The Web3 Growth Canon 2023
The 70 best resources on web3 growth from 2021 to today
Get ready for a trip down memory lane with our most extensive list of resources yet! Safary members created or contributed to resources marked with 🦁
Growing Yield Guild Games with Gabby Dizon | September 4, 2023
Gabby shares YGG’s early growth strategies and the future of web3 quests on the Web3 Growth Podcast. The episode delves into YGG's innovative use of NFT-based scholarships, automation for scaling, and the concept of "quests" as native ad units in web3, making it a must-listen for anyone interested in web3 growth!
Friend.tech - The Next Creator Platform Primitive by Thomas Pan 🦁 | August 29, 2023
Thomas discusses the potential of Friend.tech (FT) as a next-gen creator platform. He compares FT's monetization mechanics with those of other social platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch. He also highlights the platform's quick iterative potential, enabled by its Progressive Web App (PWA) nature, which allows for rapid updates and improvements.
Grass Shoots of a Web3 Marketing Ecosystem by Matt Gierl | August 3, 2023
Matt dives into the rapid growth of 200+ companies at the intersection of web3 and marketing, despite a bearish market and limited funding compared to other sectors. He highlights that investments are concentrated in Loyalty and Analytics, leveraging crypto's strengths in incentive alignment and permissionless data.
The 7 Immutable Laws of Web3 Marketing by Phillip | August 3, 2023
Phillip outlines key principles for effective marketing in the web3 space, drawing inspiration from Al Ries & Jack Trout. The laws cover various aspects such as leadership, focus, and long-term trends, providing examples from the web3 ecosystem like Ethereum, Metamask, and Axie Infinity.
The Web3 Growth Landscape 2023 by Safary Club 🦁 | July 31, 2023
This Safary report is a must-read for anyone interested in the future of growth. They analyze 200+ startups working in the new digital media marketing landscape and share that $600M was deployed into this powerful new ecosystem.
Web3 has permanently changed how marketing works by Amanda Cassatt | July 24, 2023
Amanda explores how web3 has revolutionized marketing, shifting toward community-driven, decentralized web3 marketing. She emphasizes that web3 marketing is more sustainable and efficient, relying on incentive-aligned community members rather than paid campaigns on third-party platforms.
Making the Small Things Count by Alessandro Raboni and Qin En Looi 🦁 | July 17, 2023
Alessandro discusses the significance of small, incremental changes in achieving large-scale web3 growth. From adding a lead-capture button on Transak's widget to forming early partnerships with Polygon, he emphasizes that "small things" have a big impact, especially when aligned with market understanding and focus.
The Second Act by Mai Akiyoshi and Qin En Looi 🦁 | July 10, 2023
Mai shares the journey of Curious Addys, an NFT project that evolved into a portfolio of web3 tools. She discusses the lessons learned from launching an education-focused NFT project and the strategies that led to significant adoption.
The Art of Referral Marketing by Bryan Altman and Qin En Looi 🦁 | July 3, 2023
Bryan delves into the complexities of web3 referral marketing. He emphasizes the importance of compelling rewards, targeted marketing, and sustainable incentives, while also highlighting the role of affiliate partners in driving growth.
An Onchain Model for Web3 Advertising by Mason Nystrom | June 30, 2023
Mason outlines three emerging models for web3 advertising: Onchain ads using NFTs, Token-curated ads, and Hybrid ads that connect offchain and onchain data. He argues that web3 offers innovative ways to monetize attention and suggests that advertising could become a significant business model for crypto platforms.
Inspiring Others To Grow by Patrick Workman and Qin En Looi 🦁 | June 26, 2023
Patrick discusses how to inspire growth in the web3 creator economy through showcases and practical tools. He delves into Unlock Protocol's campaigns to demonstrate the utility of time-based NFTs and smart contracts, aiming to empower creators to generate recurring revenue and own their audiences.
