原文：How to Get Rich in Crypto Part 2
Author: Jason Choi, co-founder of Tangent
Compiled by: Zombit
Three years ago, I wrote a post about how people get rich in cryptocurrencies based on hundreds of conversations with founders and investors. This post is a follow-up to that topic, offering some principles for speculators and entrepreneurs based on my new learnings as an investor.
There are two ways to build wealth: hold assets that increase in value over time, or exchange them for assets that increase in value faster. However, statistics show that less than 1% of people who try the latter succeed.
What sets cryptocurrencies apart from other cutting-edge technology sectors is the time required for liquidity. This is the biggest arbitrage opportunity.
Your "why" should be driven by ideas, not money; your "how" should be driven by incentives, not ideas.
Two rules for consistently making money from the cryptocurrency market: Rule 1: Know your time frame well, Rule 2: Never forget Rule 1. Remember, people still lose everything by going long in a bull market and short in a bear market.
People who are suitable for short-term thinking are often excellent traders and marketers, but they are not suitable for founders and investors. Recognize your own thinking traits and partner with people who complement your weaknesses.
Courage and wisdom are how you make money; calmness and alertness are how you keep it.
As a long-term investor, stay away from speculation; as a short-term trader, embrace speculation.
Unlike traditional finance or Web 2, there are very few established companies in the cryptocurrency space, and established career paths are even harder to find. Whatever plans you had for your career before getting into cryptocurrencies, cut it in half.
The accuracy of language promotes the accuracy of thought, and the accuracy of thought promotes the quality of action. As a speculator, avoid using vague terms such as "bullish" or "bearish", "good" or "bad" in discussions. Discuss in terms of trade-offs, magnitudes, and specific time frames.
Don’t think of success in the “status game” as success in the “wealth game.” Having a large following does not necessarily mean you have the ability to make money. Building a following is a popularity contest. Making money by investing is a sport of reverse thinking. The two are often completely opposite.
Be a voracious reader - In an industry dominated by cyclical changes, not learning history is a huge disadvantage. Fools only learn from their own experiences, while wise men learn from the experiences of others.
Don’t rely too much on the history of cryptocurrencies. What worked during a historical bull market driven by quantitative easing may not be a reliable blueprint for a durable agreement, business or investment strategy.
When investing or joining a team, founders must be judged against a 10x higher standard if they entered the space during a raging bull market. Likewise, for fund managers, before investing your life savings, find out whether they have the ability to outperform or are just chasing leveraged market returns.
Before chasing trends, understand whether they are sustainable. The “hockey stick” growth curve was often a signal of product-market fit in Web 2, but is often misleading in Web 3.
As a short-term speculator, don't let the truth get in the way of a good narrative. As a long-term investor, don't mistake unproven attention for accumulated value.
Document every investment, transaction, or business decision and conduct postmortems regularly. Your goal is not to succeed once and for all, but to build a system that will allow you to be successful over time.
Never assume "build it and the users will come."
Never assume "if users come, the price of my token will go up".
Difficult times attract mission-driven people, and good times attract profit-seeking people. If you want to work with both types of people at the same time, work with those who have a sense of mission for the long term and with those who are profit-seeking for the short term. The two require almost completely opposite skills and personalities. Most people shouldn't try to do both.
Unlike Web 2 applications, Web 3 applications appeal to both users and early speculators. When collecting user feedback, make sure you actually talk to your users.
Ignore those who are all talk and no action. Many people complain that "venture capital companies have difficult-to-reach transaction opportunities, giant whales control prices, and developers are lucky." But what’s really hard is raising money and successfully closing deals, perfecting your trading system, or getting hired on a high-growth team.
Social media encourages anger, showiness and sensationalism. These will make you a worse investor, trader, and builder. Block out the noise and focus on your expertise.
Most founders and investors have a "brand" because their startup is successful, not because they have a brand first. Be suspicious of people who develop a large following before they achieve anything. Spend more time on the wealth game rather than the status game.
As an emerging industry, most of the best opportunities come from warm introductions and recommendations. Protecting your reputation at all costs will bring you the greatest rewards and the best surprises.
If you take huge risks in one area of your life, make sure other areas are stable and predictable. Manage your emotional capital like your financial capital because it too is limited.
Even perfectly legal shortcuts can end your career at any time. True stories include: invest in my fund and I’ll support your project, let me cash out before the product goes live, and “let me trade with the money we raise for the project.”
If you take huge risks in one area of your life, make sure other areas are stable and predictable. Manage your emotional capital like your financial capital because it too is limited.
Do things that will succeed in the most parallel universes. In other words, don’t mistake leverage for genius!
Don’t forget that your goal in building a product isn’t to impress VCs, it’s to change the world. Don’t let investor promises go to your head, and don’t take rejection as a personal disapproval.
If you start to believe you are invincible, the market will remind you that is not the case.
The cryptocurrency space is confrontational, which can bring out the worst in people. If someone becomes your enemy because of circumstances, follow Lincoln's advice (turn an enemy into a friend). If they insist on being your enemy, follow Machiavelli's advice (take decisive action).
If you can't describe the specific group of people who will benefit from your product, then you're just doing a science fair project, and science fair projects rarely make people rich.
Founders should treat the actual product and the token as two separate products and develop their own roadmaps and distribution plans. The audience of the product is your users, and the audience of the token is your investors. The two may not overlap.
Just like exercise, consistency is more important than temporary enthusiasm. Have a philosophical reason to get into cryptocurrency, otherwise you'll quit at the worst possible time.
Finally, recognize that the only common goal that truly unites us is fighting for public acceptance of cryptocurrencies. Without this, traders will lose liquidity, investors will lose exit opportunities, developers will lose users, and operators will lose their jobs. We are all in the same boat.
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