Raymond Feng

Raymond Feng

API Guru · AI Agent Architect · Web3 / Crypto Technologist

Building AgentGem & AgentBack, open infrastructure for the AI agent era. Technical Partner @ Lightspeed Faction. Architect of the Faction AI Agent. Creator of LoopBack, co-founder of Collab.Land.

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About Me

Technical Partner at Lightspeed Faction (Faction, JV with Lightspeed). I designed and built the Faction AI Agent: an agent harness (multi-model agentic loop, pluggable hook pipeline, MCP tool orchestration across 170+ tools, three-layer RAG memory, declarative skills, multi-platform delivery) and the firm's VC deal flow agent built on it. The investment team uses it daily to triage decks, run research briefings, mine X/Twitter for signals, and monitor portfolio companies. Beyond the agent, I run the firm's technical due diligence (214 deals reviewed, 70+ deep tech DDs so far), author category research across 9 verticals (AI × crypto, agents, ZK, rollups & MEV, PETs, quantum, Solana, data platforms, agentic commerce), and advise portfolio CTOs on architecture. My latest open source work centers on two projects. AgentBack, a modernization and reimagining of LoopBack 4 for the AI agent era, turns one Zod contract into your REST endpoints, MCP tools, OpenAPI 3.1 docs, and typed clients. AgentGem, built on AgentBack, packages a coding agent's config into secret-safe Gems you can publish, merge, and deploy, a stepping stone to a Shopify for AI agents. 30+ years of production engineering before this. Co-founder of Collab.Land (3M users) and creator of LoopBack (OpenJS Foundation), which began at StrongLoop, the company I co-founded and IBM acquired. Former IBM STSM and Apache Tuscany committer.

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Tools · Faction AI Agent

Orchestrated via MCP (5 custom + 30+ third-party servers) · 31 skills · 14 lifecycle hooks · in daily production since April 2025

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Deals · Technical Partner

214 deals reviewed at Lightspeed Faction · 70+ deep tech DDs · 9 category landscapes · portfolio support

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Users · Collab.Land

3M+ users · 55K+ tokenized communities · 34+ blockchains · 32+ wallets

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Lifetime Downloads · LoopBack 4

LoopBack 4 core since 2017; 1.9M in the past 12 months

Technical Expertise

Web3 & Blockchain

Blockchain Integration Expert
Ethereum 34+ Chains Token Gating
Smart Contracts & DApps Advanced
Digital Assets Web3

AI & Agents

Agentic Systems & MCP Expert
Agentic Loops MCP Servers Tool Orchestration & Optimization Skills (Declarative Playbooks) Context / Harness Engineering
LLM Integration & Memory Advanced
OpenAI Anthropic RAG / Vector Search

Backend & APIs

API Development Expert
LoopBack REST Microservices
Node.js & TypeScript Expert
Node.js TypeScript

Cloud & Infrastructure

Kubernetes & Scalability Expert
Kubernetes GCP 80 jobs/sec
Cloud Architecture Advanced
SOA Microservices

Leadership & Community

Technical Leadership Expert
Team Building Strategy
Open Source & Community Expert
OpenJS Foundation Apache

Professional Journey

Lightspeed Faction (Faction, JV with Lightspeed)

Technical Partner, Architect of the Faction AI Agent

2024 - Present

Two roles in one. (1) Faction AI Agent. Architect and sole engineer. Built the agent harness (pluggable hook pipeline, MCP orchestration, RAG memory, declarative skills, multi-platform delivery) and the VC deal flow agent that runs on it. The agent handles deal triage, research briefings, signal extraction, and portfolio monitoring for the investment team. (2) Technical Partner across the investment process. Authored the firm's tech DD process and scoring framework; applied it across 214 deals reviewed, with 70+ deep tech DDs written. Wrote category briefs and landscape decks across 9 verticals (AI × crypto, agents, agentic commerce, ZK, rollups & MEV, PETs, quantum, Solana, data platforms). Advise portfolio CTOs on architecture, engineering practice, and product direction. Author Faction's external technical content (Bitcoin L2, BitVM, Lightning, DLCs).

