benjamin

def not a spy. writing content and marketing for web3

[benjamin @thedlearner]

been thinking about network effect for small/mid web3 protocols in crypto.

a few thoughts.

first, never trust what you see.

a lot of protocols hire paid services to manually ramp up their numbers to look more bullish. usual business, and i'm all for it. before i wasn't, but now i am.

there are literally services where you buy engagement packages to ramp up numbers. or even easier, online platforms, either web3-dedicated or general, that do this.

this is cosmetics, and it's usual practice around here even though not a lot of folks like to admit it.

the goal there is to look more bullish, which makes it easier to achieve network effect.

alright, now second option.

KOLs.

depending on your budget, ideally around 10k, but i know agencies/people that can help you connect with a group of KOLs that match your budget.

if you're a small protocol, 2.5k is fine and you can probably get 2-3 decent KOLs.

and when i say decent, it's not about followers. go back to my point above.

after some time you know who's artificially ramping up their numbers and who's legit.

i mean, everyone does it, but sometimes dudes do it too much and it becomes obvious.

quick trick to check if their engagement is real: search -from:handle to:handle since:YYYY-MM-DD -filter:replies using the date of one of their posts. you'll see who's actually talking to them vs who's just inflating the counter.

to get "good" KOLs, you must first understand the crossover between their audience and your protocol. if they're out there in the trenches, maybe not a good fit for yield products. if they're farming dexs, maybe not a good fit for onchain options protocols.

just watch out for their engagement: it has to be legit and their audience has to be a good fit with yours. then you'll most likely need to pay them in USDC/the stable of their choice and set the fees.

and you want them to be aligned with a major launch, announcement, milestone or partnership, which is where you get the big leaps in growth.

but let's be real: no one's going to see a tweet and go deposit 5-6 figures.

KOLs get you eyes. if you need actual early deposits/TVL, that's where alpha groups come in. that's where the early money actually moves.

now here's catch 101.

maybe you don't need KOLs. maybe you just need your team to get active on f'ing social media.

and if you already have an active community, get them to chime in.

just ask for it: "gmgm gays, we just posted this whatever, please like, comment, bookmark and share with 2-3 friends".

if you have a decent number of community members/team, that could bring you 20 comments, which is massive for pushing your stuff out.

now there's another side to this story.

which brings us to incentives.

yes, it is what it is. the game is paid. if you don't want to pay, then you need to be a f*cking well-connected founder to break the cold start problem.

this is how you get those protocols that just posted their first tweet and get massive numbers. likely a combination of everything above tho.

incentives can take different shapes in crypto: points, referral programs, boosted token rewards, and others i can't think of right now (drop them in the comments, i'm sure there are more but can't recall them all).

all of this to bring the following take.

web3 marketing is a pay-to-play game. if you want network effect as a <10k-follower protocol, you just need to play the game.

organic stuff will most likely get you nowhere. posting about your product is cool and NEEDED, otherwise people might think you're winding down and get the f*ck out of yours.

but daily posting maintains. drumbeats grow.

posting alone won't move the needle if you don't pair it with stuff for people to be bullish about: a new product your users are asking for, a referral/points program, a new milestone (TVL unlocked, profits made, etc), a new partnership with a relevant party. all of that paired with 2-3 KOLs that push your stuff out to new audiences.

and broski, X is the place. i don't care (unless you bring me proof), X remains king for user acquisition.

been saying this for a while btw https://t.co/uyA80n8CeZ

if you want brand awareness, that's fine. go out on tiktok or instagram and do your thing. but don't expect massive user acquisition. even consumer products struggle to acquire users on these platforms, because surprise surprise, THERE'S NO MONEY IN THERE :)

the money for web3/crypto/onchain and all that jazz is still on X.

crypto hasn't had that massive adoption moment where you bring up crypto and the association with something shady/crime doesn't come up. it's still pretty much the wild wild west here.

just wait for that FTX netflix shi to come out.

now, there's another element that plays into network effect.

product.

your product must be built for sharing for that network effect to happen.

for crypto/web3 protocols that looks like:

a free tool people can use
a dashboard with a unique insight
shareable cards people can forward to their people
leaderboards, badges, achievements, whatever

when i say whatever, i mean whatever makes people proud to share. they'll forward it to their people, which hopefully brings them in and makes the cycle repeat.

can already see a lot of nuances, but that's mostly the game.

oh shi.

[benjamin @thedlearner]

this is the same concern i had with web3 protocols going beyond X into TikTok or Instagram.

it's just not worth it.

granted, you are a profitable company that generates revenue and can take the freedom to experiment and see how is it out there.

but the fact of the matter is that X contains the single greatest source of the most highly qualified leads for any web3 and defi protocol ever.

not bluesky, not FB, not reddit, not tiktok, not instagram.

maybe reddit, maybe, could be.

if your goal is conversions and user deposits and you are a small >10k followers web3/defi protocol on X, it makes absolutely no sense to go out of X.

your dollars will be better spent here than anywhere else atm.

