An analysis of the ecological positions in the WEB 3 industry. Today, I will briefly explain how to find some upstream and downstream participants in the WEB 3 industry, such as VCs, exchanges, and other organizations, if you want to participate in WEB 3 and work in the WEB 3 industry. I will also discuss how to find an organization that is relatively suitable and interesting for you to join and participate in work.
This includes how to get started with WEB 3 and how to learn WEB 3, but there hasn't been a discussion about the ecological positions in the WEB 3 industry. In fact, just like other industries, the WEB 3 industry also has different participants and roles. In the foreign trade industry, we mainly divide the participants into seven categories, which I have listed here. This definition is not a completely standard definition, and there may be more participants involved. But here, I have listed the seven most common participants for everyone to become familiar with.
In the WEB 3 ecosystem, there are seven main types of participants.
The first is VCs,#
which refers to venture capital, investment firms, exchanges, and media projects. In the decentralized qualification organization, which was not common in our web two era, it is now possible to complete tasks together in a global organization or community due to the existence of blockchain, tokens, and NFTs. Today, I will help you understand the characteristics of each ecological position, the well-known organizations in the industry, and the qualities you need if you want to participate in this field.
OK, let's start with VC venture capital. In the early days of WEB3, VCs were not involved, and most of the developers were more Crypto and native developers, as well as some small organizations. However, in recent years, with the gradual rise of WEB3, more capital has flowed from WEB2 to WEB3, resulting in more VC investment firms investing in early-stage projects. Some well-known VC firms include H6Z and Paradigm, which are popular in foreign countries. There are also Chinese VC firms like Dragonfly. I have listed some well-known Chinese VC firms like A, N, T Capital, and Hashke. However, listing them does not mean that one is better than the other, I just want to give everyone an understanding.
Finally, I also mentioned something called Public Chain VC. Although VC is called a venture capital firm, it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to establish a capital to be called a VC. Many public chains, such as Polygon and BMB Chain, have their own funds within the chain. They invest in projects on behalf of the chain, including Flow. They also have their own funds, such as Dipper Labs behind Flow. These can be understood as capital and can also be considered within the scope of VC.
So, many large chains are also part of the ecosystem. If you have a background in finance or have experience in the financial industry, you are suitable for working in VC organizations in WEB3 and continuing to work in finance and investment research. However, if you are not from a finance or economics background and still want to enter VC, it is not impossible. VC still has certain requirements and high standards for education, as well as English proficiency. VC is an organization that requires comprehensive abilities.
The second is exchanges.#
Exchanges, like VCs, have a lot of information in the industry, including information about projects and the latest technologies. They are centralized exchanges, such as Binance, Coinbase, Okex, and Huobi.
The most common function of exchanges is to buy and sell tokens or coins. This is their main function. This is why exchanges have a high position in the industry, as they have many project partners. If a project wants to issue its own token, it needs to contact an exchange or the exchange will actively approach them. So exchanges have a lot of information. In WEB3, where there are users and traffic, exchanges are aggregation points for information. I have also listed some exchanges that have their own funds, such as Binance Labs and Coinbase Labs. These exchanges not only have the function of fiat-to-crypto conversion but also have some functions related to VC asset management. They are similar to traditional securities companies that have their own asset management departments. So VC and exchanges are two very important organizations in the industry. To enter these two organizations, the requirements are relatively high, including English proficiency, educational background, and relevant work experience.
The third is media,#
which includes well-known overseas media such as CoinDesk and CoinTelegraph. In China, there are well-known media outlets like CoinMarketCap and ChainNews. Media has the advantage of being able to release news and reports related to projects or organizations, and they have a large audience and traffic. If you want to participate in the media industry, there are several roles and positions. First, you can work in marketing and business development for projects. Second, you can work as a researcher because most media outlets have their own columns. If you are good at writing research reports and conducting research, becoming a researcher in the media industry is very suitable. Media also has a leverage effect. Through traffic and continuous connections with project parties, they can make money from information disparities and help project parties with marketing work. So if you want to participate in the media industry, you can work in business development, operations, or as a professional writer or columnist.
The fourth point is project parties. In the WEB3 industry, there are many different types of project parties. I have listed three categories: supply chains, protocol layers, and application layers. These are rough classifications of project parties in the industry.
