Lots of web3 projects need anywhere from 1-3 years of development, which is why the dilemma arises. If you decide to focus on users it means you have to finish the product first, which can take a really long time. However, creating a community and possibly launching a token, fungible or not, is a way to start building momentum as you’re busy building.

There won’t be answer here that applies to every project, but having thought about it my conclusion is that building community and launching a token early is likely to be a smart move.

It’s typically easier and cheaper to attract retail investor attention than users for your product. This means you can build up a community and get the word out there so by the time you launch, you’re not doing so into the empty darkness.

Also, by not launching some kind of token you’re missing out on all the bull run mania that we typically see every 4 years. I know projects that missed out on 2 bull runs while they were busy building, and ended up launching right into the bull market with very little project awareness.

By acquiring the attention of a large group of retail investors, who as we’ve discussed, have aligned incentives with your project, you have an army of evangelists out there spreading the good word about your project. Users of your project do not inherently have aligned incentives in that same way, which means they might use your product but not be incentivized to tell others about it.

And that ladies and gents, is it.