Making Every Web3 Event Count by Marcin Kaźmierczak & Qin En Looi 🦁 | June 19, 2023
Marcin offers a playbook on how to leverage events for marketing and brand awareness. He discusses common pitfalls, budget considerations, and creative strategies, emphasizing that success at events requires more than just financial investment—it demands thoughtful planning, clear objectives, and genuine effort.
Growing Web3 with Justin Vogel & Quinn Campbell 🦁 | June 12, 2023
Justin and Quinn delve into their personal journeys and roles in leading web3 companies. Episode 1 of the Web3 Growth Podcast offers a candid look at the challenges and strategies for driving growth in B2B and B2C web3 companies.
Off to a Great Start by Simon Chamorro & Qin En Looi 🦁 | June 5, 2023
Simon analyzes common mistakes in web3 activation strategies. He outlines key moments in the user journey, from sign-up to "aha!" moments, and provides actionable advice for web3 founders to improve user activation and retention.
From Avatars to Augmented Reality by Marja Konttinen & Qin En Looi 🦁 | May 29, 2023
Marja shares how brands can effectively engage with consumers in the metaverse. She outlines a blueprint for brands that includes rapid experimentation, community amplification, and narrative building, emphasizing that genuine engagement is more valuable than transactional incentives.
Customer Reviews are Organic Marketing by Matt Kim & Qin En Looi 🦁 | May 22, 2023
Matt discusses the role of customer reviews as a powerful tool for organic marketing in the web3 space. They offer five key strategies, such as identifying high-impact platforms and designing incentives, to transform user reviews into a robust marketing strategy, emphasizing that web3's transparency features can verify the authenticity of reviews.
Designing Communities by Thomas Delamb & Qin En Looi 🦁 | May 15, 2023
Thomas explores the intricacies of building web3 communities, focusing on a 4 'C’s framework: Cause, Culture, Communication, and Connection. He argues that well-designed communities can mitigate challenges in paid UA and complex onboarding, ultimately increasing customer LTV and lowering acquisition costs.
Co-Determination: Supply Mechanics with RTFKT by Thomas Pan 🦁 | May 9, 2023
Thomas explores the innovative supply mechanics of RTFKT's sneaker collaboration with Nike, focusing on the digital-to-physical redemption process. The multi-stage process involves "Pre-Forge" NFTs that holders can later forge into physical products, allowing the community to determine the actual supply. This "Co-Determination" model blends elements of shared governance and consumer preference, offering a new way to think about supply in the web3 space.
Building Bridges by Kimron Flicker & & Qin En Looi 🦁 | May 8, 2023
Kimron shares the importance of web3 community building, focusing on the role of ambassadors in strengthening community bonds. She outlines how to identify and nurture these ambassadors.
Rising Above the Noise by Abishek Dharshan & Qin En Looi 🦁 | May 1, 2023
Abishek discusses the importance of experimentation in the web3 space for building category leaders. He shares insights from Zerion's journey, detailing various experiments they conducted, such as launching NFT collections and charging for POAPs, to uncover non-obvious growth opportunities.
The Creator’s Guide to the Web3 Galaxy by Helena Gagern & Qin En Looi 🦁 | April 24, 2023
Helena offers a comprehensive guide for creators interested in venturing into the web3 space. They discuss how web3 can empower creators to have direct and meaningful relationships with their audience, providing examples like using NFTs for ticketing and merchandise, and outline the challenges and roadblocks creators may face, such as negative perceptions and technical complexities.
The Top 6 Web3 Marketing Attribution Tools by Oleksii Sidorov 🦁 | April 24, 2023
Oleksii delves into the importance of attribution tools in web3 marketing, highlighting the limitations of traditional web2 tools for tracking user behavior and ROI. The article compares six top web3 attribution tools, discussing their unique features and the specific questions they can help marketers answer, such as user LTV, channel effectiveness, and customer segmentation.
Designing DeFi Products by Dheeraj Chakilam & Qin En Looi 🦁 | April 17, 2023
Dheeraj shares the design considerations crucial for DeFi products, focusing on simplifying the user experience. He outlines strategies like "Objective-first design" and providing "Clear and limited options" to help users navigate the complex world of DeFi derivatives trading.