  • Production agentic loop: Multi-model loop (OpenAI on the hot path, Anthropic Haiku for verification) with a pluggable lifecycle hook pipeline covering permission, tool selection, skill catalog, auto-compaction with real token telemetry, micro-compaction with error retention, backpressure detection (loop/stall/error), prompt-injection defense, memory, audit, and verification scoring (0–10 with rationale).
  • MCP orchestration: 5 custom MCP servers (CoinMarketCap, Messari, Notion-Context, IACR, MicroStrategy) plus 30+ third-party integrations exposing 173+ tools to the agent. Tool filtering (97 → 4 on Alchemy) for token efficiency. Three-tier security model on every tool.
  • Three-layer RAG memory: Hot frozen snapshot (BM25 + vector + LLM-extracted facts in Valkey), session transcript with SQLite FTS5 search, guidance injection. Pre-compaction flush so durable facts survive context compression.
  • Skill system: Declarative agent playbooks loaded as Markdown with progressive disclosure (L0/L1/L2). Lets non-engineers add new agent behaviors without touching the codebase.
  • Investment-workflow automation: Built deal-triage pipeline (deck scrape → multi-stage LLM extraction → research → classification), thesis-driven X/Twitter signal extraction, morning intel briefings, deal sourcing, and portfolio monitoring. Each started as a one-off prototype before getting generalized into the platform.
  • External MCP exposure: JWT-gated /mcp/:token endpoints (Streamable HTTP + SSE) with two modes. A single-tool blackbox mode (one ask tool running the full agentic loop), and a full mode that exposes 173+ internal tools directly. Used daily from Claude Code and Cursor.
  • Platform adapters: Slack Bolt, grammY (Telegram), discord.js on a shared extension interface. Plus a declarative miniapp engine with renderers for Slack Block Kit and web.
  • Infrastructure: AWS-native. ECS Fargate, ALB, Valkey, Secrets Manager, KMS, S3, CloudWatch. Hierarchical scoped DI on LoopBack 4 (Application → UserContext → RequestContext). OTEL telemetry into Redis Streams; per-session token/latency accumulation feeds the auto-compaction hook.
  • Technical due diligence (214 deals reviewed, 70+ deep tech DDs): Authored the firm's tech DD process and scoring framework. Dimensions: feasibility, security, scalability, team competence, innovation. Applied across AI × crypto, ZK, Bitcoin L2, agents, MEV, PETs, and Solana ecosystem projects.
  • Category research & landscape mapping: Author thesis briefs, landscape maps, and executive decks across 9 verticals: AI × crypto, agents, agentic commerce, ZK, rollups & MEV, privacy-enhancing technologies, quantum, Solana, and data platforms. Published artifacts used in LP letters and partner meetings.
  • Decentralized AI thesis: Lead the AI × crypto category. Verifiable inference, agent payments (x402), decentralized training and data, model marketplaces, on-chain agent infrastructure. Sit on technical diligence calls.
  • Portfolio support: Advise portfolio CTOs and founders on architecture, engineering practice, hiring, and product direction. Translate technical constraints into roadmap decisions and vice versa.
  • Thought leadership: Authored mini-talks on Bitcoin scripting patterns, BitVM / BitVMX, Lightning Network, and Discreet Log Contracts. Technical voice for Faction’s external content and investor communications.
  • Investment-team tooling: Built integration code (Slack, Notion, X/Twitter, Telegram, Google Sheets) and a DocSend → PDF converter that feed deal intelligence directly into the Faction AI Agent. Drove deal-flow automation strategy for the firm.
Faction AI Agent AI Agents MCP LLM Orchestration RAG TypeScript AWS LoopBack 4 DI Valkey / Redis OTEL Decentralized AI

Abridged, Inc. (Collab.Land)

Co-Founder and CTO

02/2021 - 2024

Co-founder and CTO. Built Collab.Land into the de-facto token-gating platform for digital communities, with blockchain-based access control.

