Entrepreneurship in Web3 : Opportunities and Challenges

Twitter Spaces Panel — Entrepreneurship in Web3: Opportunities and Challenges

In this Twitter Space, together with Octopus Accelerator, we have several distinguished guests with VC or Web3 entrepreneurial backgrounds to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the times of crisis for Web3 entrepreneurs, the similarities and differences between starting a business in Web2 and Web3, how to onboard more Web2 users to Web3 space, and much more.

Guest list:

Amos Zhang (GM, NEAR Asia/Founder, MetaWeb Ventures)

Elaine (Investment manager, Waterdrip Capital)

Woori Chen (Manager, Octopus Accelerator Program)

Leo Ngo (Co-founder, Yogain)

Mai Phan (CMO, Plats Network)

Wayne (COO, Portalverse)

Aleksei (Founder, Legal Music)

Orrin Campbell (Founder, QSTN)

Alex Shkor (Founder,DEIP)

Host:

Vivi Lin (Web3 Advocate)

Check out some highlights below or you can listen to the full conversation on Spotify.

Amos Zhang (NEAR Asia, MetaWeb Ventures)

• The biggest challenge every Web3 entrepreneur faces is market volatility. The token price actually does have a direct impact on both the engagement of the community and on-chain activity, and this is not something that Web2 entrepreneurs typically experience. I recommend all Web3 entrepreneurs to stay focused on the product and on those who truly believe in what you’re doing and can add value.
• If you are still fundraising and are facing difficulties right now, there are still many opportunities outside of traditional venture capital routes, like NEAR Foundation and Octopus Network, both of which offer grant programs.
• Octopus Network is a big part of NEAR, together with NEAR Native and Aurora, they comprise the three pillars of NEAR ecosystem.

Elaine (Waterdrip Capital)

• Web3 startups have to be crypto native and truly understand the booming crypto concepts like DeFi, NFT, and the metaverse, and know what Web3 people like.
• The user growth strategy in Web2 and Web3 is quite different. What is most important is to build a decentralized, engaged community with strong consensus.
• In order to run a successful Venture DAO, it is crucial to build trust first, and then deliver quality content to keep members engaged. PFP NFT is also a great way to show identity, loyalty, and keep them engaged.

Woori Chen (Octopus Accelerator)

• Product market fit is the biggest challenge for any startup, whether it is in Web2 or Web3.
• Blockchain technology is not as developed as the ecosystem in Web2 and there is added complexity of building something that’s user friendly. Octopus Network and this Appchain idea, where you build your application on your own blockchain, could be a game changer because you have full control over all aspects of the tech stack.
• To achieve PMF, the key is trial and error and iterating fast. Building an Appchain could be just as cheap and fast as building a Dapp, while you get a lot of added benefits, like no gas fees. This is because Appchains pay their validators with their own token. Additionally, you could customize your appchain to give your users the best user experience.

Leo Ngo (Yogain)

• In the bear market, you have to do a lot more to prove to the investors your project is still worth it — at least have your MVP ready. That’s why at Yogain, we build lighter and then get feedback and continue to improve.

Mai Phan (Plats Network)

• For the challenges dedicated to our project, as we are developing a mobile app, our focus is on getting non-crypto users on board. We came up with the key points that we have to focus on the simple but user friendly design. So it may somehow be like Web2 in terms of login and account registration. And we also have to prepare something like education materials and some tools for them to learn quickly and to get familiar with the crypto stuff.

Wayne (Portalverse)

• Many people see Web3 as a bubble compared to the 2000 dot-com bubble, but I even believe that Web3 is in 1994, a little before the launch of Netscape Explorer.
• Tokens can be a double-edged sword because oftentimes a low token price results in fewer users, but it’s still a powerful tool for project kickstarting and seed-user development.

Aleksei (Legal Music)

• The current market situation provides opportunities for all to think about new ways to reach their goals. I believe this bear market right now will help in the future with mass adoption and will help drop projects that only make money without adding value. Currently, our main focus is to create an MVP and make some proof of concept.

Orrin Campbell (QSTN)

• One of the problems that I see moving forward is that we have a lot of
• hyper crypto products, but we need to bring in more Web2 people. In the design of QSTN, we’re trying to allow people to basically earn NFTs and earn virtual credits without needing a wallet, but eventually provoking them to download one, allowing people to stay within the comfort of Web2. When they’re ready and have the information and the knowledge, then they can matriculate to the next level.

Alex Shkor (DEIP)

• In this bear market, it’s important to keep the team and company motivated, stay on track, and keep building. Furthermore, we need to really collaborate with each other and find ways to be force multipliers for each other.

About Octopus Accelerator

The Octopus Accelerator is an accelerator that focuses on supporting Web3 startups.

Why join?

• Gain Mentorship & knowledge of Web3
• Supercharge Network Effects & Partnerships
• Grants (The Octopus Accelerator Program conducts four global Web3 entrepreneurship camps every year providing $1 million in grants to 20 outstanding Web3 appchain projects.)

Follow Octopus Network!

• Website: https://oct.network/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/oct_network
• Accelerator Program: https://accelerator.oct.network/
• Medium: https://medium.com/oct-network
• Discord: https://discord.gg/6GTJBkZA9Q
• Telegram: https://t.me/octopusnetwork
• Youtube:https://youtube.com/channel/UCkMYDmXdgjCBTBggSEAy0ZQ
• Github: https://github.com/octopus-network
• Docs: https://docs.oct.network/