Content is King by Jared Wolf & Qin En Looi 🦁 | April 10, 2023
Jared emphasizes the importance of content marketing in the web3 space, particularly for startups and projects aiming to break through the noise. They provide a comprehensive guide on creating impactful content, discussing the types of articles to start with, the importance of consistency and frequency, and the value of engaging with the audience, among other key points.
Rug Radio’s STUBS Program by Thomas Pan 🦁 | April 6, 2023
Thomas delves into Rug Radio's STUBS program, a unique web3 engagement strategy that rewards listeners with exclusive artwork. The program uses daily passwords from the GM Web3 show to mint STUBS, offering a dynamic way to measure community interaction and retention.
0 to 1 for Web3 Growth Leaders by Rohan Garg & Qin En Looi | April 3, 2023
Rohan discusses challenges and strategies for web3 growth leaders, especially those operating on tighter budgets. They offer insights into how to grow a product from zero to one, emphasizing the importance of avoiding the temptation to chase trends and building relationships with early users.
Mastering the Game by Hantao Yuan & Qin En Looi 🦁 | March 27, 2023
Hantao delves into the intricacies of web3 gaming, emphasizing the importance of choosing the right ecosystem partners for success in the next market cycle. They argue that these partnerships can help web3 games in areas like user acquisition, data sharing, and security, and also discuss the role of user-generated content in enhancing player engagement and game longevity.
Web3’s Coca Cola Moment by Oleksii Sidorov & Qin En Looi 🦁 | March 21, 2023
Oleksii and Qin En discuss the potential of web3 to revolutionize advertising, drawing parallels with Coca-Cola's success story. They argue that web3 can improve the ad experience by shifting the power balance away from centralized giants and by innovating in areas like data accessibility and user incentives.
The Power of Attribution in Web3 by Tom Vandendooren 🦁 | February 27, 2023
Tom explores the concept of attribution in web3 and its transformative potential for user engagement and brand loyalty. He discusses how tokens and smart contracts can provide a transparent and immutable record of various attributes like identity, participation, and reputation, thereby enabling automated rewards and permissions based on these attributes.
Starbucks Odyssey Beta Program by Thomas Pan 🦁 | February 23, 2023
Thomas investigates Starbucks' Odyssey Beta Program, a blockchain-based loyalty on Polygon. The program blends web2 and web3 elements to offer experience-driven rewards and incorporates NFTs called "Stamps," which have gained traction in secondary markets.
DecentralGames UA Report by Victoria Bui 🦁 | February 17, 2023
Victoria talks about DecentralGames’ big wins laying the foundation for their web3 advertising strategy and how they decreased paid UA CAC by 67%.
A Tale of 2 QR Codes by Thomas Pan 🦁 | February 16, 2023
Thomas discusses the innovative use of QR codes in the NFT space, focusing on Jason Cline's recent collection, CODES. The collection leverages the dynamic nature of QR codes to offer various rewards and experiences, from gift cards to token-gated landing pages, illustrating the potential for enhanced interactivity and engagement in web3.
Best Tools For Your Web3 Growth Stack by Sarah Lu 🦁 | January 31, 2023
Sarah discusses the limitations of web2 tools in web3 for user acquisition, retention, and engagement, particularly focusing on Discord and Twitter. She introduces the best tools for growing a web3 product, such as Thirdweb for web3 development frameworks, Safary for marketing attribution, and Dispatch for on-chain communication, among others.
Dookey Dash - BAYC’s Content Multiplier by Thomas Pan 🦁 | January 24, 2023
Thomas delves into the impact of the Dookey Dash game, a hypercasual game exclusively available to Sewer Pass NFT holders. The game not only gained immense popularity, but also led to a proliferation of UGC, from gameplay tips to speculative threads about its future.
