1 year.
1 hell of a year.
Calculated Finance was born in the darkest hours of the bear market.
After watching Luna/UST blow up in our faces and the wild amount of people it hurt, we genuinely wanted to give people the tools to fight emotionally charged decisions, euphoria, and FOMO. We were mission-driven to help people make more calculated decisions and nothing would stop us.
We literally launched V.1 the day after FTX exploded and the markets tanked.
I'll never forget our small team flew into Melbourne, Australia the week leading up to the launch. We worked from a local university library because we didn't have any income or funding. After going live on the final night (we had to delay due to a minor bug and all contracts needed 48 hours of being voted in), we watched something like 16k TVL flow into the product feeling both proud and tired.
That set the pace for our "ship no matter what the macro was doing" attitude. Following the lead of the chads at @TeamKujira
We always strive to be humble, organic, authentic, and product-focused, and always have time for anyone who uses our product. I have some crazy stories from providing customer support on tg to random people who later turned out to be who, only in our wildest dreams, we imagined would be using CALC.
Takeaway: Do things that don't scale.
After speaking with the team, we decided that rather than using this as a "look how great we are" opportunity we thought it would be more beneficial to share lessons learned. So, these are a few honest reflections from a few bear market builders.
1. 🔎 Not all that appears on socials is true:
After bashing our heads against the walls for months trying to figure out how some protocols were able to onboard 100,000+ users and hit crazy stats in ecosystems that were very similar to where we were building, often left us asking "What are we doing wrong?". They set the benchmark for where we wanted to be and we almost went crazy when we couldn't come anywhere near those numbers until we started to verify on-chain.
We learned that most are bots, and a lot is manufactured. So run your own race, in the end, a facade can only last so long. Announcements are only announcements.
2. 💙 Support:
Definitively, CALC would NOT be here without @deadrightdove, @cryptoslang1, @codehans1, the Kujira community, and @MikeR_AM. Without the support, time, advice, and product stoke, this 1-year would not have been reached.
They say you are the sum of the 5 people you spend most of your time with and this rings true for the teams you collaborate with. Choose wisely because over time you will become more like them and they will become more like you.
Find yourself a mentor, someone you look up to.
Lastly, get on the same level as your users and community. They will surprise you and always help you more than you could ever have imagined. So ALWAYS do what's right by them. They often bring more value than a large check would and stay by your side when challenging things arise. I've been so lucky to meet many in person around the world.
3. 💰 Raising:
In the early days, trying to raise capital was a nightmare. Honestly, if you're trying to raise capital now, just read/watch this: [Please DM @D0itdifferent and he will send the video link]. It will save you a truckload of time and failed pitches.
4. 🩺 Staying alive:
People tell you this all the time, but it's so true. Just stay in the game if you're passionate about it. A large part of success is luck and the longer you are in the game, the more chances you have to be lucky.
5. ⏳ Timing:
Firstly, it's a whole lot easier to launch a crypto product in the bull market. Bear markets have a way of stressing you out, reducing sleep, breaking down friendships, killing team motivation, and constantly asking more from you while challenging your belief in yourself and the crypto space.
IT IS HARD TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR.
But on the upside, the people you meet in the bear are one of the best things to come from it. Building in a bear allows you time and provides honest feedback when you're trying to validate product market fit.
......
That's it for now.
1500+ real users, +5600 strats created, 2 ecosystems, +11,000,000 USD in volume and over 1,500,000 swaps all organic.
Looking forward to the year ahead whatever shape that takes.
🤝 Of course, a massive thank you to the following:
👉 The CALC community, YOU ARE AMAZING! The Ambassadors, the people that answer questions in the Telegram, and the ones that share CALC on Twitter. WE BUILD FOR YOU! You know who you are and we appreciate you every day.
👉 The content creators, our first interviews were with @KujiKast and @technologypoet and we always appreciated your time, video editing, thoughtful questions, and laughs while never asking for anything in return. Your dedication through the good and the bad was incredible.
👉 Those that were willing to help and always share thoughts/support. There are too many chads to name but people like @simonch00 help you get stoked on what you are doing and groups like the @kuji_DAO are fantastic.
👉 The capital contributors. We ran this last year LEAN but still a massive thank you is in place for all grants, capital, and covered audits.
...and last but arguably most important, the team. Some came, some went, some preferred other ventures, and some preferred just to live life but CALC wouldn't be where it is today without you. Whether you are still here today or not, thank you!
It takes a lot to stop what you're doing and go through an exciting yet challenging period of getting a new venture off the ground. Whatever is next, it's a dream to see all the people around us be successful, however, each person defines it.
Lots of whale love to all! 💙💯🧮
1 year ago, today:
https://t.co/tmMqHC3FsU
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