The Evolution of the Role of Web3 Project Founders and New Paradigms for Community Building

In the Web3 world, the role of founders is undergoing profound changes. As the attention economy and consumer waves penetrate into Web3, charismatic founders have become unique cultural symbols of projects, directly reaching a wide range of community users and even rallying loyal fans before the mainnet launch, creating a community atmosphere similar to that of a religion.

A community is not only a collection of users but also a manifestation of culture, belief, and strength. The personal charm of the founder becomes one of the key factors in uniting the community. The early example of Gavin Wood is a typical case. As the co-founder of Ethereum and the founder of Polkadot, he not only possesses profound technical expertise but also outstanding market insight and communication skills. This enables him to translate complex technical concepts into easily understandable user experiences, quickly attracting the attention of a large number of users and investors.

Today, the focus of competition in the Web3 space has shifted from technical narratives to large-scale commercial implementation. The new generation of Web3 founders needs to accurately grasp market trends and user demands beyond technical capabilities and communicate effectively with all parties. They need to find a balance between technology, marketing, and community governance, attracting devoted community members and creating an almost religious community atmosphere.

Berachain and Monad are two successful cases. Berachain's co-founder Smokey started from the NFT community and gradually evolved into building a blockchain network. Monad's founder Keone Hon has tightly integrated community development with projects by introducing a free Meme culture, creating a new paradigm for community building for Web3 projects.

Cecilia Hsueh, the founder and CEO of Morph, has demonstrated a comprehensive capability, which has raised some doubts among people. This reflects the increasing expectations people have for Web3 founders. As one of the few female CEOs, and the only female CEO in the L2 space, Cecilia is naturally under more attention and scrutiny. Her success story and the advantages of her project make some people feel it is unreal.

For projects centered around the narrative of "consumer applications", founders need to build trust through interaction from the perspective of the market and users, and develop strategies that meet actual needs. This is essential to create a friendly and accessible community culture that attracts users to participate and test the product, thereby enhancing user engagement.

The new generation of Web3 founders is leading a revolution. They focus not only on technological narratives but also on the power of strong ecosystems and communities. As the soul of the project, founders play an irreplaceable role in this process. Making technology "useful" and getting users to recognize and be willing to try it is the key to breaking through the Web3 narrative. We look forward to more innovations and breakthroughs brought about by the Web3 revolution under the guidance of the new generation of founders.