Building a Thriving Web3 Community by Zypsy and Justin Vogel 🦁 | January 17, 2023
This episode features Justin, co-founder of Safary, a new powerful attribution system designed to bring web3 to the masses. Justin discusses his experience growing communities, tips for running a web3 startup, and what’s next for Safary.
The Web3 Growth Stack by Shayon Sengupta & Robert Reed | January 11, 2023
Multicoin Capital examines the evolving landscape of web3 growth tools. They highlight how web2 tools are inadequate for web3's unique requirements and discus the potential of on-chain attribution and identity for revolutionizing user acquisition, engagement, and retention.
Building the Web3 Marketing Stack by Niko Vuori, Quinn Campbell, Justin Vogel, and Warren Woodward 🦁 | November 22, 2023
Four web3 growth experts discuss how marketers had a robust marketing stack with tools for budget scaling and ROI measurement in web2, while web3 presents new challenges due to its anonymity and pseudonymity.
Web3 SaaS: Sales & Marketing Tech Stack by Kayla Phillips 🦁 | September 12, 2022
Kayla discusses the emerging categories of web3 SaaS tools that are essential for the sales and marketing tech stack in the web3 ecosystem. She emphasizes that traditional web2 tools are insufficient for web3's unique technical and cultural needs, and explores the requirements for web3 analytics, CRMs, & messaging.
What Web3 unlocks for Brands by Tom Vandendooren 🦁 | September 9, 2022
Tom delves into the transformative potential of web3 for brands via digital ownership and community co-creation. He argues that web3 enables a more direct and meaningful relationship between brands and consumers by allowing for tokenized loyalty programs and community-driven value creation, thereby introducing new paradigms for customer loyalty and retention.
Web3 Loyalty by Thomas Pan 🦁 | August 9, 2022
Thomas explores the challenges companies face in acquiring and retaining customers, and how web tech like Hang can revolutionize loyalty programs.
Artificial Scarcity Will Hurt The Future Of The Metaverse by Kenneth Chong 🦁 | August 6, 2022
Kenneth argues that creating artificial scarcity in the metaverse, particularly through virtual land sales, is detrimental to its long-term growth and inclusivity. He contends that while such scarcity may generate short-term profits and awareness, it ultimately limits accessibility, discourages creators, and risks turning the metaverse into a walled garden controlled by a few large corporations.
What We Can Learn from Decentralized Community Building by Bethany Crystal | July 21, 2022
Bethany delves into the rise of decentralized community-building in the web3 era, offering insights and best practices for web3 founders and builders. She explores key questions around starting a community, decentralizing work, converting people into active participants, and measuring success.
10 Lessons from Building the Top Web3 Growth Community by Justin Vogel 🦁 | June 16, 2022
Justin shares 10 lessons learned from building Safary, a successful web3 growth community. He emphasizes the importance of member engagement, retention, and the value of a closed community, among other strategies like 1-on-1 onboarding calls and optimizing for engagement through audio over text.
Building A Competitive Advantage in Web3 by Eliot Couvat 🦁 | June 5, 2022
Eliot explores how web3 companies can build a competitive advantage by focusing on community-driven growth and decentralized governance. He discusses the importance of creating a strong brand narrative and leveraging network effects to sustain long-term growth.
Virtual Influencers by Thomas Pan 🦁 | June 3, 2022
Thomas discusses the rise of virtual influencers, highlighting their potential to become key players in marketing and brand promotion. He delves into how these AI-generated personalities can engage with audiences in unique ways, offering insights into future trends and implications for both web2 and web3 ecosystems.
Building Habit-forming Web3 Communities by Tom Vandendooren 🦁 | May 27, 2022
Tom examines the importance of building habit-forming communities in web3, arguing that engagement is crucial for long-term success. He outlines strategies to foster engagement, including the use of tokens to incentivize participation and the creation of unique, valuable experiences for community members.
Boom Or Bust: How Web3 Startups Measure Growth by Alex Topchishvili 🦁 | May 26, 2022
Alex explores how web3 startups measure growth, emphasizing that traditional web2 metrics like Monthly Active Users (MAUs) may not be as relevant. He suggests that web3 startups should focus on metrics like Total Value Locked (TVL) and community engagement to better understand their growth and impact.
