Vitalik Butarin: Contradictions In Thoughts And Values

Thread: some still open contradictions in my thoughts and my values, that I have been thinking about but still don't feel like I've fully resolved.

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 17, 2022

Contradiction between my desire to see Ethereum become a more Bitcoin-like system emphasizing long-term stability and stability, including culturally, and my realization that getting there requires quite a lot of active coordinated short-term change.

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 17, 2022

Contradiction between my preference for reducing reliance on individuals and trying to build fixed systems that can stand the test of time and my appreciation of "live players" and their role in helping the world move forward.

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 17, 2022

Contradiction between my desire to see Ethereum become an L1 that can survive truly extreme circumstances and my realization that many key apps on Ethereum already rely on far more fragile security assumptions than anything we consider acceptable in Ethereum protocol design.

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 17, 2022

Contradiction between my love for things like decentralization and democracy, and my realization that in practice I agree with intellectual elites more than "the people" on many (though definitely far from all) specific policy issues.

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 17, 2022

Contradiction between my desire to see more countries adopting radical policy experiments (eg. crypto countries!) and my realization that the governments most likely to go all the way on such things are more likely to be centralized and not friendly to diversity internally.

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 17, 2022

Contradiction between my desire to see more diversity in interesting *cultures* and my realization that maintaining a culture that's distinct from the mainstream seems to often require *some* kind of insanity or artificial barrier or similar thing that I ideologically dislike.

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 17, 2022

Contradiction between my dislike of many modern financial blockchain "applications" ($3M monkeys etc), and my grudging appreciation for the fact that that stuff is a big part of what keeps the crypto economy running and pays for all my favorite cool DAO/governance experiments.

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 17, 2022

Contradiction between my desire for crypto to grow beyond finance and my realization that finance (incl payments+SoV) is still by far the most successful category of crypto apps, *especially* among third-world residents, human rights activists and vulnerable people generally.

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 17, 2022

Contradiction between my desire to maximally simplify the L1 and my desire to maximally simplify the whole ecosystem (as a simple L1 often "exports" its complexity to higher layers of the stack that users have to adopt anyway)

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 17, 2022

Contradiction between my desire to be a positive-sum mediator figure that can be everyone's friend and my desire to stand strongly with good against evil those times when true evil is what we face.

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 17, 2022

Questions that can be easily resolved in the spiritual domain can feel impossible to resolve when technology is your only tool. Hire me to work on corporate culture. https://t.co/pc27jtNc1m

— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) May 17, 2022

Michelle Bailhe: Sequoia: Crypto Winter

Crypto founders: if you’re staring at a lot of red right now and wondering what to do about it, here are some thoughts from Sequoia's 50 years of experience, adapted for crypto 👇

— Michelle Bailhe (@michellebailhe) May 17, 2022

First, embrace reality. We’ve never been here before. Crypto has survived plenty of winters, but it’s never been through a global macro storm yet. Bitcoin was launched in the last global financial crisis of 2008. Crypto has mostly existed in a ~0% US interest rate environment.

— Michelle Bailhe (@michellebailhe) May 17, 2022

Over the last 14 years, crypto has grown tremendously. In prior cycles, it didn’t have nearly the level of complexity or variety of market players (individual & institutional) we do today. We've never had so much attention from users, developers, or regulators as we do now.

— Michelle Bailhe (@michellebailhe) May 17, 2022

So the fact is: We have never been here before. Yes, crypto has survived many winters and bear markets. Yes, this bear market will be similar, but it will also be different in some important ways.

— Michelle Bailhe (@michellebailhe) May 17, 2022

Perhaps you're a founder with a token down 80% LTM, or a last round post you fear you can’t clear, or months of runway left, or you’re wondering what may happen to your customer base… More doom & gloom is not helpful. But neither is hopium. What should you do actually about it?

— Michelle Bailhe (@michellebailhe) May 17, 2022

1: Don’t panic, but do plan. This is the time for diamond hands, not necessarily on your personal portfolio, but of your company/protocol/team. You need thoughtful, decisive action this month, not this minute. Stay the course, but plan for choppier waters.

