a16z: How can crypto start-ups “recommend themselves”?

It all starts with the mission statement.

Written by: Pyrs Carvolth and Maggie Hsu, both partners in a16z crypto

Compiled by: Luffy, Foresight News

For founders, being able to clearly communicate the company’s vision is crucial, including describing the company’s position, prospects and differences with competitors. Companies in the early stages, especially those that have not yet launched a usable product, may feel that it is too early to clarify the company’s mission. But thoughtful core messages can unite teams, help founders establish credibility and clear goals, and more effectively bring products to market.

There are already many resources to refer to for building a brand and carefully writing a mission statement that reflects the team’s values. But integrating these elements can be challenging. Therefore, in this article, we will focus on how to adjust and distinguish mission statements and statements of interests, as well as how to improve elevator lobbying terms (Translator’s Note: Elevator lobbying terms are short, concise explanatory methods used to introduce one’s company, products, or ideas to others within a limited time) for partnerships, sales empowerment, financing, and more. We will also share the basic information founders need before bringing the product to market.

A brief explanation of ideal customer portraits and how to use them in the crypto space

In this article, we will use the concept of ideal customer profiles (ICP, ideal cuswww.gushiio.comr profiles). This is a well-known business development tool used to define who potential customers are most likely to buy the products you sell in terms of behavioral, environmental and demographic dimensions.

Why is this important? Ideal customer portraits can help you understand your target audience, who you “sell” to, and adjust the way you deliver information accordingly when you receive feedback. For example, technical audiences need more technical details; people in the business world need less details, but pay more attention to the benefits and results brought by the product.

Sounds great, but in the crypto space, especially for companies before the seed round, defining an ideal customer portrait can be tricky because it means thinking immediately about business outcomes and goals while the product is still evolving. When the product is not yet complete, it is difficult to define an ideal customer portrait. So we encourage companies to think about the end users, partners, and customers they expect, and then develop information for product launch materials so that they can easily adapt to different customers, conversations, and situations.

In short, it’s all about explaining to anyone why you’re developing your product in a clear and concise way.

At the same time, it should be noted that no matter what kind of audience you face, there is one message content that should be consistent, and that is the mission statement.

It all starts with the mission statement

There have been many related discussions on how to write a mission statement. But the core of the mission statement is “why”, which succinctly describes the reasons for the company’s existence, goals and values, and what makes it different. This is crucial for positioning yourself in many aspects such as promotion slides, website copywriting, follow-up emails, and sales conversations.

What’s important is that the mission statement related to the listing promotion strategy is not about “how to do” or even “what to do.” They do not need to elaborate in depth on the company’s specific business, nor do they need to detail specific plans to achieve goals. Instead, the mission statement outlines the company’s goals and helps define the company’s position in the industry. The mission statement also serves the following functions:

1. Establish a core goal for the company and gather team strength

Effective mission statements provide much-needed direction when innovation and rapid growth can derail important goals, helping founders focus on the idealistic long-term goals that the company was originally set when it was founded.

This core goal is particularly important when the market is hot and the team needs to expand. They can integrate mission statements into interviews, induction and performance evaluation processes, as well as into strategic planning, product roadmap functional prioritization and marketing activities.

For example, Coinbase’s mission has long been to “promote economic freedom.”

Over the years, Coinbase has gradually launched centralized exchanges, wallets, NFT markets, secondary networks, etc. If the focus is on any single project, the overall principle of this mission statement may be ignored during the communication process. However, it is broad enough to allow the team to focus on this principle and then integrate it into decisions about cultural values and product investment, even though the Base project seems to extend beyond the scope of its core centralized exchange.

On the other hand, many startups want to focus on improving specific products or continue to focus on specific technologies or ecosystems. For example, Blackbird’s mission is to “be a loyalty company that rewards people who love restaurants.”

With this mission statement, the target audience, whether partners, customers or investors, can assume that as the product evolves, Blackbird will prioritize and meet the experience needs of diners and restaurant operators, building loyalty and trust among specific customer groups.

2. Set the company apart from its competitors

The encryption industry is still in its early stages, but it is developing rapidly in areas such as expansion solutions (such as expansion solutions and equity pledges). Coupled with the open source nature of the crypto industry, many different vendors offer products that look very similar on the surface.

Companies on these popular tracks need to delve deeper into their differentiated advantages in terms of products and narratives. The first step is to ensure that these differentiated advantages are integrated into the mission statement. Even if startups are still exploring their own differentiated advantages, identifying the impact of those advantages early may be as important as providing a functional comparison chart with competing products.

