My First Year in Superteam: From Learning Web3 to Building on Solana
A personal story of how curiosity, community, bounties, and a few uncomfortable learning phases pushed me deeper into the Solana ecosystem.
I did not enter Web3 with a big plan.
There was no clear roadmap, no perfect strategy, and honestly, for a long time, I did not even fully understand what I was getting into.
It started with curiosity.
Back in 2020, I first heard about Superteam through Tanmay Bhat. I remember hearing the name, seeing people talk about it, and feeling that something interesting was happening around builders, internet communities, and crypto. But at that time, I did not know what Superteam actually did, how it worked, or why people were so excited about it.
To me, it was just another name floating around the internet.
I was still far away from understanding the actual depth of the ecosystem.
Around 2024, I became more serious about development and Web3. I was already learning programming, trying to understand how products are made, and slowly exploring where technology was moving next. That was when I started watching Harkirat Singh’s videos, taking his courses, and learning more about blockchain, decentralized apps, and the Solana ecosystem.
Most of that phase was lonely learning.
Watching videos.
Taking notes.
Getting confused.
Searching again.
Trying to understand the same concept from five different places.
And somewhere in the middle of all that, I started asking myself a simple question:
Can I actually build something in this space, or am I only going to keep watching from the outside?
The First Real Push Came From Superteam Nepal
Around that time, I also started noticing Superteam Nepal.
They were doing community calls, meetups, university tours, co-working sessions, and different events around Web3, Solana, and startups. At first, I was mostly observing from the outside. I knew things were happening, but I had not really stepped in properly.
Then came February 4.
Superteam Nepal announced a university tour in my college, and that event became one of the first real turning points for me.
Before that, Web3 was mostly something I had seen on YouTube or read about online. But when the team came to my college and talked about blockchain, Solana, Superteam, and the opportunities around the ecosystem, everything felt more real.
It was no longer just theory.
There were real people building.
Real communities helping each other.
Real projects being shipped.
Real bounties.
Real opportunities.
That session gave me a different level of energy. It made me feel like maybe I did not have to wait until I became “perfect” to start. Maybe I could learn by participating. Maybe I could test myself in public and slowly improve from there.
So that is what I did.
I started participating.
My First Bounties and the First Small Win
After that, I began taking part in different Superteam bounties.
Some were developer bounties.
Some were content bounties.
Some were design-related tasks.
In the beginning, I was not only thinking about winning. I was trying to understand the process. I wanted to see how people submit their work, how they explain their ideas, how they present proof of work, and how feedback from the ecosystem actually works.
Then, on February 20, 2026, I won my first content bounty.
For some people, that may sound like a small thing. But for me, it was a very big moment.
It was not only about earning a few dollars.
It was the first time I felt that something I created could have value outside my own laptop. Someone from the ecosystem saw my work, judged it, and rewarded it. That feeling was different.
It gave me confidence.
Not the loud kind of confidence where you think you know everything, but the quiet kind of confidence where you start believing:
Okay, maybe I can actually do this.
That first bounty made me want to try harder.
Building InstinctFi, My First Solana Project
In February 2026, I started building my first Solana project, InstinctFi.
InstinctFi was an on-chain prediction market. Looking back, it was not just a project for me. It was the first time I moved from only learning about Solana to actually trying to build something on it.
And that shift was not easy.
When you are only watching tutorials, everything looks clean. But when you start building, small things begin to break. You realize that understanding a concept and implementing it are two very different things.
There were technical problems.
There were product decisions.
There were moments where I had to stop and rethink.
There were times when I was not even sure if I was doing things the right way.
But that is exactly why the project mattered.
Then, on March 11, 2026, InstinctFi helped me win my first university developer bounty.
That was another important milestone.
The content bounty had shown me that I could communicate ideas. But InstinctFi showed me that I could also build. It became my first real builder moment in the Solana ecosystem.
And after that, I became even more serious.
Learning by Showing Up
After InstinctFi, I started attending more Superteam Nepal community calls, co-working Fridays, and ecosystem events.
This is where I slowly understood something that I had not understood before:
A community is not just a Discord server or a Telegram group.
A real community is a place where people show up, share what they are building, take feedback, help each other, and keep improving together.
I learned a lot by simply being present.
I saw how people pitched their ideas.
How they explained their products.
How they handled feedback.
How they improved after every demo.
How they kept building even when things were messy.
That was very important for me because, in the beginning, I used to think building was mostly about writing code. But through Superteam, I realized that building is also about communication, consistency, feedback, and network.
Slowly, Superteam stopped feeling like just a Web3 community.
It started feeling like a place where I could actually grow.
Superteam India Fellowship: A Tough but Important Phase
From March 19 to June 10, 2026, I got the chance to be part of the Superteam India Fellowship process.
This was one of the most serious learning phases for me.
During the fellowship, I learned from mentors, from Harkirat, and from many other builders who were working on different ideas. The environment pushed me to think more clearly about what I was building, why it mattered, and how I should communicate it.
