Take Yam Finance, for example. In 2020, it launched with a whitepaper, meme momentum, and a freshly minted token. Within hours, it raised millions in value—without a product, audit, or working treasury system. Days later, a bug in the code led to a spectacular collapse. Token holders were left holding the bag, and the community vanished as quickly as it arrived.
This isn’t a one-off. It’s a pattern.
In Web3, far too many projects are launching tokens on speculation, not substance. The result? Buzz fades. Liquidity disappears. Trust erodes.
As someone who’s spent the last decade helping founders validate, build, and ship in the Web2 space, I’ve seen how dangerous hype without product can be. Web3 isn’t immune—it just masks the same mistakes with decentralised language and a community-first façade.
It’s time for a new approach.
Validate fast. Build lean. Ship early. Then grow.
This has been my mantra in Web2—and it’s more relevant than ever in Web3.
Too many teams are tapping into the Web3 community for liquidity before they’ve tested their product. They’re building token economies before understanding user behaviour. And they’re announcing roadmaps with no foundation to stand on.
In the current climate, the smartest move is to delay the token. Build something first. Validate it. Then—when the MVP is ready—drop the token days before launch to spark excitement with substance behind it.
Look at Uniswap. By the time the UNI token launched, the platform already had real traction: thousands of users, working infrastructure, and a clear use case. UNI wasn’t a promise—it was a governance token for something real.
That’s what utility looks like.
The Lean Web3 Playbook
If we want to stop repeating the mistakes of the past, we need to start thinking like product-first founders again. Here’s a better blueprint:
MVP with Minimal Resources
Start scrappy. MakerDAO launched DAI with a barebones system—no glossy UI or hype machine—just a working stablecoin pegged to the dollar that people could actually use and test.
Engage Real Users Early
Aave (originally ETHLend) focused on a niche cohort of borrowers and lenders in its early days, gathering feedback and building slowly before scaling and introducing the AAVE token.
Feedback Before Tokens
Curve Finance iterated its AMM mechanism in public with active traders before launching CRV. The token rewarded participation in a system that already worked—not one waiting to be built.
This is how real momentum is built. Hype alone is a sugar rush. Utility is nutrition.
Yes, Tokens Can Fund—But They Can’t Fix What’s Missing
Some founders will argue that token raises are necessary to stay competitive. And in some cases, they are.
Axie Infinity is a solid example. Early token sales gave the team a much-needed runway. But here’s the key difference: Axie shipped a playable demo within a year of launching its token.
Compare that to dozens of metaverse and NFT projects that raised millions and shipped nothing.
Raising on a dream without delivery leads to one inevitable result: a disillusioned community and drained liquidity.
From Hype Cycles to Trust Cycles
Web3 isn’t just fighting for liquidity. It’s fighting for legitimacy.
We need to stop treating tokens as tickets to a concert that may never happen, and start treating them as keys to real, working systems.
That shift—from hype cycles to trust cycles—is where the next era of Web3 winners will emerge.
Web3’s promise isn’t in another hyped token drop—it’s in code that works today. Look at Ethereum: it shipped, it struggled, it grew.
Let’s stop betting on vaporware.
Let’s start building the real thing—block by block.
Enjoyed this? I’m a tech consultant helping Web3 and AI startups validate and scale smarter, not louder.