The Hardships of Community by Gilbert Leung | May 23, 2022
Gilbert discusses the challenges of building communities in web3, focusing on two major roadblocks: onboarding and forming connections. It introduces Frens, a Discord bot designed to introduce community members based on shared interests, aiming to make web3 communities more tightly-knit and human.
Economics 🤝 Storytelling by Sam Speed | May 2, 2022
Sam delves into the role of storytelling in web3 economics. He argues that narratives are crucial for driving adoption and understanding of web3 tech, and discusses how storytelling can create value in decentralized networks.
Building a Lasting Web3 Growth Strategy by Web3 Academy, Justin Vogel, & Matias Honorato 🦁 | April 20, 2022
Web3 growth experts discuss the nuances of growth strategies in web3. They emphasize the role of community-led growth and the importance of human-to-human relationships, while also considering the transferability of certain web2 marketing strategies like email marketing to the web3 ecosystem.
A Hype-Free Overview of Web3 Marketing by Alanna Gregory | April 20, 2022
Alana provides an in-depth overview of the marketing landscape in web3, contrasting it with traditional web2 marketing strategies. She emphasizes the importance of community building, decentralized governance, and tokenomics as key components for successful marketing in the web3 ecosystem.
A Guide On Web3 Marketing Tactics & Strategies by Eliot Couvat 🦁 | April 19, 2022
Eliot discusses the transformative potential of web3 and social tokens in marketing. He argues that web3 technologies can help brands bypass traditional web2 platforms that have become increasingly expensive and restrictive, offering new ways to engage directly with consumers and build communities.
A Guide on Web3 GTM Tactics & Strategies by Paola Vivoli | April 6, 2022
Paola delves into the evolving Go-To-Market (GTM) strategies in the web3 ecosystem. She emphasizes the shift from customer-centric web2 models to community-driven web3 platforms, where tokens and decentralized technologies play a pivotal role in engaging early users and contributors.
Community Composability by Jenny Wang and Michael Chiang | April 4, 2022
Jenny and Michael explore the concept of "community composability," which refers to the ability of web3 communities to build upon each other's work and create new, interconnected experiences. They suggest that this composability can serve as a bridge to help web2 users transition to web3, offering them a more collaborative and decentralized online environment.
How to Build a Lasting Web3 Growth Strategy by Matias Honorato 🦁 | March 23, 2022
Matias discusses the importance of a well-thought-out growth strategy for web3 companies, emphasizing the need for "Community-Market Fit" in addition to traditional growth frameworks. He outlines the "Five Fits" model for web3, which includes Community, Market, Product, Channel, and Model, and argues that a strong community can serve as the foundation for sustainable growth.
CoinMarketCap’s SEO Strategy by Shaun Heng 🦁 | February 7, 2022
Shaun shares insights into how CoinMarketCap achieved a 50x increase in traffic growth in 20 months through a focused SEO strategy. He emphasizes the importance of a long-term approach, hiring the right team, and adopting a product-led SEO strategy that is customer-centric rather than keyword-focused.
Growth Frameworks from Web2 to Web3 by Matias Honorato 🦁 | February 23, 2022
Matias discusses the importance of storytelling in the context of web3, emphasizing that a compelling narrative can significantly impact a project's success. He outlines various storytelling techniques and strategies that can be employed to engage and grow a community, ultimately driving the project's value.
From MVP to Minimal Viable Community by wholelottajuju | February 16, 2022
Wholelottajuju argues that the traditional concept of a Minimal Viable Product is being replaced by the idea of a Minimal Viable Community in the web3 space. He emphasizes that in web3, consumers are not just buyers but stakeholders, making community building essential for the success of new projects.
Introducing the Modern Billboard Collective | February 16, 2022
The team behind the Modern Billboard explores the concept of "Social Tokens," which are tokens that represent a stake in a community or individual's brand. It outlines the potential benefits, challenges, and ethical considerations of using social tokens to monetize online communities or personal brands.
