Article source: Yuliya

Original text: ehwangah

Translation: Yuliya, PANews

Let's face a reality: in the crypto field, market capitalization is the core metric for measuring success. Technical innovation, core value capture, product-market fit (PMF), etc., are all important, but the real sign that proves you have brought multiple returns to your team, investors, and holders is whether your market cap can soar. So how do you achieve that?

Launch immediately, build and showcase publicly > Don't get overly caught up in launch details or keep delaying.

Don't be too anxious; the launch only accounts for 10%-20% of your long-term success. Don't make it complicated. Here's a brief summary:

  • Overhyped before launch, but lacking substance: wild fluctuations.

  • Low-key launch, but lacking substance: direct failure.

  • Overhyped before launch, with substantial support: take off and soar to the peak.

  • Low-key launch, with substantial support: steady growth.

Do you see the pattern? The key is to create substantial content (we will discuss how to create substantial content in detail later; in short, it's about the team, product, and community). A simple test is: are your friends willing to buy, hold, and believe in your project? If they don't trust it, others won't either.

Why is launching early the best choice?

1. Validate your idea before investing over $100,000 in development costs.

Instead of spending 3 months or longer and investing hundreds of thousands of dollars refining the product, launching early can help you validate the concept. A lean startup approach is similar; propose an idea to spark interest among target users, validate it, and then iterate on building. You might think this approach is unconventional, but it can help you cultivate the initial 1,000 true believers, who will become catalysts for project growth, whether in networks, resources, or pricing.

The focus is: validate your idea first, don't wait until you've spent a lot of time and costs to validate.

2. Establish a leading position and leverage the Lindy effect.

Do you know why the top 50 projects maintain their leading position during cycle changes? It's not just about quality; it’s also about the advantages of time and position, known as the Lindy effect. Launching early strengthens your holder community base, gradually eliminating uncommitted users and attracting loyal supporters. Time is your ally.

Waiting too long can allow inferior projects to occupy your position. Once others capture your narrative, funding, or attention, it will be very difficult to reclaim it. In the PVP competition on X (Twitter), it's hard to make those who have already 'entered' switch to other projects.

In the current AI agent boom, being the first to launch is not just a bonus, it's a decisive factor. Everyone is rushing to launch AI agents; joining the race early allows you to gain an advantage in the ecosystem, while others can only chase after you.

Like it or not, launching projects in the crypto market involves an 'attention game.' While product-driven growth is important, that comes later. Attracting attention early and building a community is crucial, and tokens are the best tools for distribution and binding interests.

Projects that choose to launch in the Virtuals ecosystem usually gain a competitive advantage. The overall culture of this ecosystem is marked by high quality, and in the long run, capital tends to flow toward quality projects.

3. Immediately form community and distribution effects.

Launching a project will spark heated discussions; people on X (Twitter) will start discussing your project, summarizing 'three reasons to buy/hold'. This discussion is invaluable—not just because of the price increase, but because it solidifies the community. These people can help you iterate on the product, test new features, and even contribute development resources. On launch day, you will already have a group of loyal users.

4. You can get ahead of many VC-supported token projects in 2025.

Many projects delayed their launches during the bear market of 2024, thinking that low liquidity and risk aversion leading to low market sentiment were not conducive to launching. By 2025, you'll see more projects launching, following a typical path:

  • Raise a large sum of money from VC;

  • Refine the product and then conduct marketing activities (points, tasks, KOL collaborations, etc.);

  • Then conduct the token generation event (TGE).

What is your advantage? Fair launch, decentralized spirit, organically growing community. The market dynamics have shifted, which is now more favorable for you.

What if you build the product first?

A solid product can indeed provide a competitive advantage, but it's not the only deciding factor. As an early project, the crypto market itself is also in its early stages, and whether the team's background can continue to create value is crucial. To be honest, if the crypto market were entirely driven by practicality and products, then 'air coins' wouldn't attract a large buying interest.

It's not about advocating for 'air projects', but rather that an early launch can give you a competitive edge in community building and narrative shaping.

Product launches are never perfect; there will always be bugs, high server loads, concurrency issues, etc. Don't overly emphasize these problems; as updates iterate, the product will eventually prove itself.

Build publicly, document the journey.

People enjoy seeing how a team creates value from scratch. The story matters; people are more willing to support flesh-and-blood founders rather than cold, impersonal brands. Public building makes the project more relatable and human.

You don't need to have a perfect brand image on day one; start early, starting from the initial draft. Grow through public building. It's advisable to study the successful experiences of the top 20 projects in the Virtuals ecosystem.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • About snipers: they exist on all chains; the key is to maintain user stickiness and ecosystem strength.

  • Token economics design and agent launch structure: advice can be provided based on experiences from over 100 launch cases.

  • G.A.M.E framework: provide open-source SDKs to support customization needs.

  • Business model: can integrate existing business models.

  • Existing token integration: has corresponding solutions.

  • Trust issues at the start with no product launch: analogous to Kickstarter projects, early feedback is the most valuable.