Product vs. Protocol: Finding a Balance in Web3 – Variant

ou are always going to have centralized services in the mix, because it is just a fact that centralized companies make better user experiences than protocols do. I agree with that. I think the question is, do the network effects accrue to the company, or do they accrue to the protocol? In Web1, they accrue to the protocol, in Web2, they accrue to t... See more

Crypto founders have a unique challenge in front of them. In addition to building a product that people want, they also need to consider how that product can successfully run in a decentralized manner — that is, as a protocol owned and operated by a community of users. This is a difficult challenge because much of what it takes to build a suc

... See more

Aggregators are incentivized to limit composability. By contrast, the value of a web3 token may actually increase when composed with other systems. The money flowing through web3 is mediated by open source smart contracts, rather than closed source software owned by corporations. This feels completely asymmetric. I cannot imagine a Facebook or Goog... See more

 How do you “go to market” and convince potential customers to spend their money, time, and attention on your product or service? The response by most organizations in web2 — the Internet era defined by large centralized products/services like Amazon, eBay, Facebook, and Twitter, in which the vast majority of value accrues to

... See more

I’ve found that many new Web3 companies focus on one or two of these aspects, but rarely all three:They create but can’t deliver or capture value.They create and deliver but can’t capture value.They capture value but don’t create or deliver.It isn’t entirely surprising, especially since I experienced many of these same growing pains during the firs... See more