Crypto is an incredibly fast-paced world. Each cycle it feels like there are five new things to pay attention to and nowadays the narratives change every few weeks instead of months. This is why all of us have problems and Abril is correct.

Anyway, I’m already digressing. Let’s get back to it.

Founders used to be able to just launch a token on DeFi pool2 and get their desired trading volumes and user metrics to justify a tier 1 CEX listing. Those days are gone. In every new cycle, founders need to adapt and face new challenges. One of the most critical yet often overlooked challenges isn’t technical, financial, or operational — it’s cultural.

But what does crypto culture actually mean?

The term crypto native is often thrown around like an MBA from a non-target school — everyone’s got one, but it doesn’t mean much.

It’s supposed to signify some deep, innately exceptional understanding of how things work in crypto, but few actually grasp it. Being a crypto native isn’t just about reading a few whitepapers and making a few memecoin trades. It’s about having an understanding that goes beyond the technical, financial, or operational aspects of running a project. It’s an ability to perceive the subtle, but essential, dynamics that drive community sentiment, power plays within the ecosystem, and even global regulatory changes.

If you’re leading a crypto project, cultural competence is no longer optional — it’s a core skill.

What Makes Crypto Different

Crypto isn’t just tech, or just finance. Our space has a unique blend of multidisciplinary fields. It’s a unique intersection of technology, finance, game theory, and even global politics.

• You can’t just understand the tech and product and never care about the capital market side until you go public like a traditional web2 company.
• You can’t just overfocus on token financial engineering and let go of your product development.
• You can’t just understand how the market works on one side of the world without understanding the different power players and political interests on the other side of the world.

Moreover, all of this is still wrapped around the core Bitcoin ideology on financial populism and sovereign individuality, which is why you often hear the saying that “community is everything” in crypto. It’s fundamental to how projects succeed or fail.

It’s not enough to build a great product; success relies on navigating the community dynamics. Founders must adopt a mindset that embraces crypto’s cultural underpinnings — beyond just the technical or financial components.

In my work at Primitive Ventures, we garner insights into both the Eastern and Western crypto markets and often guide our portfolio founders in understanding these dynamics. From keeping up to date with the latest consensus research released by Bay Area professors to assessing the latest initiatives that tier-1 offshore CEXs want to push. Our work revolves around helping founders traverse the global crypto landscape.

Founders who assume that crypto operates in a monolithic way will struggle. There is no one-size-fits-all approach in crypto, and getting a good grasp on all of the above factors will be a necessary skill to excel in your endeavor.

Fully Diving In

We’ve seen crypto founders, both new entrants and veterans of multiple cycles, who lack a true understanding of the ongoing crypto culture. The former often view crypto as merely an extension of whatever industry-specific knowledge they bring with them, while the latter may be stuck in the “good old days” of crypto, unable to adapt to the evolving landscape.

It’s human nature to cling to our past knowledge. But the problem starts when we force-fit those views into how things currently work. How many times have you heard a former TradFi guy turned founder spew tokenization buzzwords? Or a former big tech middle manager pitch a consumer app while completely ignoring tokenomics? Too many times.

These approaches aren’t inherently bad, but a significant contributor to what makes or breaks your startup will eventually be your understanding of crypto culture.

Some founders think they can delegate this task — hire a crypto native CMO or growth lead, and problem solved. But that is a short-term solution. Founders must immerse themselves in the community, engage in conversations, and understand the nuances of their space. You don’t have to be a full-time KOL and spend 4 hours a day on Twitter, but you do need to develop your own voice within the crypto discourse.

If you’re an experienced founder, then yes, you might be able to sell your credentials or past experience to get attention. But wouldn’t it be significantly better if you could combine those credentials with an authentic ability to engage the broader crypto culture?

Be Obsessed and Go Direct

If you’re not obsessed with what’s happening in crypto, you’re not a crypto founder — you’re a dilettante. You can’t be a bystander in this space. Great biotech founders live and breathe every new drug approval, every regulatory shift, every piece of gossip coming out of Big Pharma. It’s their pulse, their oxygen. Crypto founders need the same kind of obsessive immersion. If you’re not knee-deep in the latest protocol updates, regulatory decisions, and community squabbles, then there’s a deeper problem to address.

This obsession is part of a larger meta-shift across industries. In 2024, everyone is going direct. Duolingo builds direct relationships with users through TikTok, making a green bird an influencer. And now, Coinbase wants to hire a $200,000-a-year Twitter savant to engage users. The days of paying agencies to plaster celebrities in ads are dead — remember Pepsi’s Kendall Jenner ad?

Everyone knows that to win, you need to own the relationship with the user.

In crypto, this is even more critical because the community isn’t just part of your user base. It is your user base. It’s your market, your marketing, your liquidity provider, your governance body, and your product evangelist all rolled into one. Ultimately, a founder’s ability to understand the DNA of their users by directly interacting with the community is one of the most crucial but often overlooked aspects of what makes a great founder.

Not Just a Nice-to-Have

Crypto founder culture fit isn’t just a nice-to-have element for a founder, it’s a necessity. If you’re not fully diving into the space, understanding its culture, and finding your voice within the community, then you’re missing a critical piece of the puzzle. It’s not just about having a great product or a brilliant tokenomics, you also need to be hands-on, immersed, and obsessed with crypto’s ever-evolving landscape.

In short, be obsessed and get your hands dirty.