Which product or brand has higher priority? Just look at Curve's first version interface

Written by: Bram Van Roelen, Product Director, Maven11 Capital

Compiled by: Tia, Techub News

"How should startups balance product construction and brand marketing at different stages: they should focus on building excellent products in the early stages, and brand marketing should gradually increase in the later stages to avoid premature dependence on brand packaging."

Every week, there are always startups that hire expensive agents to design "brand stories" for them. But Aave has grown from a gadget that looks like a hackathon project to the backbone of the DeFi lending market. It's no coincidence - it's a pattern, and it's a pattern that most founders misunderstood.

Just look at Curve. Although its interface remains one of the bulkiest in DeFi – it looks like a 90s scientific calculator – they trade more than $1.5 trillion. Today, they are still one of the most successful protocols in DeFi and prove that if your product is good enough, users will ignore almost every other problem.

Building vs. Selling

As a startup, your team is likely to be composed primarily of engineers. While they do well in building great products, they often have a lack of ability to translate these products into a broader vision. A good example is that one of our excellent technology founders recently used adjectives such as "safety, fast, decentralized" when describing their products, but did not pay attention to what these characteristics actually bring. Anyone can say these things, and it is very difficult to differentiate from this perspective. Because you should focus on what your technology stack can allow users to do, not what it is itself. Only by doing so will more people understand and resonate with it. And this is a pure skill gap that can be avoided completely.

As mentioned earlier, founders are often highly technical engineers rather than skilled marketers. But I don't think that in the early stages of most projects, there is much fine marketing required. Founder-led technical communication, although somewhat rough, is often more authentic and affinity than cliché marketing language. Examples like @0xMert_ , @enzo_gte and @mteamisloading are just promoting what they do in the market to accumulate influence. Not that you have to be online all day as they do, but some just-fits-all "nagging" can play a big role.

Conversely, projects that pay too much attention to packaging and ignore substance in the early stages often have difficulty gaining attention and maintaining the fire of development (remember the "bonfire and fireworks" analogy). The key is to focus on conveying the 5% of the most important information to users: what can this product help me with, how does it work, and why is it better than existing solutions?

Marketers who were recruited early on often focus too much on the ostensible brand elements and vanity metrics (such as the number of followers on X), which are not very helpful in actually gaining market share and influence. This is not to say that these people are wrong. In more cases, you are still in the early stages of the product and there is nothing to market in the market. I recommend streamlining this aspect, but hiring a talented, active person to help promote (such as reminding the founder to do marketing) and preparing everything for the product to start working after it is released. Hiring a brand agent or marketers in the early stages of multiple products is often difficult to get real value from them because you didn’t have anything to market at that time. The founder’s authentic, user-centric communication method is often the most effective way to build trust and drive user adoption.

Understand your audience

It is worth noting that the recommendations in this article are mainly applicable to consumer-oriented applications. Infrastructure and developer-oriented projects may require different strategies.

For infrastructure projects, there needs to be a strong narrative from the outset. These projects operate in a highly competitive field, and winning support from partners and investors is key. To raise a lot of money, they need a fascinating branding and marketing strategy that will shed light on its many years of roadmap and vision. Before the project goes online, this narrative needs to be active and often needs to be maintained after it goes online to achieve continuous success.

@movementlabsxyz and @berachain are infrastructure projects that do a very good job in brand communication and marketing. Their brand strategy is crucial in building trust and fostering public enthusiasm for their projects.

**Infrastructure and mature applications must win attention, especially

before TGE**

Similarly, developers-oriented projects rely heavily on document quality and technical content. Poor documentation often leads to the failure of technically good projects, limiting their adoption and development. In this case, the document itself is a marketing method—it's just that it's aimed at developers rather than end users. Developer relations can be seen as the developer version of traditional marketing.

Although the 95/5 rule (95% product, 5% brand) is usually true for early stages of Web3 applications, it is also important to understand that in some cases it does not apply. By adjusting your brand strategy to your audience, you can build credibility more effectively, drive adoption, and ultimately achieve long-term success.

Phase 1: Product Lead (95/5)

In the early stages of the project, the focus should be almost entirely on building a good product. It is time to focus on developing a strong technical foundation, testing and improving core functionality, and collecting feedback from early users (especially user experience feedback). Brand building and marketing, while not entirely irrelevant, should be ranked behind product development.

The 95/5 rule suggests that 95% of the energy should be focused on the product, and only 5% can be used for brand building and marketing. This is not to completely ignore the brand, but to make sure your product is the protagonist. Any effort about the brand should be minimized and focused on clearly conveying your product’s functions and meaning. Create an identity with a strong color that reflects how you want people to see you and act on that identity.

Hyperliquid is a great example, especially in their early days. If you look back at their marketing and branding materials, you will notice that they have little to no fancy stuff and every communication takes the same way. Products are the most important, with the focus on technology and user experience. It is worth noting that to this day, their brand and communication style have hardly changed.

Phase 2: Market Verification (80/20)

As your products mature and begin to gain market recognition, you can start to focus more on brand building and marketing. At this stage, you have verified that the market has demand for the products you are doing and are starting to see some spontaneous growth. Now it’s time to start thinking about brand positioning and think about how you want to be seen in the market.

The 80/20 rule suggests that 80% of the energy should still be focused on product development and 20% of the energy can be spent on brand building and marketing. At this point, you can develop a more complete visual image, create content that demonstrates the product’s value proposition, and start building relationships with key influencers and partners in the industry.

Phase 3: Market Lead (20/80)

When your products reach market dominance, brand building and marketing become more important. At this stage, you don’t just want to build brand awareness and guide potential customers, but you want to establish your brand as a thought leader and innovator in the industry. This requires a more comprehensive and strategic approach to brand marketing.

The 20/80 rule suggests that 20% of the energy should be focused on product development and 80% of the energy should be devoted to brand building and marketing. This may include investing in high-end partnerships and sponsorships, developing strong content marketing strategies, and creating a brand narrative that resonates with your target audience. The goal is to strengthen market leadership and build a loyal community around the brand.

in conclusion

In our fast-growing industry, it is natural to prioritize branding and marketing from the very beginning. However, the most successful project understands that the first thing is the product winning and the brand succeeds later.

There is an obvious evolutionary model that continues to emerge: in the early stages, focus on building an excellent product, and after gaining certain market recognition, the brand will gradually develop naturally. As the project matures, more resources are gradually invested in branding and marketing.

The key to success lies in the proper grasp of the timing. If you invest in brand building too early, you may over-promise and fail to fulfill it; if you are too late, you may find it difficult to stand out in an increasingly crowded market.

By always focusing on products, keeping close ties with users, and strategically increasing brand building as you grow gradually, you can build a lasting brand that stands out in our dynamic and growing industry.