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Nick Manannikov simply graduated from Brooklyn Technical Excessive College. Sitting in a restaurant a stone’s throw from his new alma mater, Manannikov is considerably shocked by this reality.
“Someway” he graduated, Manannikov informed me, however for a lot of the previous yr, the long-haired teen has been constructing a enterprise working Solana RPCs and validators. It concerned numerous work calls and enterprise throughout the college week and, this being crypto, a variety of flights to conferences, together with two month-long stints at Salt Lake Metropolis’s mtnDAO.
However whereas Manannikov might not be remembered a lot for his presence within the classroom, he’s leaving his highschool one thing it didn’t have earlier than — a devoted Solana validator.
Manannikov’s crypto firm Shark Labs helped BTHS’ crypto membership launch the validator, which is supposed to provide college students “hands-on expertise with working the nodes.” The highschool node oversees roughly 15,000 staked SOL.
Manannikov got here to the US as a political refugee proper earlier than highschool. His household was compelled to flee Russia on two days’ discover after his father refused enterprise calls for made by figures with authorities connections, Manannikov informed me.
After shifting to the US, Manannikov mixed an curiosity in coding with a aptitude for earning money. He and a pair buddies ran bots on the Kick streaming platform to say giveaways the app was working to spice up utilization. He additionally received into crypto, first via NFTs and later via memecoins.
After turning a hefty revenue sniping a Solana NFT assortment known as “Deez Nuts,” Manannikov determined to parlay his earnings into launching an RPC enterprise, which grew to become generally known as Shark Node. The startup has been profitable sufficient that Manannikov determined to pursue it full time in lieu of faculty. He shares an workplace area on Broadway, and the enterprise is worthwhile, Manannikov informed me.
Within the fall, Shark Labs determined to begin working Solana validators. To get the brand new enterprise line off the bottom, the corporate would wish to get into the Solana Basis Delegation Program, a grant-like program for smaller validators. They narrowly missed assembly with a Solana Basis connection at Breakpoint, however Manannikov noticed Solana Basis govt director Dan Albert can be attending Solana Boston.