  • Scale: Grew Collab.Land from zero to 3M+ users across 55K+ communities. Backend on GCP Kubernetes, 200 container instances sustaining 80+ jobs/sec.
  • Modular platform architecture: Built on LoopBack 4. Integrated 34+ blockchains and 32+ wallets behind a unified extension interface.
  • Token gating: Built the original token-gating category. Extensible rule engine for dynamic access control across 34+ blockchains and 32+ wallets.
  • Product: Shipped REST APIs, an SDK, and a developer portal. Third parties built apps on top.
  • Community: Built and ran a developer community around Collab.Land's APIs. Wrote and spoke on token-gating design.
  • Team: Built and mentored a globally distributed engineering team.
Kubernetes Blockchain TypeScript LoopBack GCP Microservices

IBM Corp.

STSM, Architect, API Connect

09/2015 - 02/2021

Architecture lead for IBM API Connect after the StrongLoop acquisition. Drove the cloud-native and microservices direction across the API platform org.

  • Led strategic open-source initiatives and contributed to IBM's API management platform
  • Architected the cloud-native and microservices direction for the platform
  • Mentored engineering teams and influenced product strategy
API Connect LoopBack Node.js Cloud

StrongLoop, Inc.

Co-Founder, Architect

03/2013 - 09/2015

Co-founded StrongLoop, leading product and technical strategy, resulting in acquisition by IBM. Created LoopBack.io, now an OpenJS Foundation project.

  • Co-created LoopBack.io, an highly extensible Node.js and TypeScript framework for building APIs and microservices
  • Won the 2019 API Award for "Best in API Middleware" category
  • Successfully led company to acquisition by IBM in 2015
  • Engaged with developer community to drive adoption and contributed to Node.js ecosystem
LoopBack Node.js APIs Open Source

Shutterfly, Inc.

Staff Web Engineer, Platform Engineering

04/2010 - 02/2013

Led development of Shutterfly's open web APIs and service externalization platforms, enhancing platform scalability and developer integration.

  • Service routing, dispatch, and performance optimization for the platform
  • Built service externalization platform enabling third-party integrations
  • Improved platform scalability through architecture changes
APIs Java Platform Engineering

IBM Corp.

Senior Software Engineer

05/2002 - 04/2010

Worked on business integration platforms using SOA. Apache Tuscany committer; led OSGi/SCA development for WebSphere Process Server.

  • Contributed to Apache Tuscany open source project
  • Led efforts in OSGi and SCA development for WebSphere Process Server
  • Developed SOA-based business integration solutions
SOA Apache Tuscany OSGi Java

Soft Tech Development, Inc.

Principal Engineer/Architect

12/1996 - 05/2002

Architected e-OpenBridge, a middleware suite for legacy data and application integration, demonstrating early leadership in software architecture.

  • Led architecture of e-OpenBridge middleware for legacy system integration
  • Led various software development projects
  • Demonstrated early leadership in software architecture and project management
Middleware Integration Architecture

Early Career

Software Engineer

03/1992 - 07/1996

Built a trading engine and clearing system for futures exchanges in China. First production deployment.

Trading Systems Financial Technology

Featured Projects

AgentGem

The stepping stone to a Shopify for AI agents. AgentGem reads your coding-agent config (skills, MCP servers, CLAUDE.md), redacts secrets the moment they're read, and packages it into a portable, composable Gem: a manifest + lock archive you publish to a GitHub-backed registry, merge with other Gems, and deploy to multiple targets (Eve, Flue, OpenAI Sandbox, AgentCore, Claude Agents). Secrets never leave your device. Only a config shape with <redacted> in place of every sensitive value crosses any boundary. The thesis: you can't profit from a markdown file, so turn agents into callable, monetizable services. Built on AgentBack.