— Michelle Bailhe (@michellebailhe) May 17, 2022

2: Recognize the funding environment has changed. VC funding is no longer on tap. Control expenses accordingly. Several big crypto funds were just raised, so it’s possible crypto does better than tech, but it's also possible it doesn't. It’s not your fault, but it is your problem

— Michelle Bailhe (@michellebailhe) May 17, 2022

3: Talk to people who have actually made it through a trough and come out stronger on the other side. They may be boomers! :) Most crypto cap tables are utterly devoid of anyone with first-hand experience navigating this type of environment. Ignore the investors who get jumpy.

— Michelle Bailhe (@michellebailhe) May 17, 2022

4: Ask hard and painful questions: First, do we actually have product-market fit? Many founders are product people, so asking this question is particularly painful. Emission-incentivized usage or grant-incentivized development masks product-market fit.

— Michelle Bailhe (@michellebailhe) May 17, 2022

5: Second, ask: do we have a sustainable business? "Token go up" is not a business model. Native coins for L1s/L2s to secure a network are a different story. But if you're an application and you've only funded your business through VC $ and tokens, you have planning to do.

— Michelle Bailhe (@michellebailhe) May 17, 2022

This doesn't mean turning on fees overnight, especially for network effect businesses or if you have plenty of runway. But you need to look at your runway and have a plan. Crypto/web3 is about better aligning incentives & rewarding users/creators - not denying the laws of physics

— Michelle Bailhe (@michellebailhe) May 17, 2022

6: Invest wisely. There is almost always 10-20% of spend in S&M and G&A that can be cut. When it is, you end up more, not less, efficient. Most crypto teams are lean, but there is still likely excess spend or initiatives. Focus precious calories on the most important things.

— Michelle Bailhe (@michellebailhe) May 17, 2022

7: Keep your foot on the accelerator in core R&D. This was one of Sequoia’s most important learnings from '08 - trim elsewhere but double down on product. Put distance between you and your competitors. When you reach the other side, be the strongest positioned.

— Michelle Bailhe (@michellebailhe) May 17, 2022

8: Hire a great CFO. CFO is perhaps the most under-appreciated role in crypto. Honestly, I don't know why. A good CFO does not sit around and tell you not to spend money, they help you invest wisely. Get a great CFO ASAP.

— Michelle Bailhe (@michellebailhe) May 17, 2022

9: Chart a path towards sustainability. You need a path to a sustainable business without VC infusions or retail propping up your token. Look honestly at the time you think it will take you to get there. It may be >2 years. If you only have 12 months of runway, you need to cut.

— Michelle Bailhe (@michellebailhe) May 17, 2022

10: Seize the opportunity. Times of turmoil separate the wheat from the chaff. The strongest companies get stronger. As the weak collapse around them, the strong poach their best people, win over their users and acquire their IP & licenses.

— Michelle Bailhe (@michellebailhe) May 17, 2022

This is a time to extend your advantage and cement market leadership, but you need to survive long enough to have that chance.

— Michelle Bailhe (@michellebailhe) May 17, 2022

These lessons are from people who actually have operated & invested through several market cycles @roelofbotha, @Alfred_Lin, @carl_eschenbach, @dougleone, & the wise advice of @shaunmmaguire, @GuptaRK22, @gradypb, (**corrected**), @andrew__reed & more. All credit goes to them.

— Michelle Bailhe (@michellebailhe) May 17, 2022

These lessons are from people who actually have operated & invested through several market cycles @roelofbotha, @Alfred_Lin, @carl_eschenbach, @dougleone, & the wise advice of @shaunmmaguire, @GuptaRK22, @gradypb, (**corrected**), @andrew__reed & more. All credit goes to them.

