What Venture Capitalists (VCs) look for in a web3 Startup is to see whether the team/startup has the potential to succeed and whether the team has the ability to execute the business plan / bring the product to market successfully.
- The merit of the founder/team
- The excellence of the idea/product
- The hype or traction
These are my thoughts on working in a web3 startup.
Like all startups, A startup is a company typically in the early stages of its development. These entrepreneurial ventures are initialed by 1-3 founders who focus on capitalizing upon a perceived market demand by developing a viable product, service, or platform- the textbook version.
My version of a startup is a brand new company with a great idea that needs constant compromise with the team / other founders and the potential to be able to sit beside Mr. Wonderful on Shark Tank once we make it.
These are my thoughts and struggles on a startup and how VCs (venture capitalists) look at them:
Fierce Competition
The corporate world is quite fierce. There is always a competition going on between the giants. Competition poses one of the biggest challenges for the survival of startup businesses. And if you have an online business startup, the competition gets more challenging.
However, in the web3 space, with everyone dropping out or slowing down due to the market conditions, it is more advantageous to start now. When the market is good, you are competing with ten other startups with a similar idea, and now, since you are continuing to build, when times are great again, things will be ready and ready to tackle the whole market. Still, it comes with many other challenges, including staying motivated and money management.
The competitive environment keeps the startups on their toes, as no margin of error is available. It doesn't matter if the Web3 startup is aiming at B2C or B2B; to survive in this competitive environment and horrendous market conditions that covers both traditional and online businesses, the startups need to play/build aggressively and pivot directions when needed.
Unrealistic Expectations
Success does not come alone. It brings expectations with it. Most of the time, these expectations seem realistic. However, to VCs or users, they don't seem so. This same concept holds for young startup founders.
"I work a corporate job full time (it pays for my mortgage and allows me to support my family), but I work on a startup during my off time, pretty much full time to fulfill my dream. I failed in 2 previous startups and was semi-successful in one, as I understand the challenges and expectations of managing the Team and finances."
Startups face challenges when they set 'unrealistic expectations' following a booming success. Remember, success is short-lived, and expectations never end; where startups need to translate what the real expectations are. Sustainability is the name of the game. And sustainability requires consistent efforts. To succeed in a competitive business world, startups need to have high but controlled expectations, keeping a view of the resources available, the extent of growth potential, and other market factors.
When we launched WOLF3 (https://www.wolf3.io), our social media and discord buzzed with overwhelming interest and gained many interested parties. Ever since the crypto bear market, we did lose many VC commitments, and some collaborations didn't pan out, but that isn't stopping or slowing us down. We will continue to build with the available resources we have, and we thank you for others still believing in WOLF3 and for the financial support and backing we have received so far.
Team
The Team to make the startup's vision is essential.
One of the most critical factors that define organizational culture within a startup company is the Team's synergy. A team comprises individuals with comparable capabilities and identical focus. To develop a highly successful team culture, organizations in general.
There is a considerable pool of aspiring individuals available. However, a peculiarly tricky task is selecting a suitable candidate that fits the job well enough. It is one of the biggest challenges facing startup businesses in this digital age. However, this runs into an issue when the founders ask the team members (who could be close friends) to work for free. While it was okay in the beginning when it was an extended amount of time, there were no excellent funding options, resulting in internal team conflicts and meeting deadline issues.
Partnerships
Partnerships are the essence of success. And this logic holds for startups as well. But unfortunately, in this ever-expanding and ever-changing digital era, where organizations need to battle hard for their survival, startups also find it challenging to find trustworthy collaborations or long-term partners. First of all, either the startup is too small or doesn't have enough traction, and the more prominent corporations have no interest in partnering with such a small web3 startup.
The most sustainable way is to find other startups with similar merit, exchange ideas and technology with each other, and then grow till the web3 startup can stand next to the big corporations. Going into a partnership pays great dividends for the startups. Still, they must consider various factors before collaborating with another company in the same ecosystem. It's a big challenge for startups today, not just Web3 startups. However, with that said, the web3 space is quite extraordinary because many people are willing to help each other even though they may have never met in real life.
I’m lucky to be included in many wonderful web3 communities such as HEADDAO and 8DAO and other NFT PFP projects like Deadfellaz and 0n1force; these wonderful people there have helped me connect with many others.
Financial Management
Money begets money. The end goal is to fulfill the founder's dream and make a profit. Therefore, one must spend the startup money smart to make it profitably. When income increases, the expenditures also increase. There is no doubt about it. One of the biggest challenges that startups face today relates to financial management.
The biggest question is, how much would the founders spend on a startup without VC funding? Is every founder as motivated to get the project going? Is every founder putting in the same amount of work/effort/resources on the startup?
It is a fact that small startups rely heavily on financial backups from the so-called VCs or investors. But how do startups get these financial backings? It's called pitching and aggressively calling.
Whether there is a cash influx from investors or not, startups tend to find it challenging to manage their finances and bog down against the pressure correctly.
To address this kind of situation, with my knowledge, startups need to play a safe and cautious hand but also tackle their projects/markets aggressively. Financial help from a reputed institution firm or money from family and friends may help manage financial crises facing today's startup businesses. However, it does increase the number of stakeholders; sometimes, priorities can change. So taking on too many or too little financial or even no investor has its pros and cons.
Cyber Security
This is the digital age. Web3 is the start of a new frontier, but it does come with many unknown security risks. Project owners/startups need to be super agile to counter the so-called online security threats. Hackers are everywhere, and they will take advantage of any loophole within the systems installed within a startup firm.
The rate of cyber crimes has increased dramatically during the past couple of months, and the amount of money stolen in de-fi and NFTs are staggering. And the percentage of hacks is going to increase.
To safeguard the all-important online data, startups need to have robust and military-grade security systems in place. All smart contracts involved with the Web3 startup should be audited by 3rd parties, such as “Certik” and “Hacken”.
Community = Customers / Users
The customer is the king. Winning a customer's trust is one of the most critical challenges that businesses in general – and startups in particular – face today. With a satisfied and loyal customer base, startups can scale and progress towards excellence. In web3, we usually the customers = the community.
The community is the real force behind a startup's success. Their word-of-mouth power and their presence on social media can give tech startups an edge against all the traditional businesses. This includes Web3 startups. To win customers' trust and loyalty, web3 startups need to work aggressively to implement a user-centric working philosophy to attain the height of sustainable growth and progress they desire to achieve in this tech-savvy and challenging business world.
Community is the Key to Sustainability
It is a fact that there is no single-stop solution to surmounting challenges. There is no magic wand that can help you solve challenges, both project deliverables, and funding overnight. To meet and tackle the so-called challenges of a violent business world, startups need to be resilient and focus on keeping their integrity intact against all odds.
Let's keep building. WAGMI.
Thank you. I look forward to hearing your insights and comments
Cheers,
Eric F
If you want to get in touch about interesting NFT ideas or projects or want to hear about a specific topic, I'm @ericclfung on Twitter.
Thanks to @LiMeRiC & @Sumairkandhari & @CISBROS & @fichus0512 & @LReingee for reviewing this post.