Last week we had a privilege to host Qiao Wang for off-the-record Icons dinner.
Qiao is the founder of Alliance DAO, the best accelerator for crypto startups.
Here's the list of the best takeaways from Qiao:
1. Most customers lie. They’ll tell you they need your product, but when it comes down to it, they don’t. Brutal if you’re building consumer crypto.
2. Qiao and Imran started Alliance thinking ideas mattered. Turns out, half the cohort pivots anyway. The only thing that matters is founder quality.
3. Best way to pick the right idea? Actually use crypto. Way too many teams show up with “research” instead of lived experience. You can’t solve a problem you’ve never felt.
4. There are businesses with fundamentals, and there are pure narratives. Narratives still grow because that’s what consumers latch onto. Fighting them is pointless.
5. AI + crypto? Basically no overlap today. Everyone’s bullish, but the real use cases are almost nonexistent.
6. Over-raising is a curse. Once you raise too much, you’re forced to spend — and that pulls you away from product + customer.
7. Privacy has a real need and it's time to fund it. With the U.S. shifting pro-privacy after Tornado Cash, the timing looks right.
8. There's not as much competition in crypto as in AI. So it makes sense for new founders to focus on crypto.
