Meet the Writer: "I Want to Make Sure What I Write is Accessible," says Joanelle Toh

This story is a part of Hacker Noon's Meet the Writer series of interviews. The series is intended for tech professionals contributing the most insightful Hacker Noon stories to share more about their writing habits, ideas, and professional background (and maybe a hobby or two).

If you too would like to start contributing to Hacker Noon, you can do so here.

So let’s start! Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests.

Hi! My name is Joanelle Toh, but I usually just go by Jo. I’m a VC and Tech Lawyer at Withers Worldwide and am based in Singapore. I moonlight from time to time as a copywriter in the crypto space because I find that to be an amazing way to keep in touch with the space. It also helps me learn more about the space as I write.

I have a personality outside of work though, I promise. I enjoy staying active and being outdoors in the sun - I run and rollerblade across a variety of parks. I also like brewing my own kombucha.

Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about?

It was a piece on one of my favourite projects, Aavegotchi, on how it intends to continue innovating in the NFT/Play-to-Earn space. You can read it here.

Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about?

I write a lot about Aavegotchi as you might have noticed from my profile. It’s hard not to for an amazing project like that. Other than that, I’ve written more factual pieces for a range of platforms, from NFT marketplaces to loan platforms, but these have been white-label. I’ve also been meaning to write about several intersections between the law, policy and the crypto space, but haven’t really gotten around to that yet. (Soon TM.)

Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?)

I write when I’m not swamped with legal work. (If any of my bosses see this - no hate! I do like what I do.) I wake up early, around 6am, and find that I write the best in these quiet hours. I make myself a cup of iced coffee and just get to it.

Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing?

Mainly it’s about finding the time to do it, and finding a way to frame what I write well. I find that framing takes the longest time to do, because I want to make sure what I write is accessible and can be easily understood. At the same time, I also want to make sure it’s interesting and provides insight that is in some way valuable.

What is the next thing you hope to achieve in your career?

I hope to be able to continue picking up the skills I need to continue contributing to the crypto space. I’ve been working on a few legal opinions, compliance reviews and acquisition agreements for some exciting tech and crypto companies with my team. It’s been challenging but eye-opening. I just hope to remain passionate, but grounded.

Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice?

Travelling, everywhere, when it was possible. The more off the beaten path, the better.

And also scented candles.

Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it?

I talked about this above! I’m into rollerblading and trying to learn tricks (without wiping myself out), and brewing kombucha.

What can the Hacker Noon community expect to read from you next?

I’d probably be writing more about my favourite projects soon. Maybe not anytime too soon because I have a project to handle in my day job, but I’m looking forward to writing more once that’s done.

Thanks for taking time to join our “Meet the writer” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words?

The pleasure is all mine! Thanks for sending this my way, and I hope to keep writing pieces that value add to the community in some way.

(Also, not sure if this is tacky, but casual shill - please feel free to reach out if you need help navigating the tech and legal landscape in Singapore!)