Tether's revenue last year was 13.7 billion USD, and for a long time, it was a team of over 70 people (which has probably expanded a bit since then), with an RPE of nearly 200 million USD. Whether it’s net income or per capita net income, it surpasses all financial oligarchs, including the likes of Morgan Stanley, American Express, Berkshire Hathaway... Is this due to the high intellectual density of the Tether team? I don't think so.

The major shareholder of Tether is Giancarlo Devasini, while the BFX boss JL Van Der Velde only holds a small stake. It can be said that Tether's success largely belongs to Giancarlo, a pirate-like man who has a deep understanding of the financial rules and order of the real world. You can say Tether's success is due to first-mover advantage, regulatory arbitrage, etc., but regardless, it is now the capillary of the entire crypto industry, not easily replaceable. Tether has taken a full 11 years to reach this position.

Great success does not come easily.

Therefore, there is a limit to staff reduction because Tether's success has transcended the realm of team intellectual density; it is the nature of its business that determines the ceiling. The income generated from a large amount of on-chain assets has ultimately transferred to the stablecoin group.

Startup teams should, and only should, pursue businesses that will become huge in ten years because if the business is small at this moment, it means your competitors have not yet emerged in large numbers. You have the opportunity to develop the economy and create extraordinary products; your growth curve can rise almost linearly during the growth phase.

On the contrary, merely copying competitors does not lead to good products because you are replicating today’s user demands. Because what you are doing is not as good as others, you feel the need to copy, which can be said to be a preemptive defeat. Unless you have unlimited bullets and unlimited development resources to withstand this, such conditions do not apply to startup teams.

A long-term strategy allows you to accumulate advantages, while copying lacks differentiation. Respect the market and the Pareto principle.