checkr

BASED BUILDER INTERVIEWS #1: Meet @tomu from /checkr!

Q1.  What’s your protocol’s elevator pitch?

"Attention moves. Tokens follow. $Checkr knows. Track token momentum on Farcaster’s social layer at checkr.social." 

Now for the alpha 🧵👇

building checkr.social | writing tomu.xyz | nf.td/tomu

Q2. Can you share a favorite screenshot or two of your app or prototype?

"There are several parts of the app I really like, but the most meaningful is the trending section - where users can check top-performing tokens of the day and see what’s capturing attention."

Futurist telling stories about crypto and AI at Delphi Labs. Proposed the BRC-20, Bascii and Asteroid standards.

Q3. Are you working on any enhancements or new features?

"The app is only 7 days old, and there’s already a lot on the roadmap. Just yesterday, I introduced “Conditional Charts”, which will be a core part of the platform. These charts will adapt based on onchain data or social score.

"I don’t think charts - or any metric, really - should just be about prices going up or down. They should be dynamic, based on where attention is flowing. That's my main focus right now."

Q4. What’s the hardest part about building a new app or protocol?

"Honestly, building it :)

"I’ve always been on the product and fundraising side, so coding was something I’d typically leave to others. What started as a one-week experiment turned into a full-time focus, and I’ve been 'vibe coding' since.

"The hardest part was understanding the architecture, how to work with APIs data, and caching everything properly."

Q5. What’s been the biggest surprise on your journey so far?

"Building on open data is amazing. It’s like having access to every Lego piece you can imagine, and just deciding what to build next.

"You can sketch a math formula, browse a few API docs, and use AI tools to code around ideas. That’s incredibly powerful. We’re heading toward a world where software is content, and creativity is the leverage.

"And as a bonus: I actually love vibe coding now,  which is huge for me, since even though I’m an engineer by degree, I’ve always hated coding."

clanker ecosystem

Q6. What led you to this moment?

"I’ve been in crypto since the ICO era. A few months after the market crashed in 2018, I still couldn’t stop thinking about why there was so much capital flowing into these coins.

"Since then, I’ve been obsessed with how tokens can be used. That curiosity led me to build two startups - one focused on gating content with tokens, and another around launching NFTs - always with the goal of onboarding normies into crypto through tokens.

"Last May, I decided to take some time off and dive deeper into how crypto could become more social. I was checking Dune dashboards every day and writing about what I saw gaining traction in social crypto.  

"Then in November, something clicked. When I saw /clanker $CLANKER launch and realized you could spin up a coin just by posting on the feed. It hit me: content now has a market cap. The same way people scroll to see what’s trending on TikTok, they’ll want to know what’s trending in onchain content."

Q7. What attracted you to building on Base?

"I’ve always built in EVM - I believe Ethereum is the foundation where content should live.

"Base made it faster and way cheaper. Since it launched, I’ve been doing 90% of my swaps there.

"But beyond the tech, it’s the culture. Everything onchain in Farcaster lives on Base, so it was a no-brainer when deciding where to build."

Q8. Where do you see your app in 5 years if it succeeds and fulfills your wildest vision?

"Checkr will be the place to understand where attention is going on the onchain internet."

Q9. Are there any other projects on Base that you’re excited about?

"Yes, so many! I love @hypersub, @splits, @clanker, @bankr, @ponder, and a bunch of others that we use daily on Farcaster."

Q10. What advice would you give to a fresh, first-time founder?

"Just do it. Experiment. Ship. Everything is permissionless - the best way to learn is to build."

🔚

Huge thanks to @tomu for going first in the Base Builders Interview series... check out checkr now at checkr.social ♾️