Source: Marketing 101 for Startups: Token Launches, Memes, Reaching Devs & More
Organized & compiled by: lenaxin, ChainCatcher
Editor's Note:
This article is a translation of a16z's (Web3 Frontier) program, focusing on the marketing differences between the crypto and traditional tech industries. Guests include: Amanda Tyler, Claire Kart, Kim Milosevich. They will delve into practical experiences regarding reputation building, developer community operations, talent recruitment, token issuance, and shaping the founder's image, sharing effective methods and common pitfalls.
ChainCatcher has organized and compiled the content.
TL&DR
The biggest challenge of cryptocurrency marketing is the extremely small target audience.
The uniqueness of the crypto circle lies in its small scale and low threshold.
The essence of cryptocurrency marketing is ecological coordination.
The core of the cryptocurrency industry activity strategy lies in precise positioning.
Crypto marketing needs to redefine the way of growth, with the developer community's core being precise value resonance.
To build an influential brand in the crypto space, deep connections with founders are essential.
When assessing Layer2 strategies, resource endowments determine differentiation.
Developer relations (DevRel) should be deeply integrated into the marketing system.
The success of the developer ecosystem depends on constructing a closed loop of 'product-economy-community'.
The core of token issuance lies in balancing its dual attributes, which are both a marketing activity and a financial product.
The core of community operation strategies lies in clearly defining the types of resources to be invested in long-term.
Advice for founders: Shape the image of a domain expert rather than a product salesperson.
For projects requiring community co-construction, marketing involvement can start earlier.
Building a marketing team should adhere to the dual standard of 'generalist foundation + vertical specialization'.
High-quality content creation requires ongoing support and feedback from founders or teams.
(1) Step into the spotlight: The branding leverage of crypto founders
Kim Milosevich: What role should we, as marketing and communication leads, play? Should we be at the forefront or remain more behind the scenes?
Claire Kart: Tech marketers often work behind the scenes; while this approach is effective, in the crypto industry, technical founders are often silent, causing teams to miss exposure opportunities. In this early-stage industry, finding suitable talent is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Therefore, I choose to step into the spotlight, as the crypto field especially relies on marketing and community; users want to hear executives speak.
Recruiting remains difficult. Although the situation has improved, excellent crypto marketing talents are still scarce. Building a personal IP can bring talent referrals and attract proactive job seekers, significantly enhancing recruitment efficiency.
Amanda Tyler: Building a personal IP on Twitter significantly improved my recruitment efficiency; this direct way of establishing trust is especially suitable for early-stage startups. When candidates resonate with your values and experiences, a simple 'Can we chat?' becomes a natural next step.
Claire Kart: People pay more attention to the people they work with than the company itself when choosing a job. Although the corporate vision and job content are essential, the deciding factor is often the team. They may be indifferent to invitations from unfamiliar companies, but if recommended by acquaintances, they will consider even a startup seriously.
(2) The uniqueness and basic logic of crypto marketing
Kim Milosevich: Is this a phenomenon unique to the crypto industry or a universal rule? What is the core difference between crypto marketing and traditional tech marketing?
Claire Kart: I believe cryptocurrency is more like a form of personal cult. For example, Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg have indeed devoted considerable energy to building their personal IP, writing books, promoting themselves, etc. However, the personal cult in the cryptocurrency field seems to be even more pronounced, and I can't quite explain why.
Amanda Tyler: The peculiarity of the crypto circle lies in its small scale and low threshold. For example, in my twenties, I accumulated a large number of Instagram followers through a parenting blog, but upon transitioning to the crypto field, I immediately felt the 'big fish in a small pond' effect; building influence here is much easier.
This field consists of multiple distinct subculture circles where newcomers can quickly locate target communities and identify key figures. In contrast, traditional fields, such as the circles Mark Zuckerberg is in, have much higher barriers to entry and require more professional endorsements. The crypto industry, still in its early stages, offers unique opportunities for content creators.
Kim Milosevich: As a project party, how should one create differentiation to accurately attract the target audience?
Amanda Tyler: The biggest challenge of cryptocurrency marketing is the extremely small target audience. In 2023, there are only 23,000 active crypto developers monthly, expected to increase to 30,000 in 2024, while less than 0.1% of the global 28 million developers are involved in crypto. In such a highly vertical market, marketing must focus on the three core needs of developers:
Technology: Solve practical issues such as composability in the Rollup ecosystem
Economics: Explore sustainable revenue models for public product development
Value: Create a unique value proposition attractive to developers
Claire Kart: Crypto marketing needs to redefine growth methods, with the developer community's core being precise value resonance. Economic incentives are just the starting point; what truly drives growth is constructing a technological utopia where developers find professional value and spiritual belonging. Once achieved, they will spontaneously promote ecological development.