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It also pushed me to become more disciplined.
When you are surrounded by people who are building seriously, you cannot stay casual for long. You start questioning your own standards. You start asking whether your project is actually useful, whether your demo is clear, whether your pitch makes sense, and whether you are improving fast enough.
I reached the top 40, but I could not make it to the top 20.
And yes, it hurt.
When you attend sessions, build projects, give demos, and put in real effort, you naturally expect a result. So when the result does not go your way, it is difficult to accept immediately.
But after thinking about it, I do not see that phase as a failure.
I see it as one of the strongest learning experiences I had.
I reached closer than before.
I met better builders than before.
I understood the ecosystem better than before.
I saw where I still needed to improve.
And most importantly, I did not lose the hunger to keep building.
Hackathon Season and the Start of Truva
During the hackathon season in April–May 2026, my team and I started building Truva.
Truva is an on-chain reputation and trust layer for AI agents.
The idea came from a simple question:
As AI agents become more powerful and start doing more things on-chain, how will we know which agent can be trusted?
That question felt important to us.
So we started working on a system where AI agents could have reputation, trust signals, and identity on-chain. The goal was to make trust more programmable and transparent for the agent economy.
Truva became one of the best learning phases of my Web3 journey.
We gave multiple demos.
We made changes again and again.
We received feedback from people in the ecosystem.
We improved the product.
We learned how to explain the idea better.
And through that process, I learned something very important:
Building a startup is not only about having an idea.
It is about staying with the idea long enough to make it clearer. It is about listening when people do not understand you. It is about improving the same thing again and again until it starts making sense to others.
Truva taught me how to think more like a founder, not just a developer.
Pokhara Startup Village: Being Around Other Founders
Another unforgettable part of this journey was attending Superteam Nepal Pokhara Startup Village from May 7 to May 13, 2026.
That experience was very special for me.
There were around 20 other founders building in the ecosystem, and being around that kind of environment changes your mindset. When everyone around you is working on something, discussing ideas, solving problems, and trying to build better products, you naturally start thinking bigger.
You also realize that everyone is figuring things out.
No one has everything perfectly sorted.
Some people are better at pitching.
Some are better at product.
Some are better at tech.
Some are better at distribution.
But everyone is learning.
That environment helped me understand the ecosystem from a different angle. It showed me that a startup is not only about code or design. It is also about clarity, speed, community, and execution.
I learned a lot during those days in Pokhara, not just from sessions, but from small conversations, founder discussions, feedback, and simply being around people who were serious about building.
What Superteam Really Taught Me
Looking back at my first year around Superteam, I feel the biggest lesson was not only about Solana, Web3, or crypto.
The biggest lesson was about showing up.
You do not become a builder in one day.
You become one by submitting your first bounty, even if it is not perfect.
By attending your first community call, even if you do not know anyone.
By building your first project, even if it breaks many times.
By taking feedback, even when it is uncomfortable.
By losing some opportunities and still applying again.
By meeting better people and allowing yourself to learn from them.
That is what this journey has been for me.
It has been a series of small steps that slowly changed the way I see myself.
From someone who was only watching from the outside, I slowly started becoming someone who participates, builds, submits, learns, and improves.
And I think that is the real value of being part of a community like Superteam.
It gives you a place to start.
My Superteam Journey Timeline
Here is the journey in simple milestones:
2020 — First heard about Superteam through Tanmay Bhat.
Around 2024 — Started learning Web3 more seriously through development, videos, and courses.
February 4 — Attended the Superteam Nepal university tour in my college.
February 20, 2026 — Won my first content bounty.
February 2026 — Started building InstinctFi, my first Solana project.
March 11, 2026 — Won my first university developer bounty with InstinctFi.
March 19 — June 10, 2026 — Took part in the Superteam India Fellowship process and reached the top 80.
April–May 2026 — Built Truva, an on-chain reputation and trust layer for AI agents.
May 7 — May 13, 2026 — Attended Superteam Nepal Pokhara Startup Village with other founders and builders.
What Comes Next
This is still just the beginning for me.
I am still learning.
Still building.
Still making mistakes.
Still trying to improve every cycle.
From hearing about Superteam in 2020, to attending my first university event, winning my first bounty, building InstinctFi, working on Truva, joining fellowship programs, and meeting founders through Startup Village, this journey has changed how I look at myself as a builder.
I know I am still early.
There is still a lot to learn.
A lot to build.
A lot to prove.
A lot of people to meet.
A lot of networks to create.
A lot of meaningful work to do in the ecosystem.
But now, I no longer want to just watch from the outside.
I want to build.
I want to contribute.
I want to earn my place.
I want to create something that actually matters.
And if there is one thing my first year in Superteam taught me, it is this:
You do not need to have everything figured out before you start.
Sometimes, you just need enough curiosity to begin, enough consistency to keep showing up, and enough hunger to keep improving.
The rest comes through the process.
-Rajan Pantha
