Prologue
Web 3.0 is slowly but surely capturing the hearts and minds of the companies. It goes far beyond the Internet and fully penetrates the real world. At the same time, new rules for the functioning of the web space are being formed. The transition to web 3.0 is not an easy task, it requires a revision of many established patterns. This is a move away from HTTP to a new decentralized track, and a change in infrastructure, and the transition of company management to DAO. Regular users also need time and knowledge to switch from Apps to dApps. Therefore, an increasing number of entrepreneurs and users need help to team up and manage the web3 infrastructure in order to bring their ideas and projects to market.
Speaking of startups, it is necessary to understand whether there are differences between web 2 and web 3 products? If we talk about web 2 products, then the Lean Startup approach is used in their development. It involves doing user analysis to identify target groups and only then building a product to meet their needs. Throughout its life cycle, the product is constantly adapted and adjusted based on user feedback. In contrast, web 3 products tend to have a limited user base, resulting in minimal feedback. In addition, many web 3 projects receive significant funding, which allows them to develop for a significant time without user feedback. This is a major problem for web 3 projects. To overcome this problem, it is very important to find a group of users and interview them. The main thing here is not to rely solely on an idea or an interesting problem in computer science itself. Practice shows that the most successful web 3 products are just answers to user requests, while remaining far from technologically advanced solutions.
Web 3 projects problems solvingÂÂ
So, the solution to the first problem of web 3 projects is the need for developers to focus on user problems, and not on computer science problems itself. As it turned out, there are a lot of smart people among web 3 specialists who understand the problems of computer science well, but only a few of them are ready to focus on the benefits of users and their needs. In addition, the web 3 audience is different from the web 2 audience, the marketing channels are completely different, and the web 3 in every organization has its own group of followers and it is very important to work closely with them to collect feedback.
Another issue is related to product managers, how deeply they understand the market and their competitors. While building software, the managers need to use their competitors’ software to understand their problems and be aware of project pitfalls in advance. In addition, practice shows that a very important indicator of success is the simplicity of the product. When developing something new in the web 3 space, it is extremely important to remain fairly conservative and try to stick to established software development processes. If the whole development process is approached experimentally, then this creates the preconditions for the appearance of various types of failures. Therefore, applying a conservative approach to software product development and marketing provides a high chance of success.
To confirm the above, as an example, we can cite attempts to solve one of the most serious problems – the problem of scalability. In 2016-2017, there were attempts to resolve it with the help of alternative solutions of the first level. This is how platforms appeared that were aimed at creating more advanced blockchains. But just Binance and Polygon became the winners,  because both of these platforms used a simple approach. They did not implement complex consensus algorithms and programming languages, they made everything very simple and gained the largest number of users, showing their attraction as opposed to platforms with very complex blockchains.
Afterword
Let’s summarize the effectiveness of methods for developing web 3 products. Along with the principles of simplicity, it is crucial to have a clear and complete vision of the task of any project. In addition, such a component as product research is important for developers. And if the developer neglects this aspect, then even the most impressive designs will be difficult to turn into a viable business. Developers can excel at writing beautiful code, but don`t have enough knowledge in areas such as business development, customer acquisition, and other related aspects. That is why the product research step is very important. It is possible to release a project, even if its security has not been fully investigated, and observe its use in open mode. More wasteful is the situation when the development is held in closed mode for several years, and after the release, its inability to solve the problem is discovered. In a web 3 space where there are relatively few real users, it’s important to build something and show it off right away. Of course, in this case, it is necessary to have a clear action plan to improve security and decentralization. This is one part of product research. Another component is a thorough analysis of your competitors. Many web 3 products are open source, so you can dive into it and study the problems that arise. Thus, you can learn from the experience of competitors and anticipate potential problems in your product.