Rethinking the DAO Contributor Funnel by 0xJustice 🦁 | February 12, 2022
Justice discusses the importance of segmenting community engagement in DAOs to avoid frustrations and inefficiencies. He proposes a hierarchical scheme of membership levels and gates, each with specific roles and responsibilities, to better organize and manage DAO communities.
Web3 Creator Onboarding by Cooper Turley | February 8, 2022
Cooper Turley tackles the complexities and opportunities that creators encounter when entering the web3 space. He advises creators to focus on reputation management, be cautious when endorsing NFT projects, and emphasizes the importance of understanding the web3 ecosystem for long-term success.
Go-To-Market in Web3 by Maggie Hsu | February 4, 2022
Maggie explores the go-to-market strategies for various types of decentralized applications, including DeFi DAOs, social and cultural DAOs, and web3 games. It outlines how these applications differ from their web2 counterparts in terms of value accrual, governance, and community engagement. She emphasizes that success in the web3 space is measured by new metrics like total value locked (TVL), community engagement, and the number of unique token holders.
DAO Strategic Partnerships by 0xJosh & Daniel Schlabach | January 31, 2022
Daniel and 0xJosh delve into the importance of treasury diversification for DAOs, focusing on the role of stablecoins and strategic partnerships. They propose a community-centric approach to treasury diversification, outlining a framework that emphasizes transparency, community involvement, and alignment with the DAO's mission and values.
The Web3 Playbook for Brands by Ana Andjelic | January 24, 2022
Ana provides a comprehensive web3 playbook for brands, exploring strategic opportunities beyond just NFTs. The article categorizes web3 approaches into four quadrants—Addition, System, Design, and Disruption—each offering unique ways for brands to add value, innovate, and disrupt traditional models, thereby guiding brands on how to effectively navigate the web3 economy.
Interoperability as a Growth Mechanic by Chris Dixon | January 22, 2022
Chris Dixon discusses the transformative role of interoperability in the growth mechanics of web3, contrasting it with the limitations in web2. He argues that in web3, where users own their data, smaller networks can leverage interoperability as a core growth strategy, thereby aligning the incentives of network participants and creating a more equitable digital ecosystem.
How To Make Airdrops That Go Viral by Eliot Couvat 🦁 | January 11, 2022
Eliot discusses the effectiveness of airdrops in the crypto space, particularly focusing on how they can drive awareness and attract high-quality contributors to projects. He emphasizes the importance of aligning incentives with community members and outlines best practices for executing airdrops, including the need for a clear roadmap and a well-designed liquidity pool.
DAO Essentials: The Key to Onboarding by Kassen Qian | December 22, 2021
Kassen explores the intricacies of onboarding new members into DAOs. She outlines six key practices for effective onboarding, emphasizing the importance of a clear mission, one-on-one connections, and accommodating varying levels of knowledge and experience among new members.
Onboarding the Next Wave of Crypto Users by Shaun Heng 🦁 | December 16, 2021
CoinMarketCap's VP of Growth discusses the potential of web2-based airdrops as a strategy for onboarding the next wave of crypto users. The article argues that leveraging existing web2 platforms can be more effective than building new infrastructure.
The Web3 Growth Playbook by Lattice Capital 🦁 | December 13, 2021
Lattice Capital delves into the unique challenges and opportunities associated with growing dapps, offering a contrast to traditional web2 growth strategies. They suggest that the pillars for scaling web3 projects lie in partnerships, token-driven growth pools, and robust community engagement.
How to Grow Decentralized Communities by Pet3rpan 🦁 | July 10, 2021
Pet3pan discusses the importance of community building for the long-term success of token networks. It outlines a three-stage funnel for community growth, focusing on creating opportunities for discovery, meaningful involvement, and fostering a sense of ownership among members.
Awesome resource, thanks for curating this list!
great one! 🙏 thank you!