Consider these as early branding opportunities. Focus on what is unique about you as a founder, what is unique about the team you are building, what is unique about the company you are creating, and what is unique about your product vision. Even companies that offer very similar products may have very different styles, and partners and customers will ultimately consider these factors when comparing competitors. Why not help them draw these conclusions and allow them to share them internally with your words and speak for your product?

For example, Towns, a way of building hometown communities on the Internet, quickly established a different way of thinking on Social networks that no longer emphasizes large global groups and prefers to create intimate, well-planned and more local gathering spaces.

3. Refocus when the market landscape changes

The mission statement is not static. Consumer attitudes will change, products will adjust direction, and companies will launch new plans. Founders will inevitably encounter situations where the company develops beyond the scope of its mission statement.

While it is important for the team to adapt to change and let the market understand where the company is working, the mission statement should remain flexible enough to accommodate necessary strategic shifts while still reflecting a unique vision.

Mission statements that reflect the things that keep founders awake at night and the problems they are solving for users can stand out in the hustle and bustle of the market and stand the test of time. This is better than over-focusing statements on market preferences, which can ultimately confuse internal teams.

summarize

When planning an information delivery roadmap, you should first write a mission statement and then build a more specific statement of interests based on this (we will discuss it below). The situation is different for each company, but here are some general guidelines:

What should be done:

• Focus on long-term vision

• Distinguish yourself from your competitors

• From a macro perspective, focus on fundamentals and benefits rather than products or functions

• Listen to the opinions of co-founders or employees in different functions

• Use messaging as an early branding practice by thinking about the following questions: What changes will my company bring? As a company, what do we value and why?

What to avoid:

• Get caught in the minutiae of product and functional specifications

• Deliver different mission statements to different audiences

• Write a “universal” declaration that applies to any company in your industry

Similarly, each company has different needs and needs to evaluate its own approach. But once the mission statement is finalized, it is time to develop a statement of interests.

Best practices for declaration of interests

At some point, startups need to shift their focus from describing their core mission to letting customers understand why they should focus on the company’s products. If a mission statement states “why”, then a statement of interest states “what” and “how to do it,” they are mission-based and outline the main advantages of the product or service in concise, customer-centered language.

Statements of interest are important when you promote your products and appear in your marketing and sales materials. They have the following functions:

1. Provide background information in meaningful and tailored language

Cryptography products often need to define new terms during their promotion; it is crucial to explain new terms in language and concepts that customers are already familiar with.

Using common industry terms is necessary, and the goal is always to avoid alienating the target audience. For example, audiences familiar with the crypto space will be familiar with abbreviations like DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization). They may get bored if the statement of interest spells it out completely or explains its meaning in detail. Conversely, if the statement of interest does not explain the overall concept, it may lose interest for a wider audience that still needs introductory guidance.

Determining which terms are appropriate and which are not is actually difficult. Many founders think “my audience is smart and they will understand.” But the reality is that people use and understand jargon differently. If you are not sure which terms will work, don’t make assumptions. You can survey your audience at any time, or simply take the time to explain and get everyone to reach a consensus.

For example, Alchemy wrote that its Node Application Programming Interface (Node API) allows customers to “connect to top-level L1 or L2, whose RPC infrastructure handles more than 30 billion requests per week and achieves 99.9% uptime.” Here, there is no need to explain what L1 or L2 is, or even spell RPC fully. Their customers, presumably developers and engineers in the crypto space, are likely to use these terms frequently and do not require further explanation. And, while these statements of interest involve some details, they are still consistent with the company’s mission statement, a complete Web3 developer platform.

2. Go straight to the point and focus on how products can make customers ‘lives easier

When writing statements of interest for potential customers and partners, be sure to describe the actual results of the cooperation, not just technical specifications. for example……

• Alchemy: Launched a reliable enterprise-class expansion solution and immediately reached millions of developers

• Base: A secure, low-cost, developer-friendly Ethereum Layer 2 network

• Solana: Leverage Solana’s high throughput, low costs and minimal environmental impact to meet the specific needs of your business

All of these statements of interest position products in terms of improving efficiency for users, i.e. how they can help customers achieve their goals faster or better than before.

For products that seek a new audience, describing how to do it better is more challenging when something has never been really done before. In this case, the founder may want to compare the benefits of the product with adjacent existing areas, or even abstract some technologies to make them more understandable to the audience.

For consumers, Blackbird has removed specific encrypted terms and positioned it firmly in the area of restaurant loyalty. For example, they also describe their points as a “universal reward currency” that people can spend at participating restaurants. For diners who have not been exposed to the crypto world, this is much clearer than terms like “transfer restricted tokens.” Importantly, it captures the needs of food lovers who love to go to restaurants and leverages their existing behavioral habits rather than requiring them to adopt new behaviors.