We usually call them INFRA, which stands for infrastructure.#
Because in this industry, if you don't have infrastructure, if you don't have a solid supply chain and protocols at the strategic level, it will be difficult for the upper application layer to implement many functions. For example, there are many protocols at the information and communication level, such as RS3, which is a protocol for distributing WEB3 information feeds, and many other protocols. These are considered protocol layers. Without these protocol layers, the upper application layer cannot achieve many functions.
The fifth is developers.#
Just like in the traditional web two era, if you don't have the protocols of the early internet, you won't be able to create many mature applications. So in the industry, there are many types of project parties. The most direct ones are supply chains, such as Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, and Optos. These are public chains. Public chains have their own teams for technical iterations and updates. There are also project parties at the protocol layer, such as RS3, which I mentioned earlier, and many other protocols. These protocols have teams constantly updating and iterating. If you are a developer, you are more suitable for working in Infra and public chains. Of course, if you want to build an application, you can also work in the application layer. So I won't go into detail about these three categories.
If you want to work for a project party, you must first consider whether you have the qualities that match the project party. Because when you join a project party, you will be working for the project's product, and your perspective may be more limited to a specific project. It may not be as broad as VC, exchanges, or media, where you see a wider range of information and have a more comprehensive understanding of the industry. But being a project party has its advantages. You may be more focused and specialized in a specific field, such as gaming, DeFi, NFTs, etc.
There are pros and cons, and there is no absolute good or bad. It depends on your personal preferences and inclinations. Personally, I prefer to focus on a specific field and do in-depth research, so I would choose to work for a project party in a specific field. But not everyone is like me. So it is important to choose an ecological position that matches your own personality and interests.
The next one is DAO. DAO hasn't been mentioned much before because it is still not very mature. But recently, I have seen more and more friends who choose to work in a DAO instead of a company or organization. They write articles and research reports every week or month and receive good compensation. They contribute to the DAO and it is a more native and original way of participating in WEB3. I think this is a good way, so I included DAO in the list. There are many types of DAOs, such as project-based DAOs where everyone participates together in a project. For example, NFTs are a good example of this. There are also consensus-based DAOs, like the people token that was popular before, where people donate money or tokens together to buy the US Constitution. There are also developer DAOs, like the SOS token on OpenSea, which is a DAO that saves OpenSea. They have consensus-based events and form a DAO organization.
There are also some recently well-known VC DAOs. VC DAOs allow people to participate together in making investment decisions and raise funds to invest in WEB3 projects. The final returns are distributed according to the contribution ratio. There are many VC DAOs, such as SeriousDAO, which has done well. But I won't go into detail about them. This is also a way you can consider if you don't like being constrained and want more freedom. The last two points are KPL and individuals, which don't have much to say.
Individuals can observe and participate in the industry as individuals, retail investors, or KOLs by finding information on their own. KOL is not really a job, it is more of a positioning when participating in the industry, so it is more appropriate to understand it as an ecological position.
The seventh is KOL, which stands for Key Opinion Leaders.#
We call people like Vitalik Buterin and Le Long Mask as broad opinion leaders because they have a lot of influence in the industry. They are already well-known and influential figures in the web two era. So when they say something on Twitter, it can potentially cause a project or concept to become popular or even cause the price of a certain cryptocurrency to rise. We also have a more specific definition of KOL in the narrow sense of WEB3. The term KOL has been overused in Chinese. Not everyone with a large number of followers can be called a KOL. To become a KOL, you must have a certain understanding and insights into a specific field or industry, and these insights should benefit others. So I have included project founders, YouTubers, self-media creators, and researchers as KOLs. Not everyone who does YouTube or is a project founder can be called a KOL. They must have certain experience and contributions in a specific field and be widely recognized by the community to be considered a KOL.
KOLs have a lot of influence in the industry, and this can potentially bring opportunities for economic returns. This influence is the result of their impact on the industry. Retail investors can also consider writing research reports, creating YouTube channels, and participating in projects. They can participate in a project as a QA tester.
So today, we have reviewed the different ecological positions in the WEB3 industry and summarized the seven ways to participate in WEB3 and work in the industry. The main focus is on the first six points, which are the directions you can consider. Today's video is a simple analysis of the ecological positions in the WEB3 industry, but there are still many details to consider.