Not saying this might not change. but it has been the case since 2020 as far as i know.

if you don't care about spending dollars, and are prioritizing brand awareness over revenue generating activities, then go for it.

otherwise, it's a complete distraction and waste of time.

even for most tech startups.

beyond that, tiktok isn't the same place as it was before. they will fingerprint the F out out of all these accounts.

it's of common practice specially in the saas/consume apps sector to start farms of 20-30 accounts to promote a product.

most of this stuff is setup via cheap emulators/cloud phones through datacenter proxies. you will likely just get a 10-15% survival rate on your accounts after 1 month.

don't do this. it's a complete waste of time and cash.

[benjamin @thedlearner]

yeah bro so one day i woke up to my dads fund down like 99M so i only had 1-2m left... sometimes i would just make 500k a year and have to live somehow out of just that...

[Bee Haber @beehaber]

Dan Bilzerian, Instagram'da sergilediği lüks hayatı nasıl finanse ettiğini ve servetinin kaynağını anlattı:

🔹 "Babamın kurduğu güven fonunun değeri başlangıçta yaklaşık 100 milyon dolardı."

🔹 "Babamı hapisten çıkarmak için fonun üçte birinden vazgeçtim."

🔹 "Kalanını sattığımda değeri 1-2 milyon dolara kadar düşmüştü."

🔹 "O dönem poker oynayarak yılda 50 milyon dolar kazandığım oluyordu."

🔹 "Herkes babamın parasını harcayan zengin bir çocuk olduğumu düşünüyordu."

🔹 "Bu algıyı hiç düzeltmedim çünkü milyarderlerin katıldığı özel poker masalarına girmemi sağlıyordu."

🔹 "2011'de 20 milyon dolarlık bir malikaneyi paylaşıyordum, aylık kira payım sadece 1.500 dolardı."

🔹 "Evi pahalı eşyalarla doldurmuş, lüks arabalar almıştım."

🔹 "Dışarıdan yüz milyonlarca dolarım varmış gibi görünüyordu ama bankada belki 3 milyon dolarım vardı."

🔹 "Bir oyuncunun kazancının %25'ine ortaktım ve bir gecede 42 milyon dolar kazandı."

🔹 "Sabah uyandığımda 10,5 milyon dolar kazandığımı söyleyen bir mesaj gördüm."

🔹 "Bir milyarderi kendi evinde poker oynayarak 42 milyon dolar yendim."

🔹 "Sonrasında Ignite'ın yönetim kurulu beni CEO'luk görevinden aldı ve 750 milyon dolarlık satış anlaşması gerçekleşmedi."

[benjamin @thedlearner]

this is real

[The Kobeissi Letter @KobeissiLetter]

BREAKING: Nvidia, $NVDA, CEO Jensen Huang has resigned as CEO, President, and member of the Board of Directors, effective immediately.

[benjamin @thedlearner]

btw, anyone that understand a bit of the story here, and knows a bit about this guy, doesn't buy this shi.

there's more to this.

likely someone else is pulling the strings. game of power.

[benjamin @thedlearner]

end of an era. generational run.

[The Kobeissi Letter @KobeissiLetter]

BREAKING: Nvidia, $NVDA, CEO Jensen Huang has resigned as CEO, President, and member of the Board of Directors, effective immediately.

[benjamin @thedlearner]

the secret in cold email is you dont ask for a call

make the ask KISS and tell them how to say no.

"happy to chat async or a quick call if needed, whatever is easier for you"

lay out all the roads.

[benjamin @thedlearner]

@noahxops share the sauce bronson

[benjamin @thedlearner]

@KobeissiLetter oh shi

[benjamin @thedlearner]

@ChainChomp131 @Hiruzenaio @SpoiledBySpoily oh shi

[benjamin @thedlearner]

@eback_4u CLONE

[benjamin @thedlearner]

been a year without adobe sub. best move ever. was even able to skip their fee because of early unsub.

[Oren John @orenmeetsworld]

Adobe MAX today - MCP for the whole creative suite.

Auto-preparing Illustrator files by color layers for screen printing, full premiere editing, Lightroom batch editing

Removing all the painful parts of the workflow

[benjamin @thedlearner]

all these marketing mfs working at funded startups/unicorns/ai niches from nyc, sf, dubai or singapore claming how great they are at growth is like rich kids where dad makes 8 figures flexing how hard their life is yet still made it.

you just don't understand how the game on a pre-revenue self-bootstrapped startup is.

no hating tho, but just remember where you coming from.

[benjamin @thedlearner]

oh yeah lets write better hooks instead of getting a few kols to push the main campaign post

[benjamin @thedlearner]

@tye1337 guide

[benjamin @thedlearner]

@dara_venture def gay shi

[benjamin @thedlearner]

@demi_hl jeff mode

[benjamin @thedlearner]

@demi_hl yes

[benjamin @thedlearner]

@nachocsantos love these

[benjamin @thedlearner]

@RAnSacks legit

[benjamin @thedlearner]

@RAnSacks wild. besides that budgets are almost nothing cuz everything around here is so insanely overpriced.

[benjamin @thedlearner]

@leonabboud its the game.

tbh, bit sad cuz there are guys cooking legit things out there, but its just the game.