--- title: "Web3 GTM Basics for Early-Stage vs Mature Startups" description: "A stage-by-stage Web3 growth playbook for early and mature startups, plus product-first lessons on pain points, UX, DeFi hiring and bear market spend." author: "Shilika Jain" date: "2026-10-15T03:26:15.777704+00:00" tags: ["go-to-market", "web3 marketing", "growth", "defi", "startups", "field-notes"] canonical: "https://www.shilikajain.com/blog/web3-gtm-basics-early-vs-mature-startups" --- # Web3 GTM Basics for Early-Stage vs Mature Startups By [Shilika Jain](https://www.shilikajain.com/authors/shilika-jain) - 10/15/2026 A stage-by-stage Web3 growth playbook for early and mature startups, plus product-first lessons on pain points, UX, DeFi hiring and bear market spend. --- # Web3 GTM Basics for Early-Stage vs Mature Startups Web3 go-to-market depends on stage. Early-stage startups should lean on partnerships, brand, community, paid press with content, and influencers. Mature startups should shift to viral campaigns, measured funnels, earned PR and strategic partnerships. Both only work on top of a product that solves a painful problem, with positioning set before any money goes into acquisition. ## What should a founder fix before spending on marketing? Two things: the problem and the positioning. > The biggest problem that i see with web3 founders is that most people are trying to build a perfect product rather than solving a painful problem first!! > > [Shilika Jain on X, 27 Jul 2025](https://x.com/Shilika_jain/status/1949323355481341973) A perfect product for a mild inconvenience is hard to market, because nobody is looking for it. A rough product for a painful problem markets itself to the people who have that problem. Before a GTM plan, write down who is in pain, how they cope today and what it costs them. If you cannot answer in two sentences, the plan will not save you. Then decide how you want to be understood. > Before you even look to acquire users, work on positioning + increasing awareness! > > [Shilika Jain on X, 7 Dec 2022](https://x.com/Shilika_jain/status/1600501691329417216) Acquisition spend on top of unclear positioning buys visitors who do not know why they arrived. Positioning first means every later channel has a message to carry. ## What should an early-stage Web3 startup focus on? In August 2023 I [posted the split I use](https://x.com/Shilika_jain/status/1696202115914555517) between early-stage and mature startups. It still frames how I plan. | Early-stage startups | Mature startups | | --- | --- | | Quality partnerships | Viral marketing campaigns | | Brand building initiatives | Growth funnels, from ads to analytics | | Community building and growth | Comprehensive PR strategy through earned coverage | | Strategic paid press and content | Strategic partnerships and initiatives | | Influencer marketing | | The early-stage column has one thing in common: every item lets you borrow trust you have not earned yet. - **Quality partnerships.** A known partner vouches for you in front of their users. Two that bring real usage beat ten logo swaps. - **Brand building.** A clear name, look and message, so the few people who find you remember you. - **Community.** Your first hundred real users are your feedback loop and your first distribution channel. - **Strategic paid press and content.** At this stage you rarely have enough news for consistent earned coverage, so selective paid placements plus your own content keep you visible. The word that matters is strategic. My guide to [earned versus paid media](/playbook/earned-vs-paid-media-web3-2026) covers where paid makes sense and where it does not. - **Influencer marketing.** Reach into audiences you cannot yet reach yourself, chosen for fit, not follower count. ## What changes once the startup is mature? A mature startup has users, data and a track record, so the playbook moves from borrowing trust to compounding it. - **Viral campaigns** work now because there is a user base to carry them. - **Growth funnels, from ads to analytics**, make sense because you finally have enough volume to measure and improve each step. - **Earned PR** becomes the main media strategy. You have traction, customers and a point of view that reporters can verify. - **Strategic partnerships** shift from borrowing credibility to opening new markets and products. This stage runs on numbers, and that is where many teams are weakest. > Classic problem of web3 startups: don't understand CAC, LTV, turnover or other basic metrics! > > [Shilika Jain on X, 8 Dec 2022](https://x.com/Shilika_jain/status/1600724726149574656) If you do not know what a user costs and what a user is worth, you cannot tell a working channel from an expensive one. Web3 teams also have something most industries lack: public usage data. In January 2023 I wrote that growth and BD teams who can write SQL have a much better chance of analysing on-chain data to build effective marketing plans and valuable partnerships. I still think one analyst-minded person on the growth side pays for themselves quickly. For the full planning sequence, see my [crypto go-to-market strategy playbook](/playbook/crypto-go-to-market-strategy-2026). ## How