You built Freenet? What about that experience encouraged you to continue building things?

Yes, Freenet is my project, in fact I've spent the last few years building a sequel to it[1].

I've enjoyed building things for as long as I can remember, particularly if it solves a hard problem in an interesting way - and at least has the potential to make a difference to people.

[1] https://freenet.org/about/faq/#what-is-the-projects-history