Thread by @swombat

1/🧵
Let's talk roadmaps. And how they are mostly useless in their current form. And how every project has them and doesn't use them right!

Why? Because I'm tired of finding every project cargoculting roadmaps and missing the point of the exercise.

Maybe this thread will help.

2/So what's a roadmap? Well, in the most basic level, it's meant to be a map of a road, but usually people understand it as also containing directions from point A to point B.

3/The problem is immediate when you even look at this basic definition of roadmap:

NFT Project roadmaps aren't stating point B.

They're like a map with a bunch of towns circled, and no apparent destination.

4/Taking "roadmap" less literally, project roadmaps are like plans. They're supposed to tell you what the project is aiming to achieve.

And yeah, I suppose they're plans.

But you know what sucks about plans?

They always change when reality hits.

5/So actually the only thing that NFT Project Roadmaps convey at the moment is:

"Once we take all your money during mint, we can come up with random shit to do with it."

Slow clap. Well done. You can figure out how to spend $3m. 🎖

6/At the moment, even in this useless state, I still end up using the roadmaps a little, because sometimes, the roadmap reveals the thing that I'm really looking for when I assess a project:

Why does this project exist? What's it's purpose? What is the vision?

7/But really, this is not making it easy. Sometimes I find breadcrumbs of that vision in an #faq channel or an #announcement channel. It's like detective work - to figure out something that every project should be shouting about upfront!

8/So here's my call to action from projects, both those which exist now, and those which are still launching, and those which are still a twinkle in a degen's sleep-deprived eye.

9/Include a #roadmap channel if you want. People expect that. Ok. But also include a #vision channel and/or a #purpose channel. And explain those things. Answer these critical questions about your project so people can figure out if there's value in there.

10/Start with purpose. As @simonsinek put it

"People don't buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it. And WHAT you do simply proves what you believe."

Why does your project exist? What purpose does it serve in the world?

11/Now of course, granted in the degen NFT world, sometimes ppl buy shit without thinking much about it, and maybe Sinek's point is side-stepped. But that's not healthy, and, imho, it won't last. NFTs have huge potential, but not if all we ever build is purposeless.

12/I believe that projects with no purpose will, over time, cede the space to projects with purpose.

Get ahead of that curve. Before you start your project, figure out why it makes sense to start a project.

AND THEN FRICKEN STATE IT UPFRONT.

13/People, at least the ones you want joining your project, supporting you, being your superfans, etc, are more likely to recognise your project as something they want to join if it's actually clear wtf it is.

So think about that purpose, and state it.

14/Purpose is not enough, though. To really engage people, you must also state some sort of vision. What impact is your project going to make? How is the world different with your project in existence? If it vanished, what would be missed?

15/Purpose appeals to our search for meaning.

Vision appeals to our emotions. If all your dreams come true, what are you building? What's, if not the end goal, at least an important milestone on the way? Give us something to be excited about!

16/Once you've got purpose and vision mapped out (and yeah, I know this is hard) *THEN AND ONLY THEN* sit down and do a roadmap. You may find it is 100x easier to draw up an original, unique roadmap once you've done that work, too.

17/When you know where you want to go and why, a million possible paths appear. When you have no idea and just want to "do a roadmap" because everyone else has one, you just end up copying random crap or coming up with clichéed ideas.

18/This is why I still look at roadmaps btw. Because if there is a compelling vision and purpose, then sometimes that will show in a certain coherence of the roadmap towards that purpose.

19/Ironically, it also shows unintentionally. When the only reason why a project exists is to pump some $$$ into the founders pockets, every item on the roadmap is focused on that (via boosting the NFT's value artificially or ponzying). Cringe. But it's a helpful signal I guess.

20/I know coming up with a clear and compelling purpose and vision is hard work. I've done it for my business and it took me a long time and a lot of thinking.

I'm not saying this is an easy job.

But before you raise $3m from investors, perhaps it's something you should do, no?

21/Sometimes, a founder might have a sense of their purpose and vision but struggle to articulate it. That's ok. This stuff is hard. Get help. Talk to people. There must be some people you trust in this big loving nft space, no? Discuss it with them.

22/Personally, I wouldn't worry about people stealing your purpose and vision, even in this fast moving, copycat world. If it's really your purpose/vision and you believe in it, it will show. And because it's yours you'll be able to iterate and improve on it. Copycats won't.

23/Better to be the Apple, constantly being frontrun on their projects by all their competitors who make inferior implementations of everything Apple does, than to lack purpose and vision. So if you need help, which is normal, get help.

24/Once you've done this work, you may find that attracting the right people to your project becomes easier - if only because you actually know who those right people are now! And retaining them is easier too, because there's a vision for them to buy into.

25/If you're not a project owner, but an investor or superfan in a project that hasn't stated their vision yet: ask them to do so!

Don't breathe down their neck all day about it, but gently nudge them on a regular basis.

It will make the project stronger.

26/In the wild west of NFTland, ppl have launched all sorts of projects without knowing what they were doing, and left it to later. That's ok.

But if you've got one of those... maybe roll up your sleeves and start trying to figure that out, if you want your project to last.

27/Here's to hoping I start joining Discords and, next to the inevitable #roadmap channel, start seeing a #vision or #purpose channel that outlines why anyone should care about this project.

Thanks for reading. Pls RT if you would like this idea to spread.

gm & gl