs (because why not), and joined Kernel, a program for up-and-coming Web3 builders. Basically, he said “yes” to everything that let him learn and grow.
Then came the infamous “DeFi Summer” kicked off by Compound’s token launch. Yield farming, token incentives, governance experiments—it was the wild west, and Jameson was riding right through it.
From Infrastructure to Full-Stack Products
Eventually, he found his way into SEDA, then Flux, building automated market makers and oracles. His code at one point was securing billions—a surreal moment for a 24-year-old. But after four years, the itch came back to build using the whole tech stack. He didn’t just want to build backend infrastructure. He wanted to make real, usable products.
Enter Parsa.
What Is Parsa?
Glad you asked.
Parsa is a range perpetuals platform. Instead of just betting that a token will go up or down, you can bet that it’ll stay within a specific price range—say $170–$175 for SOL. You earn or pay a funding rate depending on the accuracy of your prediction, and unlike traditional options, liquidity isn’t fragmented across multiple strike prices and expiries, making it easier to bootstrap new markets.
Oh, and it’s all on-chain and non-custodial now, thanks to Solana’s high performance. They even wrote an article explaining their move from EVM chains to Solana (mainly performance reasons, in case you’re curious).
Lessons from the Front Lines
Jameson dropped some real gems during his talk, especially for aspiring founders:
Surround yourself with value-aligned people – The space is full of scammers and grifters, so working with folks who share your long-term vision keeps you sane. Social proof is everything.
Start side projects – Every job he landed came from one. You never know where it’ll take you.
Expect everything to take longer – Building in crypto is like trying to sprint through molasses. Despite this, speed is everything in the rapidly evolving industry of DeFi.
Use LLMs smartly – He now implements a lot of features by writing specs and having ChatGPT handle the rest. Basically, he’s got a $20/month dev intern.
Reality Check: It's Hard Out Here
Not gonna lie—Jameson got real about the downsides. Building Parsa is hard. The tech is solid, but growth is slow. Distribution is the biggest challenge. He’s manually DMing people on Twitter and Telegram, piloting referral codes, and grinding every day to get users.
There’s no “go viral” button in Web3. But he’s staying optimistic because hey—this is the frontier. The good stuff takes time.
Cool Stuff You Probably Missed
Mathematical Alpha: Parsa’s range perp system can actually be used to visualize the market’s probability distribution. Think of it as a real-time sentiment meter. Even if you’re not a trader, that data is gold.
Open and Permissionless: In true crypto fashion, Parsa doesn’t care where users are from. The protocol is permissionless and global.
Join the Gang: They’ve got a Telegram group where the community hangs. No Discord fragmentation—just one hub for all things Parsa.
Wrap-Up: Builders Gonna Build
Jameson’s story is a classic DeFi builder arc—discovery, obsession, experimentation, burnout, rebirth. What makes it stand out is how honest he is about the rollercoaster. This isn’t a puff piece about overnight success. It’s a real look at what it means to bet your career on crypto—and still show up even when the market’s down and users are few.
If you’re building, thinking about building, or just crypto-curious—Parsa’s journey (and Jameson’s outlook) is the kind of inspiration that doesn’t fade when the token price dips.
Till next time, keep building. Or at least keep showing up.
💬 Got questions about Parsa? Hit up parsa.finance or join the Telegram.
📣 Missed the rooftop vibes? Sign up for the blog and get these recaps (now officially paywall-free).
CoinFlask and CryptoMondays Philly are keeping it open source and open access.
🍕 Oh, and yeah—we had leftover food. Don’t miss the next one.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Consult a qualified tax professional regarding your specific circumstances.
📌 Need help?
CoinFlask offers crypto tax advisory and reporting solutions tailored to your needs. Reach out for a consultation or check out our resources.
Check out tools like Koinly, or CoinTracker to simplify the process. (Affiliate links may apply.)
Got questions or want us to cover a topic? Follow us on Twitter @CoinFlask or subscribe to our newsletter for weekly insights.
Stay curious. Stay safe. Stack smart.