Gem your agent Secret-safe by design Composable registry
AI Agents MCP TypeScript AgentBack Registry Open Source
Visit Project → GitHub →

AgentBack

A modernization and reimagining of LoopBack 4 for the AI agent era. An AI-native API/MCP framework built with agents, for agents. Your API now has two audiences: human developers and AI agents. Instead of describing each operation four or five times (Zod schema, OpenAPI block, MCP tool, client type), AgentBack describes it once: one Zod contract becomes the validator, the inferred type, the OpenAPI 3.1 docs, the MCP tool, the typed client, and the generated SKILL.md. Built on an ESM dependency-injection core descended from LoopBack 4's container that runs on any host (Node, Fastify, Hono, Bun, Deno, or Workers) from a single fetch handler.

One schema, every boundary 2,000+ tests · MIT · Alpha
TypeScript MCP Zod OpenAPI 3.1 Dependency Injection Open Source
Visit Project → GitHub →

Faction AI Agent: Agent Harness + VC Deal Flow Agent

Two products in one codebase. (1) Agent harness. Multi-model agentic loop, pluggable lifecycle hooks (auto-compaction, backpressure, verification scoring, prompt-injection defense, audit), MCP orchestration over 173+ tools, three-layer RAG memory (BM25, vector, and LLM-extracted facts), declarative skill system, and platform adapters for Slack, Telegram, and Discord. JWT-gated external MCP for Claude Code and Cursor. (2) VC deal flow agent. Built on the harness for the Lightspeed Faction investment team. Handles deal triage, deck scraping, research briefings, X/Twitter signal extraction, and portfolio monitoring. Sole-engineer build. Daily-driver tool for the team.

Agent Harness VC Deal Flow Agent 173+ Tools via MCP
Faction AI Agent Agent Harness VC Deal Flow MCP RAG LLM Orchestration TypeScript AWS LoopBack 4

Collab.Land

Community management platform enabling token-based access control for digital communities. Scaled to serve over 3 million users across 55,000 communities with support for 34+ blockchains.

3M+ Users 55K+ Communities
Blockchain TypeScript Kubernetes LoopBack
Visit Project →

LoopBack

Highly extensible Node.js and TypeScript framework for building APIs and microservices. Winner of 2019 API Award for "Best in API Middleware" and now an OpenJS Foundation project.

1.9M past 12mo · 14M+ lifetime OpenJS Foundation
Node.js TypeScript APIs Open Source
Visit Project →

Apache Tuscany

Open-source SOA/SCA runtime for developing and running service-oriented applications. Core committer during my IBM tenure.

Apache Project
SOA Java SCA OSGi
Visit Project →

IBM API Connect

Enterprise API management platform enabling organizations to create, secure, manage, and socialize APIs. Led architecture and development as STSM at IBM.

Enterprise
API Management Cloud Enterprise
Learn More →

Shutterfly Open Web APIs

Service externalization platform enabling third-party developers to integrate with Shutterfly's photo and gift services through well-designed APIs.

REST APIs Java Platform

e-OpenBridge

Middleware suite for legacy data and application integration, enabling enterprises to modernize their IT infrastructure while preserving existing investments.

Middleware Integration Legacy Systems

Latest Insights

Thoughts on Web3, APIs, and technical leadership

Web3

Building Scalable Token-Gated Communities

Learn how we scaled Collab.Land to serve 3 million users and 55,000 communities using blockchain technology and Kubernetes.

Blockchain Scalability Kubernetes
APIs

API Design Patterns for Modern Microservices

Lessons learned from building LoopBack and leading API development at IBM on designing extensible, maintainable API frameworks.

APIs Architecture Node.js
Leadership

Leading Distributed Engineering Teams

How to build and manage distributed engineering teams in Web3.

Leadership Remote Work Culture

More articles coming soon. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn for updates.

Get In Touch

Interested in collaboration, speaking engagements, or just want to chat about Web3 and APIs?

Let's Connect

cyberfeng@gmail.com github.com/raymondfeng linkedin.com/in/raymondfeng twitter.com/cyberfeng