AI Agent Project Startup Guide: Start Early and Build Publicly

Original text: ehwangah; Translated by: Yuliya, PANews

First of all, in the field of encryption, market capitalization is the core indicator of success. Technological innovation, core value capture, product market fit (PMF), etc. are all important, but the real sign that you have brought several times the return to the team, investors, and holders is whether your market value can soar. So how to achieve it?

Start immediately, build and display publicly > Don't dwell too much on the details of the launch or postpone it again and again.

Don't be too nervous, the launch only accounts for 10%-20% of your long-term success. Don't make it complicated. Here is a brief summary:

• Launch hype but lack of substance: skyrocketing and plummeting

• Launch low-key but lack of substance: direct abortion

• Launch hype but lack of substance: take off and rush to the peak

• Launch low-key and with substance support: steady growth

Do you see the pattern? The key is to create substance (we will discuss how to create substance in detail later, in short, team, product, community). A simple test standard is: are your friends willing to buy, hold and believe in your project. If they don't trust it, others won't believe it either.

Why is it best to start early?

1. Validate your idea before investing more than $100,000 in development

Instead of spending 3 months or more and hundreds of thousands of dollars to polish your product, launching early can help you validate your concept. Similar to the Lean Startup approach, you first propose a proposal, stimulate the interest of target users, and then iterate and build it. You may think this approach is unconventional, but it can help you cultivate the first 1,000 true believers, who will become the catalyst for the growth of the project, whether in terms of network, resources or price.

The key is: validate the idea first, don't wait until it takes a lot of time and cost to validate it.

2. Establish a leading position and use the Lindy effect

Do you know why the top 50 projects can still maintain their leading position in the cycle? It's not just quality, but also the advantages of time and position, that is, the Lindy effect. Launch early, your community of coin holders is stronger, and you can gradually eliminate uncommitted users and attract loyal fans. Time is your ally.

Wait too long, and inferior projects may take your place. Once someone takes your narrative, funding, or attention, it’s very hard to get it back. In the PVP competition on X (Twitter), it’s hard to get people who are already “in” to switch to other projects.

In the current AI agent craze, being the first to launch is not only a bonus, but also a decisive factor. Everyone is rushing to launch AI agents. Joining the race as early as possible gives you an advantage in the ecosystem, while others can only catch up.

Whether we like it or not, launching projects in the crypto market involves an “attention game”. Product-driven growth is important, but that’s another story. It’s crucial to attract attention and build a community first, and tokens are the best distribution and interest binding tools.

Projects that choose to launch on the Virtuals ecosystem often gain a competitive advantage. The overall culture of the ecosystem is marked by high quality, and in the long run, capital tends to flow to high-quality projects.

3. Immediate Community and Distribution Effect

Launching a project will spark heated discussions, and people on X (Twitter) will start discussing your project and summarize "3 Reasons to Buy/Hold". This discussion is very valuable - not only because of the price increase, but also because it brings the community together. This group of people can help you iterate your product, test new features, and even contribute development resources. On the first day of launch, you will have a group of loyal users.

4. You can get ahead of the large number of VC-backed token projects in 2025

Many projects postponed their launch during the bear market in 2024, believing that low market sentiment caused by low liquidity and risk aversion was not suitable for launch. By 2025, you will see more projects launching, following a typical route:

• Raise a large amount of money from VCs;

• Polish the product, then carry out marketing activities (points, tasks, KOL cooperation, etc.);

• Follow up with a token generation event (TGE).

What are your advantages? Fair launch, decentralized spirit, and natural community growth. The market dynamics have shifted and are now more favorable to you.

What if you build the product first?

A solid product does bring competitive advantage, but it is not the only determining factor. As an early project, the crypto market itself is also in its early stages, and whether the team's background can continue to create value is crucial. To be honest, if the crypto market is completely practical and product-oriented, then "air coins" will not attract a lot of buying.

I am not advocating the launch of "air projects", but launching as early as possible can win you a competitive advantage in community building and narrative shaping.

Product launches are never perfect, there will always be bugs, high server load, concurrency issues, etc. Don't overemphasize these issues, as the product will eventually prove itself with updates and iterations.

Public builds, record the journey

People like to see how a team creates value from scratch. Stories are important, and people are more willing to support founders with flesh and blood rather than cold brands. Public builds make projects more approachable and humane.

You don't need to have a perfect brand image on day one, start early and start with the initial draft. Grow in public builds. It is recommended to study the successful experiences of the top 20 projects in the Virtuals ecosystem.