Welcome fellow investooors! It’s crypto time so let’s dive right in. To access more content find us here on Twitter. Enjoy!
In today's edition of the newsletter, we’re stepping away from market events to delve into something entirely different. This isn't about short-term gains, but rather about a game that, if approached seriously, promises long-term returns on your invested efforts that you never even dreamed of.
How to Build Your Network
Many market players are strong-willed individuals who initially value their independence. When we first venture into the markets, it feels like we can achieve anything on our own. However, as we develop our skills and broaden our understanding, we realize we lack the time and mental energy to keep up with everything. We start chasing too many trends, losing sight of our original goals, and our performance suffers over weeks and months. Eventually, our once-sharp skills and knowledge lead to worse market outcomes than those achieved by beginners who know next to nothing.
How does this happen?
The key is focusing on our strengths, but as we grow, we often try to grab too many opportunities, unable to overcome the ubiquitous FOMO that hits us every time we open Twitter or Telegram. There are ways to manage this, and while the lone wolf approach focused solely on market advantages is one option, today I want to share a different strategy that often proves to be a better long-term choice.
In Search of Ambitious Souls
Let's start with a quote from Paul Graham, who brilliantly summarized why ambitious people need each other to achieve far greater things than they could alone.
"Ambitious people are rare, so if they are randomly mixed, as they usually are in the early years of life, they won’t have many equally ambitious peers. However, when you gather such individuals and connect them with other ambitious people, they thrive like plants that have long needed water."
So, who is Paul Graham and why should we heed his words? Let’s consult the latest version of ChatGPT.
"Paul Graham is an American programmer, entrepreneur, and essayist, born on November 13, 1964. He co-founded Viaweb, the first online store, which Yahoo! bought and turned into Yahoo! Store. His greatest achievement, however, is co-founding Y Combinator, an incubator that birthed giants like Dropbox, Airbnb, and Reddit.
Graham is not just an entrepreneur but also a writer whose essays on technology and startups are must-reads for any young innovator. With humor and insight, he describes the worlds of programming and entrepreneurship, inspiring future generations of creators. He also created the Lisp programming language, making him a true wizard of code.
Paul Graham is a figure who not only keeps up with technological trends but often sets them. His work and influence are foundational to the modern startup ecosystem, and his impact on the tech industry is immeasurable."
If you haven't yet read Paul Graham's essays, I highly recommend you do so when you have some free time. They are quite lengthy but definitely thought-provoking—a solid endorsement.
Here's a link for those interested: https://www.paulgraham.com/articles.html
We now know why ambitious people achieve exponentially better results when working with other equally ambitious individuals. But we’re not talking about building a business; we’re discussing market play. Do these principles still apply?
In my view, they are even more relevant in the crypto market, a promised land for individualists who value an environment where the only limits are how much effort you put into your development. Add to this the rapidly evolving crypto world, where the hottest trends can change weekly, and the constant technological advancement that makes it impossible to keep up with all the information. Even the most ambitious individuals will always be behind, always exhausted, and the harder they try to keep up in many areas, the worse their results.
However, when we gather several equally ambitious individuals who specialize in different niches and have unique market advantages through their skills, knowledge, or other factors, we create a small team capable of agile navigation in crypto, making swift and adaptive decisions. This results in an incredible boost in both understanding crypto and the profits we can derive from it. But how do we find such people and encourage them to collaborate?So, to answer the main question of this section, I'd say the peak is still ahead of us. Considering Bitcoin's cyclical nature, what we’re seeing now feels more like 2020 than 2021. If I had to guess when we'll see the cycle peak, I’d say around Q2 2025. There’s still time to play the game. ; )
How to Build Your Network
The first and most important rule of building a network is having knowledge and skills seen as added value by the other party. In other words, every relationship is built like any other business—on the principle of "value for value," where both parties gain what they expect, and neither is disadvantaged. Remember, though, that "value" here does not only mean suggesting the best plays but extends much deeper to encompass the broad knowledge and skills of the other person.
