Team
Chad O, CEO
Chad was already a ten-year veteran of the Web2 startup and consultancy worlds before moving into Web3 in 2019. His initial work in Web3 was with a startup building Dapps in the Ethereum DAO space, before joining the Developer Experience team at Near Inc in 2020. At the time, Near Inc was the company building NEAR Protocol, a sharded blockchain with WebAssembly smart contracts authored in Rust.
Chad is a well-enjoyed public speaker, with a special talent for making complex topics understandable to a broad audience. This drive to simplify the complex also led to his cofounding of Aha Labs in 2022.
Enzo Soyer, COO
Enzo is a graduate of CentraleSupélec and ESSEC Business School, where he distinguished himself in the field of entrepreneurship. Today, his dual background gives him a unique vision, combining technical expertise with a keen understanding of the business issues at stake in the blockchain ecosystem. This versatility was particularly evident in his role as CEO of Tenk, a Web3 studio, where he successfully steered the development of innovative solutions. His experience in supporting blockchain projects via Fungible Strategy demonstrates his ability to identify market opportunities and transform complex technical concepts into viable business solutions.
Willem Wyndham, CTO
Willem brings a high level of academic and technical expertise, initially forged during his thesis work in programming at the University of Maryland, where he specialized in programming languages and computer security. He then decided to interrupt his PhD to join NEAR Protocol as a researcher, focusing particularly on the RUST language. His position as Contract Runtime Engineer enabled him to develop an in-depth understanding of the technical challenges of blockchain and the solutions to overcome them.
His unique background, combining academic research and practical development, gives him a particularly relevant perspective on the evolution of blockchain technologies and their potential for innovation. His mastery of blockchain execution environments, his deep expertise in Rust and his vision of security issues make him the ideal expert to lead the technical development of advanced blockchain solutions.
Elizabeth Engelman, Senior Engineer
Elizabeth Engelman has over a decade of experience delivering software in a variety of domains including healthcare, insurance, finance, and politics. Before joining Aha Labs in 2023, she worked as a consultant, integrating into existing teams, leading initiatives, and developing greenfield applications to deliver immediate impact.
At Aha Labs, Elizabeth focuses on advancing Stellar’s developer tools. She has experience with blockchain development, including Ethereum, Polygon, Stellar, and Flow, and is passionate about emerging technologies.
Elizabeth holds a Master’s in Interactive Media Arts from NYU and has presented at conferences like Clojure/West and Software Craftsmanship North America.
Pam Selle, Principal Engineer
Pam Selle is a seasoned technologist with over a decade of experience in software engineering and leadership. Currently a Principal Engineer at Aha Labs, she brings a wealth of expertise to our team. Her past roles include Senior Software Engineer II at HashiCorp, where she maintained the Terraform Core project, and working on web properties and cloud infrastructure at Comcast.
Pam’s extensive background in developing robust software systems and her experience with various technologies make her a key asset to our team. Her leadership skills, honed through organizing events in the JavaScript and other developer communities, further enhance her ability to drive innovative solutions.