My story
I grew up in Mollet del Vallès, near Barcelona. I didn’t follow a conventional route into technology. I found it easier to learn by exploring, making things, and asking questions than by following a fixed path.
That search for a different way of learning also became a search for community: places where I could contribute, be curious, and find my own direction.
Learning in community
Through the Cooperativa Integral Catalana, I became involved in AureaSocial in Barcelona and later Calafou. Living and working in those spaces introduced me to self-management, mutual support, and the everyday work of building something together.
At Calafou’s hacklab, I spent much of my time at a computer, teaching myself about the internet and programming. Knowledge was something people shared. I could experiment, ask for help, and learn from what went wrong. That way of learning has stayed with me.
DumDarac: learning by building
DumDarac began with an idea for a free social network without advertising. I wanted to create a place that respected privacy and gave its community a real say in how it worked.
I started with PHP and MySQL, learning to program while building the project. Over time, the idea expanded to include music, films, news, and other connected applications.
It was also where I discovered design. I made logos, explored visual identities, and learned that the way something works matters as much as the way it looks. Code and design became two parts of the same process for me.
Beyond the screen
Travelling around the world brought me into contact with different communities and ways of living. I often had to start again, adapt to unfamiliar places, and rely on help from people I had only just met. Those experiences made mutual support something very practical to me.
I’m also a father. Family gives the work a personal meaning: the questions of freedom, care, and responsibility are part of everyday life, as well as the things I build.
What I’m building now
Today, I’m the CEO & Founder of Oxy and co-founder of FairCoin. The questions behind my early projects still guide my work: who has control, who can participate, and whether a system helps the people using it.
Oxy brings that work into an ecosystem of open-source tools. Its founding charter sets out the commitments behind it: privacy, meaningful access, honest design, and accountability.
My path has involved mistakes, changes of direction, and a lot of learning from other people. It taught me that independence also depends on community, and that an idea becomes useful through the work of making it real.
You can find me on Mention, or write to hi@nateisern.com.