What It’s Like to Join Startale as a QA Engineer - Adam Gencel
What It’s Like to Join Startale as a QA Engineer
Adam Gencel
Quality assurance often operates in the background. When things work, no one notices. But when they break, everything stops.
After nine years working as an automation QA across web2 and web3, I've learned that the best products aren't just built fast—they're built to be trusted. That's why I joined Startale.
From Web2 to Web3: A Career Focused on Impact
I've spent the better part of a decade helping teams move quickly without sacrificing quality. Early in my career, I worked across various web2 companies, learning that speed without confidence is reckless. Later, I moved into web3, joining teams like Aave, where I helped build quality processes for one of the largest decentralized lending platforms.
What I've always cared about most is impact. Not just shipping features, but building systems that real people use and trust. That means creating QA processes that catch problems before users do, and automation that lets teams deploy with confidence instead of anxiety.
But finding a place that takes quality seriously while moving fast? That's harder than it sounds.
Why Startale Stood Out
I first came across Startale after stumbling on Astar Network on X. My initial impression was simple: this is ambitious. Not in a hype-driven way, but in the kind of ambition that requires actually solving hard problems.
What made me join wasn't just the technical challenge. It was the mission. Startale isn't building products for people already deep in crypto. They're bringing web3 to everyday users. That's a fundamentally different problem, and it requires fundamentally different thinking about quality, reliability, and trust.
Compared to other companies I considered, Startale felt genuinely committed to that vision. It doesn't feel like something built purely for profit. It feels like a team trying to change how normal people interact with technology and what that technology can enable for them.
What "Bring the World Onchain" Means for QA
To me, "Bring the World Onchain" is about making web3 practical and approachable for people who don't know what a seed phrase is. And if we're serious about that, quality can't be an afterthought.
At this stage of my career, that's what excites me. I want to help build things that are actually used and trusted at scale, not just technically interesting experiments. That means putting the right processes and automation in place so releases don't feel risky, and teams can trust the systems they're building on.
First Impressions: Trust and Ownership
What caught me off guard at Startale was how quickly you're trusted with real ownership. Things move fast, but decisions aren't rushed. You're expected to think things through, not just execute tasks.
The first few weeks felt busy but welcoming. Onboarding was less about following a strict checklist and more about sharing context. It was easy to ask questions or jump into conversations. A few early interactions with teammates made it clear that collaboration and accountability aren't just encouraged. They're the default way of working.
The culture feels very open and straightforward. Decisions and trade-offs are explained clearly, and it's normal to talk about what's not working yet. That openness, combined with a clear focus on learning and improving, makes the values feel genuine instead of aspirational.
Building Quality at Scale
I hope to add the most value by helping teams keep moving fast while feeling more confident about quality. That means setting up QA processes and automation that scale across the whole ecosystem of apps, Startale App, Soneium and everything else we're building.
This feels like a place where I can keep growing because the problems are genuinely hard and often unique. In web3, quality, security, and reliability aren't nice-to-haves. They're existential. And we're operating at a scale where getting this right actually matters.
I'm particularly excited about raising the bar for what "good quality" looks like in web3 products. Most projects in this space ship fast and fix later. We're trying to do both at the same time.
A Word to Future Teammates
If you enjoy working in a fast-paced environment where the problems are genuinely complex and meaningful, Startale is a great place to be. It's a team that works hard, moves quickly, and is deeply focused on bringing web3 to everyday users.
If that mission excites you and you like taking real ownership, you'll probably feel at home here.