Essentially, as we increase group sizes beyond 80, to 150, 200, or even 350-500, we typically do so by breaking larger groups down into smaller ones, and continually reducing community sizes down to the point where they can be understood and managed by people -- and so efficiency reasserts itself.
I was at Amzn early '00s when we lost 95% of our market cap. Later at FB I negotiated a down-round in '09, and then in '12 our stock dropped 50% post-IPO. I was on the board of a public company that went bankrupt (Borders) and a start-up that went under (Hello). Some lessons:
I think what’s more interesting about Web 3 and the angle that I would love to explore more is, in so far as it serves as a vector for allowing platform participants to become the owners of the platforms themselves.
Some companies—like Lambda (Series C; $122M raised), Flockjay (Series A; $14M raised), and Microverse (Seed; $3M raised)—use Income Share Agreements (ISAs), which align incentives with learners. Flockjay, for instance, only gets paid if students land a new job paying at least $40,000 per year. The average graduate gets a job paying $75,000.
Companies need financial capital. But they also need emotional capital—good energy, positivity, and resilience. Ironically, being surrounded by close friends and having a strong support system is the best source of emotional capital for founders.