We need to abandon the scale-seeking mindset of the internet era and instead adhere to 'depth first': understand the technical preferences of each core developer, even their pet names, and make the experiences of the top 10 users outstanding. Technical idealism itself is the best medium for communication. In this field, the power of 100 deeply engaged participants far exceeds that of 10,000 shallow users; true growth comes from these seemingly non-scalable deep connections.
(3) Growing under Ethereum's shadow: The positioning and strategy trade-offs of Layer2
Kim Milosevich: Do Layer2 projects need to deeply bind to Ethereum community culture to achieve effective marketing?
Claire Kart: In terms of operating within the Ethereum ecosystem, Amanda has richer experience. Before joining Aztec, I worked on another Layer1 project and have been contemplating this issue recently—Ethereum community sentiment fluctuates like the tides, sometimes filled with the belief in changing the world, and sometimes falling into doubt due to foundation decisions. As a Layer2 project, we are still exploring the best balance of leveraging Ethereum community momentum.
Amanda Tyler: The Rollup ecosystem is an extension of Ethereum culture, and its open characteristics give rise to a unique 'co-opetition ecosystem'—all Layer2s are jointly strengthening the Ethereum network. This requires marketing to balance dual positioning: highlighting commercial value while emphasizing the core mission of expanding Ethereum. The most effective proof is technical bindings, such as defaulting to ETH for gas fees, which better showcases the symbiotic relationship with Ethereum than any slogan.
Kim Milosevich: Is the rise of Layer2 ecosystems reshaping developers' value perception of Ethereum?
Claire Kart: When assessing Layer2 strategies, resource endowments determine differentiation. Well-funded projects like BASE under Coinbase can independently build ecological brands using publicly listed company resources; while resource-limited Layer2s must deeply bind to Ethereum, leveraging its industry credibility for cold starts. This resource-oriented marketing strategy choice essentially reflects the 'Matthew Effect' of the crypto ecosystem—where the strong get stronger, while emerging projects must leverage effectively.
(4) DevRel × Marketing: The Synergistic Engine Driving Ecological Growth
Kim Milosevich: How should community operations and developer relations (DevRel) form strategic synergy with marketing?
Claire Kart: I have practiced two team models: in a full-funnel marketing model, DevRel focuses on mid-to-late stage conversions, serving developers who already understand the project and are prepared to deploy; while at Aztec, due to high product complexity, DevRel is directly embedded in the product team. The latter allows for deep collaboration, but two major pain points must be addressed: ensuring consistent user targeting and avoiding disconnection between marketing acquisition and developer support.
Amanda Tyler: Developer relations (DevRel) should be deeply integrated into the marketing system. Developer documentation serves as the primary touchpoint, requiring unified control over language style and conversion paths. Currently, DevRel is evolving into a content creator role, solving tool usage pain points through programming tutorial videos. Our practice has shown that such content can effectively enhance developer engagement, proving that the industry requires interactive methods that break down information barriers. This evolution demands that DevRel possess stronger marketing thinking and execution capabilities.
Kim Milosevich: How should blockchain projects formulate effective on-chain developer support strategies?
Claire Kart: The success of the developer ecosystem depends on constructing a closed loop of 'product-economy-community'. Taking privacy as an example, its professionalism naturally filters out target developers. During the cold start phase, a dual approach is necessary: uncover commercial potential while tracking early developer progress, providing high-value support like media exposure and strategic consulting at critical moments. This deep operation, though difficult to scale, is key to building a project moat.
Amanda Tyler: The essence of cryptocurrency marketing is ecological coordination. It is necessary to discover developer stories, actively identify needs, and promote product iteration. The core lies in helping developers succeed through deep support: proactively intervene on platforms like GitHub and Twitter, first solving practical construction difficulties, and only after the project matures should communication follow. This 'empower first, speak later' closed-loop model is the truly effective path for ecological construction.
(5) Coordinating Ecology and Controlling Noise: A Systematic Thinking from Token Issuance to Brand Collaboration
Kim Milosevich: How to accurately identify valid feedback in an information-overloaded crypto community?
Amanda Tyler: To track the early adoption of new token standards, I take the following steps:
Analyze code repository clone records and discover a large number of newly created accounts
Filter out genuine developers and communicate usage needs directly via Twitter
Synchronously verify technical documentation and deliver user feedback directly to the product team
The entire process reflects the working method of 'developer needs traced back to the front line'.