do developer experience and user experience cut marketing cost? The cheapest marketing is a product people recommend without being asked. > If you want to build a great infra company/tech stack, focus on providing the best developer experience. Half of your user acquisition problems are already solved. If you're building a consumer app, focus on providing the best user experience. You'll cut down 50% on marketing costs. > > [Shilika Jain on X, 11 Jul 2023](https://x.com/Shilika_jain/status/1678730481762983936) Read those figures as a rule of thumb, not a measurement. The logic is simple. For infrastructure, your buyer is a developer, and developers choose tools on documentation, speed to first result and what their peers say. For consumer apps, every confusing step in onboarding is a user you paid to acquire and then lost. In May 2024 I shared a short list along the same lines: - Hire more customer service people than BD - Iterate the product as market needs change - Build strong messaging and positioning around what makes the product different - Publish enough educational material for users to succeed Support and education are not glamorous budget lines. They are what turns a first transaction into a second one, and retention is the number that makes every acquisition channel cheaper. ## Who should I hire to market a DeFi product? Someone who has worked in your part of DeFi, not only "in DeFi". Back in September 2023 I listed how wide the category is: payments, lending and borrowing, perpetuals, liquid staking, DEXes, synthetic assets, derivatives, RWAs, stablecoins and more. > DeFi is a niche but there are various niches in this broader niche! If you don't hire the close marketing fit, you just lose the opportunity to acquire potential users, partnerships and even brand credibility! > > [Shilika Jain on X, 20 Sep 2023](https://x.com/Shilika_jain/status/1704426005337932050) A marketer from a perps exchange knows traders, leverage and trading communities. That does not automatically transfer to an RWA platform, where the audience includes institutions and the conversation is about trust and compliance. When you interview, ask which users they have spoken to, which communities they know from the inside and which partners they could call tomorrow. The same test applies to any agency or [fractional CMO](/playbook/fractional-cmo-web3-2026) you bring in. My [DeFi protocol PR strategy](/playbook/defi-protocol-pr-strategy-2026) shows how the messaging changes by sub-sector. ## Is a bear market a good time to invest in marketing? For awareness, yes. > Cost of user acquisition in bear market for web3 products is low. Right time to build awareness, ramp up credibility and work on SEO. > > [Shilika Jain on X, 6 Dec 2022](https://x.com/Shilika_jain/status/1600120707278512128) When the market is quiet, fewer projects compete for the same attention, so sponsorships, creators and editorial space are easier to get. The three things I named there are slow assets: awareness, credibility and search visibility all take months to build, and they are in place when demand returns. Teams that wait for the bull market end up paying peak prices to start from zero. There is a full plan in my [bear market PR playbook](/playbook/web3-pr-bear-market-2026). This matters more each year, because building the product keeps getting easier while reaching people does not. > In 2026, distribution is infrastructure. > > [Shilika Jain on X, 15 May 2026](https://x.com/Shilika_jain/status/2055294002170335623) Treat distribution the way you treat your stack: something you design early, maintain constantly and never leave to the week before launch. ## Posts this piece is built on - [28 Aug 2023: Early stage startups should growth hack](https://x.com/Shilika_jain/status/1696202115914555517) - [27 Jul 2025: the biggest problem that i see with web3 founders](https://x.com/Shilika_jain/status/1949323355481341973) - [7 Dec 2022: before you even look to acquire users](https://x.com/Shilika_jain/status/1600501691329417216) - [8 Dec 2022: classic problem of web3 startups](https://x.com/Shilika_jain/status/1600724726149574656) - [25 Jan 2023: if the growth & BD teams knew how to write SQL](https://x.com/Shilika_jain/status/1618163344317505536) - [11 Jul 2023: if you want to build a great infra company](https://x.com/Shilika_jain/status/1678730481762983936) - [16 May 2024: hire more customer service exes than BD](https://x.com/Shilika_jain/status/1790968535675777027) - [20 Sep 2023: one of the biggest mistakes that folks do while hiring talent in DeFi](https://x.com/Shilika_jain/status/1704426005337932050) - [6 Dec 2022: cost of user acquisition in bear market](https://x.com/Shilika_jain/status/1600120707278512128) - [15 May 2026: In 2026, distribution is infrastructure](https://x.com/Shilika_jain/status/2055294002170335623) *Not sure which column your startup belongs in? [Send me your stage and your current channels](/contact) and I will tell you what I would cut and what I would add.* --- **Book a 30-min teardown with Shilika** - https://calendly.com/shilikajain/30min/ Canonical: https://www.shilikajain.com/blog/web3-gtm-basics-early-vs-mature-startups