$BUILD Case study: What do we really need to build a new business?

The other day I read a post by Greg Isemberg saying the following (thanks for sharing, Carlos):

This came right while the Talent Protocol team (shout out to these wonderful builders) were pushing $BUILD (Former $BOSS) forward. See it with your own eyes:

$BUILD started as an idea of game that raised over 70ETH in 5 days using Party to set up group, pass proposals, and airdrop tokens to its supporters based on the NFTs held. Pool is live (+$4M FDV and +$300k TVL worth), and 700 users are live on the chat asking for next steps.

For someone in the Web2 Venture Building (VB) industry this is mental. Running the methodology takes months, and even though you achieve a fully validated business, it is true that pivoting is always on the table and you are not 100% certain about anything. Web2 VB has a lot to learn from Web3.

Web2 VB methodologies take too long to achieve the most important part (at the beginning): a community of supporters of your idea. We overthink our purpose and we do not build together with our future users - or not as close as we should. Shipping by yourself is something of the past, now you co-create with your community.

Reason why builders now need to excel at communication. Web2 values MBA in finance/operations/management profiles. These are wonderful professionals that do excellent jobs at structuring and executing, but, at the end of the day, everything comes to you being able to communicate your idea in the same language your people use. We do not go back to the cave to build anymore using unknown frameworks, we build in public.

Does this approach apply to every problem? Well, obviously not.

You can inspire yourself to build a solution from a problem, or from a narrative (there are probably more, but I am gonna stick to these two). Problems within industries are harder to identify, require lots of social interaction and digestion of countless experiments to really get to the bottom of it. Narratives, however, are opportunities that require fast-forwarding through methodologies and taking common sense into the game. Time to market is urgent when tackling narratives and you cannot hesitate much. Narratives are cash cows, problems are stars.

Web2 is much slower than web3. Web3 Venture Builders need to be able to grab this opportunities as soon as they are spotted. Memecoins, Crypto x AI, Airdrops, SocialFi, DePIN, L2s, GambleFi, RWA, Ordinals… Countless narratives happen every year that have to be used as an opportunity to put in all-nighters and bring up solutions to life that can enhance the ecosystem, while providing experience and credentials to your brand.

At the same time, problems are structural issues that provide unique opportunities to build long-lasting companies. Tackling problems may require the support of already established enterprises (Corporate Venture Building) that provide a more holistic approach, resources, network or any other benefits that can make taking this bull by the horns slightly easier. An ambitious endeavour, nonetheless.

So what do we do then?

I believe it is time to loosen our belts and confront VB methods with new techniques and approaches towards solving problems. Personally, I would adopt the following steps:

• Comprehending narratives within territories - understanding narratives as trends with a people / community add-on.

• Quickly grasp the purpose behind narratives, and understand how other players are tackling it.

• (Aha moment) Build a channel on any famous social media platform (i.e. Farcaster) and a website that showcases your purpose. Let people talk. Interact. Ask them what they need and learn from them.

• Create DAO-like structures where early adopters can show their commitment. Build channels for people to communicate with you. Excel at communication. “Your job is to figure out what this group chat wants, and go build it for them”.

• Accept speculation as part of your solution. People speculate on narratives. Invest as little as possible, and launch as soon as possible (little to no validation / co-creating should be your validation).

• Rinse, learn and repeat.

Whatever we do, let’s not forget today we’re ultimately competing for attention. We need to be quick to take on opportunities that come in this industry, and this does not mean sacrificing strategy, but rather don’t overestimate planning, and don’t underestimate momentum.

As always, I may be wrong and just generalizing an experience over a whole industry. However, hope my takes are helpful and inspire your next steps. Let’s keep going. 🌱

If you liked it and want to chat about it, reach out at:

Farcaster
Twitter
Instagram
Linkedin

Obviously this is not financial advise, ape under your own responsibility fam.