Why does Brother Bee almost never participate in KOL rounds? What investment insights can we gain from the project's promotional methods?

First, for high-quality projects with high expectations, VCs are eager to participate, making it difficult to allocate excess quotas to KOLs.

Second, there are too many "KOLs" in this round, and when the profits for "KOLs" are even higher than those for retail investors...

Third, if the project needs many "KOLs" to write articles, there are three options:

① Directly give U or tokens, either directly or through an agent to connect.

② Use InfoFi platforms like Kaito, offering a certain amount of tokens to incentivize writing.

③ Through KOL rounds, allowing "KOLs" to invest or to pay upfront and then refund at TGE.

In option ①, the project needs to pay and also has to filter and connect with KOLs themselves, with costs potentially ranging from 200 to 3000 U per article. The advantage is that they can relatively accurately find the corresponding KOLs, but the drawback is the management cost involved.

In option ②, the project pays to use platforms like Kaito and Cookie, with the advantage of using part of the airdrop quota to potentially gain a large number of KOLs participating in writing, creating a larger momentum. Moreover, the project does not incur management costs. However, the downside of this form is that many of the writing contents are similar, or may even consist of AI-generated content that is difficult to stimulate investment motivation.

In option ③, the project spends no money and may even receive financing. The prepaid amount at TGE can even change, not refunding, and can limit the quota... The advantage is that the project holds almost all the initiative.

For the project, option ③ is undoubtedly the most advantageous, but conversely, for KOLs and "KOLs", it may be the most passive.

Brother Bee writes this with two motives: first, to advise blogger friends to be cautious when participating in KOL rounds. Second, to find investment insights from the project's promotional methods.

🔹 Promotional methods and investment insights

There’s a saying here: "Skillfully using people", which might refer to KOL rounds. It is said that many KOL rounds require KOLs to write articles, pay upfront, and also have lock-up periods. The phrase "both need and want" is not enough; such projects are not just stingy... Investment in such projects should be cautious.

Unfortunately, KOLs won't tell you whether they are participating in a KOL round or which type of KOL round it is.

In contrast, projects that promote through platforms like Kaito and Cookie have the strength to spend money on InfoFi platforms and have passed the platform's review; airdrops have specific quotas and timelines, all of which are public and transparent, making these projects relatively more worthy of investment.

Moreover, some projects use both options ① and ② simultaneously; they can spend money on InfoFi platforms to gain promotional scale while also spending on management costs to ensure the quality of promotion. Such projects include but are not limited to @0G_labs, @campnetworkxyz, @goatrollup, @Sidekick_Labs, @Somnia_Network, @AIWayfinder, @StoryProtocol...

KOL friends are welcome to add more.

🔹 Promotional quality and investment insights

Some project parties, KOLs, and investors avoid or are averse to advertisements, which is unnecessary. As long as it’s objective analysis rather than emotional disturbance from solicitation, it should be acceptable.

Especially analyses from KOLs that are not just following the crowd, but genuinely have analytical and investment frameworks, are valuable for investment reference.

Observing which KOLs or "KOLs" are promoting can also help analyze whether the project is investable.

Of course, with many people promoting, it is advised not to catch the falling knife; waiting for a correction before considering buying is recommended.