The Nostr experiment will teach us that:

1. Entrepreneurship is HARD. Beware survivorship bias.
2. VC money doesn't guarantee success. It just means you have more to burn through.
3. You have to cultivate a brand to rally support
4. You HAVE to charge. Free only amounts to more free. Paying = signal. That's not to say that you can't have some free, but someone has to pay and signal for desired features.
5. You HAVE to do marketing. Build it and they will come is a fallacy. Only works on rare occasions when you build something truly spectacular. Ideal marketing split is AT MINIMUM 50/50 build/hustle to get the word out.
6. People lie. They say one thing but do another. Back to payment = signal.
7. What developer values ≠ what users value
8. Building something truly unique can work against you because new concepts are harder to explain. Familiar = less selling required.

Did I miss anything?


ser, i've sent you a DM, my project addresses this, and you'd likely be interested.


This sounds accurate, I would add one last thing, the more you push, the more probability of success you have.

To end with something positive :)

That’s why startups work 12 hours a day, and even at night while others sleep to get things done at the last minute, it takes dedication and a touch of insanity to create something truly unique, there is no easy way.

Large corporations can burn shitloads of money, and get pretty much nowhere, where in comparison startups could run circles around them, it’s not always about capital and resources, because a lot depends how you spend, and who you give it to.

My perception of Nostr (for the little I’ve been around) is that the devs are legends, but the communication, marketing, and education parts are a little weak, nothing that can’t be fixed.


- Don't focus on the masses. They're, by definition, the last to see the value prop. Focus on the early adopters and make things absolutely awesome for them.


Totally. Yes, very fixable 💪


9. Maintain your health during the journey. A fortune in your 50s is useless when you have cancer.
10. There is zero certainty that you will succeed. All eggs in one basket winner takes it all mentality is BS (in my oppinion). Just because someone else hit big does not mean you will succeed. Learn survivorship bias. Have a plan B at any times.


This is a tricky one in our case. Usually absolutely right. Building for everyone = building for no one. As they say ☺

With social and bitcoin involved (which tends or have poor reputation with normies), we also have that to worry about. Making an excellent bitcoiner social will only go so far. We need to think inclusivity and how to make it about nostr and not necessarily about bitcoin, without alienating the bitcoiners.


Had to think of the recent Proton interview on The Linux Experiment. I think you covered it all. ^^

A free protocol is one thing, but a "free" app or software is another - let alone a whole platform.


Making an excellent bitcoiner social will only go so far because it's to LARGE of a niche, not because it doesn't include the normie bitcoin skeptics.

I want to see/build nostr apps that 100% focus on Male Christian Bitcoiners and others that 100% focus on content for Unschooled 5-7 year old girls.


Those sound like interesting clients. Going to design some?


The idea of an Unschooling Nostr App has been haunting me for the last few days.
So I just might, yes 😜.


Truth


One option is to keep the base experience free, with certain features included in a subscription model. If balanced properly it allows for both open use and funding.

The main hurdle is user adoption. Only a small percentage of a user base will pay a monthly fee.


Ah yes, nobody is paying for X.


Oh please yes!


Have fire in the belly


Entrepreneurship has jumped the shark and has very little place in an advanced plantary society. Y'all ain't the ones.


Ok comrade


Saving and waiting out business cycles is a forgotten skill. Know your “BATNA” … know your company’s “BATNA”


Thank you for your effort of informing folks 💜
Never thought much about 6 myself but it's true 🤔


i need more of your long-form articles 👉👈💜

karnage magazine wen, or a collection of short essays


Confirmed. The only point that I can add from experience is to find partners or co-founders that are aligned with you. They need to share the same passion, drive, and moral compass or all of your hard work will be in vein.


Arguably, that’s the hardest part of them all. Finding a cofounder who won’t burn you.


Confirmed again. I was burned in the past and will forever be gun shy for the future.


Also speaking from experience, this is very true. Shared passion and product timing were core to success at the time.


(And yes, I didn’t walk away with the millions, so also burnt). Live and learn.


The Nostr experiment will teach us that:

1. Entrepreneurship is HARD. Beware survivorship bias.
2. VC money doesn't guarantee success. It just means you have more to burn through.
3. You have to cultivate a brand to rally support
4. You HAVE to charge. Free only amounts to more free. Paying = signal. That's not to say that you can't have some free, but someone has to pay and signal for desired features.
5. You HAVE to do marketing. Build it and they will come is a fallacy. Only works on rare occasions when you build something truly spectacular. Ideal marketing split is AT MINIMUM 50/50 build/hustle to get the word out.
6. People lie. They say one thing but do another. Back to payment = signal.
7. What developer values ≠ what users value
8. Building something truly unique can work against you because new concepts are harder to explain. Familiar = less selling required.

Did I miss anything?


nostr:note1eycwjdw2j7tma4lenhwjmcnev2k48fw604a9yj3gasv06g7e8aus5cseva

This is fantastic.

You should do a long-form of this with indepth points on each one.

Then charge sats for it 😉


awesome nostr learnings

awesome nostr learnings


Number 7 is the only one that matters, thats is what will kill nostr and its ethos..  Few users are  gonna pay to move to nostr  when they can pay to stay on twitter with the same problems.  Its impossible to tell any  nostrdev this because their job (or their billionaire CEO wannabe complex) depends upon their not understanding it.


Agree, bitcoin enthusiasts are ruining the Nostr ethos.  Its rare to here a Nostr dev mention he word nostr more than the word bitcoin in he same sentence


The vast (VAST) majority are not.  Of course a minority will pay for nostr, but thats not a popular social network.  Its a niche small network that will be largely as useless as it is unwanted and uneeded..


agree, I won't pay musk, and I sure as hell aint paying randos to use their relays or clients on an obscure network that doesn't offer the thing that currently sets it apart from twitter premium: payments.


Payment is tied to identity, meta data at the mimimum.  People don't want that.  They want privacy and control. If nostr takes that route users might as well stick with twitter and hand over their cash to elon.


When the base experience is free there is no need to pay. I don't pay for twitter, yet some choose to pay for additional features.


people may just come for the sats although btc supported by Twitter also but not so ingrained in the culture.

https://m.primal.net/HWCr.jpg