Kim Milosevich: How to build a complete token issuance full-cycle management system?
Claire Kart: The core of token issuance lies in balancing its dual attributes. It is both a marketing activity and a financial product. The quality of the economic model's design directly determines the fate of the project, requiring a choice between explosive or gradual paths based on project characteristics. On the implementation side, three key points must be grasped:
Engage in in-depth discussions with economists on the value positioning of tokens, avoiding rigid applications;
Conduct in-depth research on the practical application scenarios and usage habits of different markets;
Establish a comprehensive post-listing management mechanism, including community sentiment management, team incentive mechanisms, and information disclosure standards.
These challenges are essentially consistent with the governance requirements faced by publicly listed companies.
Kim Milosevich: How to construct a full-cycle operational system for token issuance, ensuring a complete loop from economic model design to community governance?
Claire Kart: The core of community operation strategies lies in clearly defining the types of resources to be invested in long-term. As you mentioned, there are now many bots and AI accounts, making it difficult to determine if active participants in the community are genuine users. Therefore, it is essential to precisely locate the target audience:
Highly compatible early supporters should be cultivated during the testnet phase
For PoS networks, node operators and validators (whether institutional or individual stakers) are key opinion leaders
Establish structured operational mechanisms, such as regular community conference calls
The key is to collect market feedback broadly while also learning to filter out noise. If one tries to respond to all online voices, one will only fall into the quagmire of ineffective information.
Kim Milosevich: What specific challenges does the structure of separating foundations and labs in the crypto industry present to marketing teams? How to achieve brand collaboration while maintaining organizational independence?
Amanda Tyler: In actual operations, I adopt a differentiated communication strategy to handle this dual structure:
Lab side: Cultivate technical leaders as channels for expression, such as opening certified accounts for product leaders to publish technical progress (like custom gas token upgrades) and then re-disseminate through official accounts.
Foundation side: Focus on brand-level strategic communication to shape industry perception.
This method maintains the narrative independence of both parties while creating synergies at the execution level.
Claire Kart: This dual team structure has both advantages and disadvantages in practice. The advantage lies in forming strategic synergy with experienced marketing talents within the ecosystem, such as discussing development goals during marketing summits at DevCon, maintaining the bond of the technical team while sharing management pressure. However, the core pain point is resource duplication, during market downturns, maintaining two sets of executive teams (GC/CFO/CMO) will impose a significant financial burden.
(6) Brand originates from people: the dual layout of founder influence and marketing resources
Kim Milosevich: How should founders professionally shape their personal IP image?
Amanda Tyler: The core advice for founders is to shape the image of a domain expert rather than a product salesperson. Specific methods include:
Discuss industry pain points based on professional insights, rather than directly selling products
Publicly build influence through expertise
Skillfully use personal channels to convey in-depth viewpoints
Taking Optimism's founder as an example, the reason their speeches receive so much attention is due to their rarity and professionalism—they seldom speak but always provide valuable insights from a professional perspective. This restrained and professional manner of expression is worth emulating.
Claire Kart: I recommend founders choose the most natural expression methods: those good at dialogue should do podcasts, those good at writing should write long articles, and those who adapt well to the camera should make videos. There is no need to force unsuitable forms, such as avoiding public speaking for those who resist it. The key is to integrate personal style into professional content—add a bit of humor for the comedic, and design unique expressions for the creative. Finding a relaxed yet professional way to output, in combination with the communication strategy, yields the best results.
Kim Milosevich: How to help founders establish personal IP within their comfort zone while planning a gradual growth path?
Claire Kart: For founders just starting to build personal influence, it is advisable to begin from the easiest entry point: focus on doing one thing well, mobilize the entire company's resources to support it, and create a few landmark moments to accumulate momentum. This is far more effective than forcing founders to tweet ten times a day. The key is to have something to say, say it well, and naturally, the situation will open up.
Kim Milosevich: Should founders completely hand over the core content of their personal IP and company narrative (mission/values/positioning) to the marketing team to craft?
Claire Kart: My core positioning is to assist the founders in conveying their core vision. Founders must lead the expression of the company's DNA and technical roadmap, which is key to securing investment. We provide professional support—from ghostwriting services to strategic workshops—but always insist that founders produce original content, while the team is responsible for optimizing the packaging. Because what truly impresses the market is always the founder's genuine entrepreneurial intention, rather than overly packaged marketing rhetoric.
