Thread by @BuddhaMask

1/ Pro tip: Instead of chasing mints / new NFT projects, evaluate projects that are at least 2 months post mint to invest in. You will have access to way more information and be able to make a more informed, data driven decision usually at a solid entry. #Hypeisthemindkiller

🧵

2/ Time is brutally honest. Time reveals all, most importantly which teams are actually quality and able to execute.

3/ I approach NFTs as a form of early stage investing. In a market full of flippers and paper hands, that may seem silly. People buying into a project only to sell it minutes later for some profit to then move on to the next one.

4/ I get it, though. If your goal is to grow your bag through flipping, more power to you. 💰

5/ What motivates me in the NFT space; however, is supporting capable teams who are in it to build for the long term, from a product/service, brand and community perspective.

6/ The power and excitement of web3 from an investor POV is that we get to connect with teams super early in their lifecycle and can play a role in helping them succeed, be it helping to evangelize a project on Twitter or Discord, advising, becoming a mod, etc.

7/ But how do we identify those projects and teams that are worthy of our precious ETH, time, energy and emotion? 🤔

8/ In the current market, new NFT projects launch at a dizzying pace, making it downright impossible to keep up. I know we like to say DYOR, but unless you are a full time degen, there is little time to actually DYOR.

9/ And even when we have the time to thoroughly assess a project, too often, all we have to go off of is the public information available to us which, as know, can be incomplete at best or misleading at worst.

10/ That said, how do we go about evaluating which projects have the best chance at long term success? How might be best position ourselves to invest in and support the web3 champions of tomorrow?

The answer is deceivingly simple: we need to use time to our advantage. ⏳

11/ Here’s some alpha: in early stage startups, be it tech, consumer packaged goods or beyond, all you have at the beginning is a team and a dream. Yes, the vision may be compelling. Yes, the market opportunity may be ripe. Yes, business model seems like it can scale. Etc. etc.

12/ But for an early stage startup, all of this is just a hypothesis, which means as investors, the most tangible piece we have to evaluate is the team. Who are the founders? Do they have relevant experience? What is their reputation? Past achievements? Relevant pedigree?

13/ Investing in an early stage startup / NFT project is really placing a bet on the team more than anything else.

14/ In the words of Daniel Coyle, “give a good idea to a mediocre team, and they’ll find a way to screw it up. Give a mediocre idea to a good team, and they’ll find a way to make it better.”

More than good ideas, I want to back good teams. It’s that simple. 👬🏽🧑🏿‍🤝‍🧑🏽👬🏽

15/ I love web3 and the potential for unbridled artistic and technological creativity paired with community building, empowering creators, physical to digital impact and wealth creation.

16/ Given the above approach with early stage startup investing, there is a clear misalignment with investing in NFT projects with anon teams, because the singular most important part of an early stage project/business to evaluate as an investor (the team) becomes a black box.

17/ It’s no surprise then that rugs and scams run rampant in an environment where NFT collectors/investors/degens show a repeated willingness to invest in projects with anon teams.

18/ Yes, scammers are despicable, but if we are the ones willing to lower our expectations, accept the current reality as fixed and buy into their projects, then we too share some of the responsibility.

19/ But I digress. Here is the way to properly vet NFT teams and leverage time to do so: evaluate projects that are at least a few months post mint. Check their Twitter activity and look at the level of community engagement.

20/ Check their Discord: are the founders engaging the community? Are the mods active? Is the community active? Has the team been steadily building? Have roadmap items been delivered? Has FUD been faced and overcome? Has the community stepped up to champion the project?

21/ Who remains once the paper hands and flippers exit? Who stays after the initial hype dies down?

22/ Any project that meets the above criteria, indicates a high vote of confidence in the team in my book, which helps to dramatically derisk an investment in the project.

23/ A team that has been building for months on end regardless of market conditions is much less likely to rug. Of course this doesn’t mean they can’t fail (hello soft rug), for failure is par for the course and expected in any early stage venture.

24/ A team that has demonstrated a capacity to build, a commitment to its community, an ability to deliver against a roadmap is heads and shoulders above any new project where I have way less data to lean on.

25/ The only way to see this perspective is to give a project and its team the time to show its true colors, for better or worse. Watch, wait, observe.

26/ NFT patience is measured in milliseconds. We chase mints. Yet when a project mints, we have no idea what will happen. Everything we have been told up to that point is an IOU.

27/ And once the hype dies down, once the reveal happens, once the alpha groups have aped in and the whales have swept the floor, is the team prepared to do what is necessary, to roll up their sleeves and do the hard work of grinding to make something out of nothing?

28/ Most will fail. Most cannot. Some just wanted easy money to begin with. Whatever the outcome, time will reveal it. Use this to your advantage. Let the passage of time help reveal the teams that are able to survive and thrive in NFT land.

29/ The benefits of evaluating these “older” projects is multifold. Not only do you have more data by which to assess the team/overall project strength, but usually at this point the initial hype has died down. This means you can review the project with clearer eyes.

30/ This also means the floor price will likely be at a good entry point as the hype chases what’s sexy, and for reasons that reveal how young the NFT space still is, hype does not (yet) chase competent, capable teams building week in, week out.

31/ One thing’s for sure- in the end, the builders win. They always do. In every industry.

32/ Here are some of the teams and projects I have invested in that have demonstrated an ability to execute over time. I want them to succeed badly, because in doing so they will raise the quality bar for all NFT projects that follow.

33/ These teams will help usher in a market where the builders win, where commitment, effort and execution are rewarded, where rugs are harder to pull off, where reputation matters and where each of us has a better shot of making it in this crazy web3 world.

34/ Salute to the builders who stand the test of time. I'm rooting for you. 💗

@AzukiZen
@psychedelic_nft
@Llamaverse_
@ThePixlverse
@angryapearmy
@mypethooligan
@WomenandWeapons
@EthaliensNFT
@RooTroopNFT
@kumoxworld
@WalkersCrypto
@bloodshedbears

#KeepBuilding