Web3.0 Marketing Playbook #2 | How to Build a VC Brand in Crypto

A VC brand in crypto has never been this important - until now.

The blockchain industry is still in its early stages; instead of real use cases, narrative, hype, token, and community seem to be the “foundation” of the crypto space.

Unlike in Web2, establishing a VC brand in crypto comes with its own unique challenges and requires a crypto-native strategy. Due to the volatile nature of the industry, we see crypto VC firms rise and fall every year.

Even the most reputable VC firms can experience abrupt downturns - that's simply the nature of the game in crypto.

The landscape has undergone a significant transformation since the ICO era. Venture capital firms are now pitching quality web3 projects, rather than the other way around.

Investors from traditional finance such as a16z and Tiger Global are increasingly pouring funds into cryptocurrencies, thus making the crowded VC market even more fierce.

As a marketer who grew up with cryptocurrency, I find it interesting and meaningful to address how to establish a strong brand for stronger deal flow as these are now essential subjects for VC entrepreneurs and myself alike.

5 Marketing Strategies for a VC Brand

1. Portfolio Is What Defines a Brand in the Crypto Space

Founders carefully examine a venture's portfolio to understand their positions and select suitable investors for long-term partnerships.

Each venture has its own unique strategy - Animoca Brands specializes in NFT & Gamefi, while Paradigm concentrates on decentralized infrastructure.

Boutique funds are focused on assisting projects in their marketing growth, while larger funds provide liquidity to support their portfolio's soft launches.

Ultimately, your reputation distinguishes you from others and determines your competitiveness and impact on the community over time.

2. Talk Through Your Investment Thesis

Finance is at the core of everything, and investors are constantly seeking the alpha by understanding your thesis and how you invest in crypto.

That's why being transparent with your investment thesis is crucial. It's not just about providing a value proposition, but rather explaining your investment logic, future judgment, and conviction for the long term.

Sharing this content with your audience not only builds trust, but it's also the fastest way to strengthen your brand in the target crypto audience.

3. Unique Value-Add and Solid Track Record

Following the SushiSwap incident, venture capitalists are aware that money alone may no longer suffice. They must demonstrate their ability to add unique value to a project beyond injecting capital.

This includes improving brand reputation, creating portfolio synergy, establishing ecosystem connections, developing tokenomic design, and implementing effective go-to-market strategies.

An adept VC will integrate these elements to build a strong foundation, which can aid in securing better deals and attracting more promising projects.

In the crypto space, social proof is crucial, and displaying a track record of successful investments is a powerful method to establish credibility and entice high-quality deal flow.

4. The Influence of a Founder’s Leadership

Within the crypto space, a VC's founder is often seen as the face and voice of the brand. Founders who have a strong personal brand and are active in the community are one of the most significant success factors of their VC.

A founder's personal brand can also serve as a form of social proof, demonstrating their knowledge and expertise in the industry.

By actively engaging with the community and sharing insights on market trends and investment strategies, founders can establish themselves as thought leaders, gaining credibility and building trust with potential partners and investors, ultimately creating new opportunities for deals and collaborations.

5. Streamline the Communication With Startups, Builders, and Community

Streamlining communication with the startup and builder community is important for finding early investment opportunities.

This means fostering relationships with entrepreneurs and participating in hackathons and developer communities to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and innovations.

Effective communication also involves transparent and timely updates on investments and market insights.

By prioritizing communication, investors can establish trust and build long-lasting partnerships with the crypto community.

Case Study

Build a VC that goes beyond money.

Hackerhouse

A new trend has emerged in the form of "hackerhouses." These co-working experiences allow developers and builders to live and work together for a fixed period of time, fostering a deeper level of engagement and creativity than traditional hackathons.

Leading venture capitalists have taken notice of this trend and begun to host hackerhouses for vertical sectors they are particularly bullish on. For example, 1kx has invested significant effort in the ZK ecosystem by hosting a hackerhouse, while The Pit - an accelerator brand incubated by Jump Crypto - and Pantera Capital have also hosted their own hackerhouses.

By doing this, they also create a solid deal flow in the specific sector and, more importantly, serve as a gateway for newcomers to learn about the technology and enhance their positioning and expertise.

Governance and Delegation

Decentralization and transparency are fundamental to the blockchain movement.

When investing in decentralized projects, it's important to be an active community member and participate in decision-making with the project's long-term outlook in mind.

As blockchain technologies continue to evolve, forums are becoming a new source of knowledge and insights for practitioners. They are places where ideas are exchanged and new strategies are tested.

Forums attract a core group of hodlers and crypto enthusiasts, making them an ideal platform for VCs to engage with the community and build a brand that aligns with their values.

By sharing expertise in the sector and participating in forum discussions, VCs can gain a competitive edge and establish themselves as thought leaders in the space.

I personally believe active participation in forums and decision-making structures will be increasingly important for VCs who want to stay ahead of the curve and maintain a strong position within the community.

Research & Engineering

VCs are uniquely positioned to understand technical and decentralized finance, which enables them to create engaging content and lead the narrative to capitalize on emerging trends.

One effective way for VCs to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the industry is through project and ecosystem mapping, similar to the approach taken by a16z in introducing their latest portfolio.

This level of transparency helps build trust and confidence in their ability to identify and invest in promising projects.

VCs can act as a bridge between development teams and the wider community by conducting in-depth product experimentation.

This approach has been successfully adopted by firms such as Paradigm, which consistently delivers new financial papers and insights to the community.

Moreover, VC's engineering team can contribute to technical progress and build the infrastructure that developers truly need.

By combining their financial expertise with their technical know-how, VCs are uniquely positioned to contribute to this kind of software development in the crypto space.

As Lazzarin, CTO of a16z crypto, mentioned that contributing to software tooling that can be utilized by builders in crypto translates into new investment opportunities that would not otherwise be possible.

It’s an evolving strategy in which efforts on open-source code and infrastructure contributions have already opened the doors to more deal flow.   

The End

If you’re also interested in Web3 marketing and branding, feel free to DM me, and let’s just chat. Welcome any feedback. Thank you for reading!