Amanda Tyler: To build an influential brand in the crypto space, deep connections with founders are essential. Only through one-on-one communication can one truly understand their core vision and entrepreneurial intention, thus injecting soul into the brand story. This is the foundation of successful marketing; there are no shortcuts.
Kim Milosevich: Key questions regarding marketing resource allocation: When should a full-time marketing head be recruited? When should consultants or agencies be introduced?
Amanda Tyler: The peculiarity of cryptocurrency marketing lies in the fact that concepts and visions are often marketed before the product is mature. This stage requires continuous trial and error to find the most suitable communication methods.
Personal advice: The best timing to kick off marketing is six months before product launch. Promoting a non-existent product too early can lead to market skepticism, while waiting too long may result in missed opportunities. The key is to find the golden time point for storytellers and communicators based on an understanding of the product delivery cycle.
Claire Kart: For projects requiring community co-construction, marketing involvement can start earlier. For example, when running a decentralized testnet, even without a 'formal product' or mainnet, it is necessary to attract node operators to participate.
I usually help founders clarify core needs:
If the project requires continuous community operations (such as weekly reviews, progress synchronization), dedicated personnel may be needed to promote it.
If it is only a phase-specific need, consultants or agencies may be more suitable.
The key is to distinguish between real needs and external pressures, as hiring out of anxiety often yields poor results.
Amanda Tyler: In the crypto industry, collaborating with marketing agencies faces unique challenges. Due to the specialized knowledge required, a lot of time must be invested in training the other team's members to ensure they truly understand the product features—otherwise, it is challenging to produce effective results.
Claire Kart: Marketing agencies in the crypto industry are mainly divided into two categories: comprehensive large companies and boutique teams in vertical fields. Professional marketers are more suitable for collaboration with boutique teams, which can produce high-quality results for specific needs, especially long-term partnership studios are of higher value. However, founders face decision-making risks regardless of which type they choose due to a lack of industry experience.
(7) Marketing Starting Methods for Startups: From Agency Collaboration to Team Building
Kim Milosevich: How can founders lacking marketing experience effectively select and manage professional marketing agencies?
Claire Kart: Many founders have a cognitive misconception: thinking that as long as they sign a marketing agency contract, all market problems can be easily solved.
Amanda Tyler: When collaborating with small boutique agencies, I have summarized an efficient working model: providing them with clear boundaries and narrative clarity in small campaign briefs. This limited-scope delegation method avoids internal narrative confusion and ensures execution quality, becoming my most advocated collaboration paradigm.
Kim Milosevich: As the first full-time marketing head of a startup, how should one prioritize recruitment when building a team? What core competencies should the marketing head of a startup possess?
Claire Kart: When startups first recruit a marketing head, my core principle is: only select versatile talents I have worked with before. Such candidates must meet three critical conditions: deeply understand my working style, possess seamless collaboration abilities, and be willing to take initiative (in the early stages, even the CMO needs to operate social media). Practice has proven that this familiarity can quickly open up situations—compared to risking the use of newcomers, the tacit cooperation with familiar comrades can better withstand startup pressures and avoid team rhythm disruption caused by improper hiring.
Kim Milosevich: How to balance professional depth with functional flexibility in early-stage startup recruitment?
Amanda Tyler: Building a marketing team should adhere to the dual standard of 'generalist foundation + vertical specialization': each member should be capable of basic tasks such as tweet writing, email formatting, and live streaming, while also possessing professional depth in specific vertical fields. This team structure, divided by area rather than function, has been validated in our practice to maximize small team efficiency. Without setting traditional job boundaries, each member becomes both a generalist and a domain expert.
Kim Milosevich: When recruiting cryptocurrency talents, is it necessary to require an 'industry-native' background?
Amanda Tyler: It depends on the specific project needs. For communication roles (like writing or public relations), one can definitely acquire industry knowledge through learning. We all started from scratch; no one is born understanding cryptocurrency. The key is to have a passion for continuous learning: like me, I still maintain the habit of reading all industry dynamics daily. If I can do it, our communications manager can too.
Kim Milosevich: How to balance the professional background of technical talents with their adaptability to the cryptocurrency industry? How should cryptocurrency projects plan the timing and functional positioning for the introduction of editorial talents?
Claire Kart: Recruitment in the crypto industry should return to the essence of the business. SaaS projects targeting developers can completely introduce mature marketing talents from traditional tech fields, such as experts in developer community operations. Instead of adhering to rigid criteria of 'must have a crypto background', it’s better to focus on the transferability of candidates' professional abilities. The rich SaaS talent resources in tech hubs like San Francisco can quickly supply proven marketing talents for crypto projects.