One of the best ways to build a valuable network is to take the initiative. This can be through spending time in networking zones at conferences, sending private messages, publishing valuable content, or sharing such content. However, never, ever expect anything in return when you decide to share something because you never know if what you shared has any value to the other party.
When a child offers an adult a trinket, expecting something valuable in return, it cannot be said that this is a fair exchange.
So start by building a portfolio that showcases your skills and knowledge and forms a solid foundation to claim you know quite a bit about a particular topic, niche, technology, or market. Then share it with others, either by publicly sharing materials or through private messages.
Aim to offer value and connect people. Be an added value in every relationship and offer others the chance to expand their horizons and networks with people you have contacts with who might be interested in collaboration or information exchange.
Be proactive but remain humble. That's the best advice I can give you.
Real-Life Examples
What interests you most is what kind of information you can gain by being proactive, making connections, and joining various closed groups. Let me share some examples from my personal history of conversations to illustrate what kind of market knowledge and information you can gain.
The truth is, the more you offer, the more you receive in return. Now, let's look at a few examples.
Let's start with the basics—how much you can learn about market operations from people who have spent much more time in it than you. It's not just about connections between people, funds, or projects but about certain subtle plays each side can make to its advantage. The market is a place where big players form friendships but also a place where everyone fights for every dollar against people as clever as you.
Connections with people deeply embedded in the crypto world also offer an incredibly deep insight into the relationships of various entities and projects that might decide to collaborate unofficially. There’s also information on who might already be involved in a project and what to expect regarding valuations in the near future. For instance, there are groups like the so-called Sisyphus Airlines, closely tied to Sisyphus, who aggressively promotes and quickly sells off tokens regardless of the impact on his community.
On the flip side, you can also access historical data on the affiliations of certain individuals, such as who was a member of which group, who is closely linked with specific people, etc. This provides a great opportunity to build your list of people to follow and keep track of those worth watching.
And of course, token alphas ahead of the market, allowing for the next x10 catches. But it’s not that simple because among those x10 or even x100, you’ll encounter numerous projects that will go to zero for reasons you sometimes wouldn’t even consider. So while you might find information like "just buy PEPE," which was sent in early January 2024, nearly two months before $PEPE's crazy rally, you'll also find many recommendations for projects that didn't pan out. These projects turned out to be heavily botted and rug-pulled, or the devs decided to run off with liquidity when the project started gaining traction.
However, alphas aren’t just direct project recommendations; they’re also access to a wealth of knowledge from people from various backgrounds, often unrelated to crypto. These individuals can not only shed new light on how you view a project but also advise you on more mundane matters related to their education or professional experience, such as interpreting various regulatory complexities by someone who deals with law daily.
In building your network of valuable connections, you'll also meet people with incredible stories of reaching very high levels. The most interesting part is that each of these stories will be drastically different from anything you’ve heard before.
And finally, a slightly humorous take on which teams to long and which to avoid right from the start. :)
A Few Closing Words
A great summary might be a paraphrase of a certain quote saying that if you want to move quickly and nimbly, it's best to move alone, but if you want to go much further, you need to find the right group of people. The same applies to markets, where we currently deal with such diverse niches and trends that we cannot profit unless we focus on one niche and master it to perfection. So, focus on your edge and offer it to others, and you'll quickly build your group of valuable individuals who will mutually fill in gaps and strengthen existing advantages.
That’s all for today, thank you all for reading this week’s Deep Dive and see you in two weeks time! To access more content find us here on Twitter. See you there!
~ ModernEremite & Crypto o’Clock Team
This newsletter is provided for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. It is not intended as a solicitation to buy or sell any assets, and readers are strongly advised to conduct their own research and seek independent financial advice before making any investment decisions. The authors and publishers disclaim any liability for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of the information contained herein.