Keeping BUIDL Focus
Ok, so we’re officially in a bear market. Ecosystems collapsed, funds blew up, and contagion spilled everywhere (ahem, CeFi). The froth disappeared, the tourists are gone, and institutions are pulling back. Venture valuations have dropped 50-90% with deployments slowing down significantly.
What now?
We believe that this is a great time to BUIDL. The field is clearing and the noise is gone. There are less distractions and less imposters. We’ve summarized our thoughts below:
Innovation happens in the bear market. Most of DeFi was built in the previous bear. In fact, this last bull cycle, much of the development was derivatives of other projects and meant to take advantage of contango.
Airdrops and liquidity mining were tested in the bull, but and it’s now obvious that additional iterations are needed.
For another round of rally to happen, a lot of building will need to be done. By whom? You, there, reading this note.
Focusing too much on macro is no good. Especially when you can’t change the macro. Focus on the things you can change. This is where the AA Serenity Prayer comes in handy.
5. Crypto is for the disenfranchised as we said in the Exponent<>Pool Fireside chat. And there is and will continue to be a ton of disenfranchisement out there. Permissionless, borderless, and trustless systems are needed now more than ever.
6. Valuations were too high. We didn’t earn the 3 trillion market cap. But we can if we keep building meaningful products.
7. It’s okay to feel sad. Emotions make us human. However, if your only focus in crypto is trading, making short term gains, number going up and down, then you’re missing the whole point. Also, you’re just not valuing things that are meaningful and bigger than yourself. Build something and be a part of something bigger than yourself and your bag. Make meaningful relationships, learn new skills and things along the way. Friends and focus will make the bear market go by much faster.
8. Startups don’t fail because they run out of cash. They fail because they run out of will power or possibilities.
9. So what to do as a project heading into a bear:
a. Tighten your belt, no one knows how long this will last. If they say they knew, feel free to call bullshit and throw pasta in their faces. Trim operating expenses, travel expenses, team expenses. Just try to survive.
b. Raise if you need to but be aware that market may be turning in favor of investors. Again, do what it takes to stay alive.
c. Talk to your team. Make sure everyone is on the same page and rowing in the same direction. Building trust and transparency with the team is fair to everyone and it helps everyone plan accordingly. When delivered in the right way, it also helps to align and motivate everyone towards the same goal.
d. Do BD and outreach. This is probably the best time to create partnerships. Noise is flushed out of the system, and you’re just here with other people who are here for the tech and community.
e. Be resourceful and creative. Look for grants and other sources of revenue. Be creative with your income model. It will help in the long run and trains your team to act resourcefully.
10. What to do as a human being with emotions:
a. If you need a day to go collect yourself. Do it. Learn from whatever your situation is, reset, have a plan for the next cycles, and make sure you’re focused on a big-enough goal or vision.
b. Go make some friends. Like, real friends.
c. Breathe, exercise, travel, explore. And everywhere you go, seek out other builders. There are still lots of us around!