Amanda Tyler: Content creators and technical documentation engineers must work based on a clear strategic roadmap to be effective. Many companies only hire technical documentation personnel to convert product roadmaps, but such talents often lack the ability to integrate short-term goals into a six-month strategic vision.
Claire Kart: When considering hiring content creators, one must deeply think about three levels: first, clearly define the specific pain points that need to be solved through writing in the current business; second, delineate the scope of job responsibilities, which cannot merely stay at vague statements like 'responsible for writing'; most importantly, establish supporting collaboration mechanisms, as high-quality content creation requires ongoing content support and feedback from founders or teams, which is not something that can be resolved simply by hiring a writer.
Kim Milosevich: How to ensure that newly introduced content creators effectively play their roles in a decentralized team structure?
Claire Kart: When founders consider hiring dedicated content creators, they first need to clarify the specific requirements for the initial deliverables. In reality, many of these needs do not require establishing full-time positions. Founders often fall into two misconceptions: one is seeking agencies or full-time hires too early, and the other is neglecting the potential of the existing resource network. A more pragmatic approach is to prioritize project-based collaborations or temporary support solutions, especially when the need only involves single content production; blindly hiring full-time personnel often leads to resource misallocation.
(8) Grounding and Resonance: From Local Operations to Integrated Communication of Community Culture
Kim Milosevich: How can cryptocurrency projects efficiently build global operational capabilities?
Claire Kart: The core of globalization operation in cryptocurrency lies in building local trust networks. When entering new markets, reliable channels must be used to recommend local partners—business habits vary significantly across countries: some regions are more accepting of long-term collaborations based on trust rather than standardized American contracts. A lack of local relationships can lead to cultural misjudgments and communication failures. The optimal path is to leverage existing resource networks for endorsements rather than cold start unfamiliar development.
Amanda Tyler: By establishing localized Discord channels, we effectively identified and cultivated a group of highly active community members. The specific operational model is: first, systematically train local members to master the project documentation, gradually building a decentralized cultural dissemination network. This localized operation, based on daily collaboration tools, is essentially creating a new type of online relational network, naturally nurturing the community ecosystem through high-frequency interactions.
Claire Kart: Community operations need to discover and cultivate core supporters. When the project enters a crucial development phase, those actively participating contributors can become an effective talent source. By incorporating them into formal systems through mechanisms such as tech ambassadors or local event organizers, we can maintain community engagement and establish initial market resources. When professional service providers need to be introduced, these foundational relationship networks can provide referrals and reduce the difficulties of starting from scratch. The value of the post-funding model lies in its pragmatic assessment approach.
Kim Milosevich: What are the strategic positioning and execution methodologies of activities in the cryptocurrency industry?
Amanda Tyler: The core of activity strategies in the cryptocurrency industry lies in precise positioning. While large events help with brand exposure, the ROI is hard to measure; in contrast, small high-end events can achieve business cooperation and key networking at a lower cost. Mature projects should focus on high-value participants, while emerging projects should avoid blindly participating in exhibitions and instead create boutique events in vertical fields. Essentially, it is about pursuing quality rather than scale.
Claire Kart: Cryptocurrency activity strategies should grasp three key points:
Plan in sync with the product roadmap, coordinating major releases with significant activities;
Standardize budget usage, avoiding simply using event funds for relationship maintenance; all sponsorships must align with clear ecological strategic directions;
Focus on efficient event forms, engaging core audiences through small closed-door meetings while also hosting professional activities like developer conferences.
Offline activities allow the team to directly observe developer feedback, identify potential users, and even discover regional communities, creating opportunities for global expansion.
Kim Milosevich: How to balance technical professionalism with community entertainment expression in cryptocurrency marketing?
Claire Kart: Cryptocurrency marketing should effectively utilize meme culture as a unique narrative tool. Memes can cleverly transform complex concepts while strengthening the sense of community belonging. The key is to establish a balancing mechanism: core accounts should maintain a professional tone, but allow operators reasonable creative space, which can enhance work enthusiasm and yield high-quality content. Memes should be an organic part of the overall communication strategy, tested to filter expressions that resonate with the industry rather than being used sporadically.
Amanda Tyler: Our meme strategy maintains moderate participation: primarily supporting the content dissemination of ecosystem projects, with relatively restrained self-creation. We adhere to three principles in execution: maintain a positive communication tone, avoid any negative mockery; uphold brand tone in the industry entertainment atmosphere; track industry trends through internal meme sharing. This balanced approach enables us to integrate into community culture while effectively controlling communication risks.
