Web3—Bust or build?

Good morning!

Last week, our friends at Gripnr (disclosure: I’m an investor) launched their public mint. I wanted to buy $400 of MATIC so I could participate. To fund my Metamask wallet, I tried every built-in integration (fail), spent hours on the phone with Chase (who, btw, thinks all crypto is fraud), and eventually wired funds into Coinbase. I then transferred the funds into Metamask (3-step workaround) to buy the mint on Friday (finally, success!)

The whole process was way too hard. Does the usability of Web3 feel clunky to you?

This week, I thought I’d take stock of a few things in the Web3 world – is it over? Is it early? Is it just hype? Or, is it world changing?

We’re deep into crypto winter, which plenty of folks see as the end of a greater-fool theory-driven bubble. I’m old enough to have been day-trading during the dot-com crash. I sure wish I would have held onto the Amazon stock I owned instead of buying a used Saab 900 with what was left in my eTrade account.

So, which is it? Depends on what real companies and services are going to be built using blockchain technology and all that Web3 entails. Bored Apes won’t be enough. To me, trading is different from investing, (read: financiers vs engineers). The traders have left the building, it's time to build products and services of real value.

Are we in the trough of disillusionment? Check out the Web3 Gartner Hype Cycle released this summer. The nice thing about going through the boom and bust cycles of tech is you get familiar with the hype cycle for every new technology.

Remember ~5 years ago, when Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning were all the hype? AI has risen from that same trough, and is starting to help create amazing art and motion design. Check out this thread of the last 30 days of Stable Diffusion.

IMO, the biggest problem right now in Web3 is the talent gap. There simply aren’t enough developers in the ecosystem, by orders of magnitude. In 2019, Joseph Lubin announced the OneMillionDevs project, setting a target for developers on Ethereum. According to a16z, today there are only 4000.

(Flow State Industries enters the room ✌️…)

So, what’s next? Real utility. The way to move beyond the hype is always the same. Build something people want and need. Build a painkiller, not a vitamin. Start with a real problem people have. Not a solution looking for a problem.

One of the most innovative things I’m seeing now is traditional businesses incorporating technology (made possible by Web3) into their strategy. It’s early, but there’s a lot you can build with the infrastructure in place.

At Flow State Industries, we're beginning to work on a Smart Contract which puts our terms on the blockchain, and executes payments to our teams automatically when conditions are met. Makes total sense for a retainer model engagement. We're also rolling out incentives for helping to build our community.

Winter is here, so it's time to stay warm, hunker down, and build. If you’re just trading crypto, the music has stopped (for now). If you’re ready to build something of real value, let’s talk.

As always, hit reply or join us in Discord.