3. Help founders improve efficiency

Especially in the early stages of the product life cycle, having a clear list of value propositions can help founders quickly understand conversations with customers, investors, suppliers, potential talents, and other stakeholders. In addition, teams can adjust the list and use it in sales empowerment and marketing, including the company’s website, social media, GitHub codebase, sales presentations, and more.

A good statement of interests will follow the core principles mentioned above. They can make products and services clearer, enhance customers ‘understanding of the company and the products it develops, and make early conversations more efficient.

Here are some suggestions for writing a statement of interest:

What should be done:

• Choose the language your customers use to resonate with them

• Get feedback on statements of interest from customers, employees and other stakeholders, but make sure the information is relevant to your product

• Reuse statements of interest in sales empowerment and marketing materials

What to avoid:

• Write overly broad or lengthy statements of interests

• Excessive use of jargon, especially for audiences who do not understand jargon

• Trying to cover multiple different audiences with one statement of interests

Once statements of interest are identified, you can consider combining them with mission statements to form an elevator lobbying term.

Improve elevator lobbying words

You may have heard of “elevator lobbying”, the kind of rhetoric you can use to promote your product or company during a short elevator ride. Elevator lobbying terms explain the company’s “what”,”why” and “how to do it” in its simplest form. Most founders have practiced a lot when introducing them to investors and can even blurt it out, but it is still necessary to explore it in depth here because the language is so important. It will also be seen everywhere in your marketing materials.

First, the sooner you start thinking about elevator lobbying terms, the better. Founders must constantly evaluate their ability to bring products to market and clearly articulate the company’s core points. Their lobbying rhetoric is not just about building a brand for the company, but also for the founders, showing who they are, what they are developing, and why they are the right people to develop the product.

Elevator lobbying can also save time. Founders can complete their lobbying in less than a minute and, if they say it well, can determine whether they are talking to the right person. This is very helpful for building partnerships, sales and financing, etc., and it also helps get immediate and useful feedback. For example, founders can immediately assess whether their lobbying is effective and then decide whether they need to adjust their messaging methods.

Like mission statements and statements of interests, elevator lobbying words are also a reflection of company values and culture, and will evolve over time. So, it’s a good habit to review and update it regularly to ensure that co-founders, employees, and external company supporters remain consistent.

Finally, here are some suggestions for improving the elevator lobbying rhetoric:

What should be done:

• Practice your lobbying words at events and meetings inside and outside the crypto world

• Get feedback from advocates and critics of the crypto world, who are more difficult to convince

• Conduct A/B testing and refine your expression based on different goals

What to avoid:

• Inadequate preparation undermines your lobbying effectiveness at the last minute

• Use exactly the same lobbying terms for different audiences: The lobbying terms should be adjusted depending on who you are talking to, such as technical decision-makers or business decision-makers

Integrating the above: Four essential elements for information delivery

All this information should be integrated into several different documents. Here are some basics that each team should have before launching a launch campaign:

• Standard introductory paragraph: This introductory paragraph can draw heavily on the elevator lobbying words, and founders should be prepared to list them orally and in writing and include them on the website’s “About Us” page and introduction emails.

• Single-page introduction: Single-page content about the company, including some potential use cases. Include information from elevator lobbying words, mission statements and statements of interest, as well as any relevant data or proof points, such as customer growth, uptime or key partnerships. Teams can send this one-page brief as pre-reading material before the meeting, or in a follow-up email if stakeholders request more information.

• Business presentations: This is slightly different from an investment or referral presentation, and could actually be two or three presentations tailored to portraits of different ideal customers. Each version of the presentation should adjust the information as appropriate and include a slide discussing the next steps. Note: We usually recommend that founders explain this presentation with stakeholders, rather than sending it in advance, as the dialogue will guide the best order for presentation of the slides and the main points of each slide.

• Company website: Early companies sometimes only used the GitHub codebase rather than the website for marketing. Websites should combine company information with key assets such as developer documentation and case studies, which can be very helpful in various conversations. While these information points and case studies can be shared temporarily, integrating everything together helps promote better partnerships and customer conversations.

When ideas are emerging and founders are still focused on iterating the product, determining the direction of information transmission can be difficult. Still, it’s important to start thinking about information delivery as soon as possible. Founders who do this will have more valuable information that they can use in conversations with investors, customers and potential partners. Companies with effective messaging will also have a key advantage in this noisy industry: the ability to provide practical statements about work culture and values, from product roadmaps to recruitment. Don’t skip this step.

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