— Michelle Bailhe (@michellebailhe) May 17, 2022

These lessons are specifically from people who actually have operated & invested through several market cycles @roelofbotha, @Alfred_Lin, @carl_eschenbach, @dougleone, and wise advice from @shaunmmaguire, @GuptaRK22, @patgrady, @andrew__reed & more

— Michelle Bailhe (@michellebailhe) May 17, 2022

https://t.co/IAJ7zAEDTh #cryptowinter

— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) May 17, 2022

News: May 17

I’m a bot & so’s my wife

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 15, 2022

Make something people want. The easiest way to test this hypothesis is to see if ur friends or acquaintances will use ur product. Instead of building for stranger build something for yourself n ur friends cuz then u can easily get the first users and test the product #startups

— manish kumar (@manishk04730288) May 17, 2022

How do we get more women to invest in funds and angel deals?? ✨✨

— Gale Wilkinson @Vitalize (@galeforceVC) May 16, 2022

Fund raising tip: don’t start with your top targets

It usually takes at least 5 pitches to iterate based on feedback and get comfortable so talk to less likely/desirable investors 1st

Once you feel like you’re in the groove move onto the investors you feel would be the best fit

— Hadley (@Hadley) May 17, 2022

🥟 pic.twitter.com/iZFYVpU4Mb

— Varia Bo 🎪 (@variainayurt) May 17, 2022

Real progress!! https://t.co/IrqezqLf8J

— Misha (@MishadaVinci) May 17, 2022

The best startups thrive in any market. pic.twitter.com/PMRh15yICG

— Andrew Gazdecki (@agazdecki) May 17, 2022

President Biden will welcome the Prime Minister of Sweden and the President of Finland to the White House on Thursday in a show of support days after both countries announced they would seek to join NATO https://t.co/O57wl64Jw6

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 17, 2022

If @Twitter wants to embed safety, civility, utility, integrity and beauty into the bird app they should embrace #Bitcoin and #Lightning⚡️.

— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) May 17, 2022

When I read about the ‘algorithm’ of @terra_money it sounds just like a crypto version of a pyramid scheme. Investors were promised 20% returns backed by a token whose value is driven only by demand from new investors in the token. There is no fundamental underlying business.

— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) May 17, 2022

Startup time management in three simple steps:

1. Write down your todo list
2. Trash it
3. Do the absolute most essential thing for the survival of the company

— Amjad Masad ⠕ (@amasad) May 17, 2022

Li Jin: Web 3 Content Creation

wait, what?

— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) May 17, 2022

Just as web3 networks can leverage tokens to bootstrap growth and overcome the cold start problem, a new playbook is arising for web3 creators to leverage tokens to bootstrap audiences in advance of actual content creation.

— Li Jin (@ljin18) May 16, 2022

Examples:
- @imdanielallan's crowdfund on Mirror, which raised $142K in ETH to fund his EP from 87 backers
- @madrealities's NFTs which allow holders to influence various aspects of the show
- NFT projects which raise $ via token mints in advance of bigger project roadmaps

— Li Jin (@ljin18) May 16, 2022

Using token incentives to bootstrap audiences & fund content creation is the opposite of the web2 creator playbook, in which creators had to slog through (often) years of free content creation to accumulate an audience before eventually monetizing it

— Li Jin (@ljin18) May 16, 2022

Now that creator lifecycle can be flipped to
1) monetize through tokens (fungible or NFTs)
2) thereby bootstrapping audience/evangelists
3) fund content creation
4) reach an even bigger audience & achieve content-market fit

— Li Jin (@ljin18) May 16, 2022

I invite you to be my first patron. https://t.co/Ibusw7YuC4

— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) May 17, 2022

https://t.co/Ctw6f2ceQM Li Jin: Web 3 Content Creation

— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) May 17, 2022

Li Jin: Web 3 Content Creation https://t.co/Ctw6f2ceQM @MishadaVinci @alexahirschfeld @thegothamgal @katie_haun @emiliemc @SherylCrow @reshmasaujani @JeniferRajkumar @aditishekar @KathrynParsons @Alicebentinck @CarleneJackson @hubmum @morganaside @belindaparmar

— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) May 17, 2022

Shorts creator @itslisanguyen took a food journey to five of the most popular locally-owned Asian restaurants in New York. Follow along on Lisa's APAHM-inspired food tour and learn how she got her start on YouTube! https://t.co/no4dJpJ0eB

— Susan Wojcicki (@SusanWojcicki) May 16, 2022