Open Source, Open Future: Inside Midnight’s Developer Programs

Update: 2025-12-04

Description

In this episode of Unshielded: A Blockchain & Data Podcast by Midnight, host Jason Schober is joined by Lauren Lee and Samson Goddy of Midnight Foundation to discuss how the platform is scaling its developer community, launching flagship programs, and supporting builders from the hackathon stage to mainnet production.

What You’ll Learn:

How they transitioned from closed-source to open-source blockchain development while maintaining developer momentum and trust
Why empowering developers to choose between progressive and stable preview networks increases adoption and reduces friction in testing environments
How to gamify developer engagement using quest-based platforms
Why DevRel teams must advocate for developers internally while representing the platform externally

Lauren Lee is the Director of Developer Relations at Midnight, bringing passion for community building and developer advocacy. With one year at Midnight, she has witnessed and shaped the ecosystem's evolution from intimate hackathons to global initiatives. Lauren serves as the voice of developers within the organization, championing their needs while building engagement programs that transform hackathon ideas into production-ready applications. Her work focuses on making privacy-focused blockchain development accessible and rewarding for builders worldwide.

Samson Goddy is a Developer Engagement Manager at Midnight, specializing in community engagement and ambassador program development. New to the team, Samson brings fresh energy to scaling Midnight's global presence, managing the Aliit Ambassador Program's gamified quest system and coordinating international community activities. His expertise lies in identifying and empowering passionate developers to become ecosystem advocates, enabling organic growth across regions from Africa to Asia to Latin America while ensuring authentic, grassroots community building.

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Episode Resources:

Lauren Lee on LinkedIn
Samson Goddy on LinkedIn
Midnight Foundation Website
Midnight Network Website
Jason Schober on LinkedIn
Midnight Foundation Website

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube Podcasts. Instructions on how to do so are here.

This episode is brought to you by Midnight.

To learn more about the Midnight Network, visit the website at https://midnight.network/
Join the Midnight Discord: https://discord.com/invite/midnightnetwork

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