By Keegan (Originally published on June 30, 2025)

Preface

In my previous article, "I decided to upgrade from 'writing tutorials' to 'doing projects'", I reviewed the technical content I had produced in the past few years and clarified the next direction: no longer focusing only on "explaining the technology clearly", but hoping to use the perspective of a Builder to, on the one hand, review the projects I have done in the past, and on the other hand, record the process of the new projects I will try next - not only talking about "how to write technology", but also "how things are done, or not done".

This time, I want to start my review from my earliest Web3 startup in 2018. That was my first time working full-time on an on-chain project as a Builder.

It was an experience filled with hope, yet ultimately disappointing. From the peak of the bull market to the onset of the bear market, from high team morale to a broken funding chain and the disbanding of the project. Although ultimately unsuccessful, it allowed me to truly stand at the heart of Web3 for the first time.

This article is a recap of that entrepreneurial experience. It marks the beginning of my project-driven content output and also serves as a valuable reference for those of you embarking on the Web3 Builder journey.

starting point

The starting point of this experience was a recommendation from a friend.

In the first half of 2018, a friend from Dark Horse—whom I had met at an offline tech presentation—contacted me. At the time, I was still in Guangzhou, and he was in Shenzhen. He said he was working on a decentralized exchange (DEX) project, developing a DApp based on the Loopring protocol, and wanted to recommend me to discuss potential collaboration.

What attracted me to this project was not just the "blockchain" label. What really moved me was that it highly overlapped with the three areas I was focusing on at the time:

• First, the direction is DEX, which is one of the core tracks of blockchain;
• Second, the underlying protocol used was the Loopring protocol, which was considered an advanced DEX technology solution at the time.
• Third, they wanted to find a technical leader who understood mobile development, was familiar with product implementation logic, and had full-stack App capabilities - this was exactly my ability profile at the time.

By then, I had already made up my mind to invest in Web3 and was looking for the right entry point. This project came at the right time, giving me a feeling that "the time has come."

So I took advantage of the weekend to go from Guangzhou to Shenzhen to meet the initiator of this project.

The founder, a post-90s generation, previously worked as an Android developer. Having made a killing in cryptocurrency trading, he began planning his own blockchain project. He was very optimistic about Loopring, participated in its early token offerings, and holds a significant number of tokens, becoming a die-hard fan. Consequently, he wanted to create a DApp based on the Loopring protocol, even giving it a similar name: Loois.

Overall, I had a good impression of him: he was down-to-earth, driven, and courageous. While he lacked management experience and a product background, those were exactly the areas I could fill in.

In addition, it was a bull market at the time and the company had a profitable business line, so it did not need financing for the time being and had no financial pressure.

At that moment, I felt: the direction was right, the people were reliable, and the gap was exactly what I could fill. I was willing to give it a try and see if this idea could actually be implemented.

We talked for a whole day, and finally I decided to join, participate in the project as CTO, and become a partner by investing in technology.

Building a team

After officially joining, I didn’t give myself too much transition period, but quickly took on the role of CTO and started building the product and technical team.

Before this project, I've led several small R&D teams and participated in the entire process of building systems from scratch. The challenge this time was not only starting from scratch, but also exploring product implementation in a completely new field—Web3. The timeline was tight, the task was overwhelming, and there was little room for trial and error.

I spent a week establishing the basic technical direction and architecture, while also starting to recruit and build a team. Back then, remote work wasn't yet commonplace, and physical office work was the absolute norm. To minimize commuting time, I rented an apartment in a residential complex across from my office and brought my family and children over from Guangzhou. This virtually zero-commuting experience allowed me to fully dedicate myself to the project.

When forming the team, I was fully aware of the tight timeline and the need to quickly build an efficient and well-coordinated technical team. The core members were mainly from three aspects:

• Most of them are excellent subordinates I have led before. They are familiar with my management and working methods and can quickly get into the state;
• Others are excellent colleagues I have worked with before, with rich experience and abilities;
• In addition, I have also selected some outstanding talents from my official account fans, hoping that they will bring fresh perspectives and vitality.

With these channels, I can quickly identify trustworthy and capable team backbones to ensure team quality and execution.

My strategy for building a company has three key elements:

• First, quickly identify the core backbone to ensure the stability of the team foundation;
• Second, precise role matching and division of labor: key positions such as product manager, mobile terminal, front-end, back-end, smart contract development, and testing should be clearly defined according to project requirements, and responsibilities should be reasonably allocated;
• Third, create an efficient collaboration process, promote flat communication and agile development, use project management tools to track tasks, and ensure information transparency and rapid feedback.

Through these methods, we built a team of over 20 people in a remarkably short time, covering key positions such as product management, UI design, mobile development, front-end development, back-end development, smart contract development, testing, and operations and maintenance. This speed is still very fast in today's startup environment.

The team is highly capable and driven. From day one, we established a clear collaborative rhythm: I spearheaded the product direction, the R&D process was modularized, and project management was tracked using tower.im. We synchronized weekly, with a flat communication structure throughout the day.

What satisfies me most is that although the team was formed not long ago, it has strong execution capabilities and extremely low running-in costs.

Under such circumstances, it only took us one and a half months to complete the development and launch of the first version of Loois.

Looking back, this was the stage with the fastest pace and the best atmosphere of the entire project.

Highlight moments

When Loois officially launched, we held a small press conference, inviting a few friends and media. Although small, over 200 people attended, nearly filling the venue. We also simultaneously launched a livestream, which saw over 10,000 viewers online, a significant level of popularity for a blockchain project at the time.

As CTO, I took the stage and gave a comprehensive presentation covering everything from technical solutions, product positioning, protocol selection, and the future roadmap. That was my first official appearance as a Builder in a Web3 project.

To more systematically explain our vision and mechanisms, I personally authored a white paper for the project, covering Loois's business architecture, business model, economic model, and future development plans. At the time, we had ambitious plans: integrating not only with Loopring but also with multiple protocols like 0x and R1, and enabling cross-chain transactions. Our goal was to become a decentralized transaction aggregator—very similar to the aggregated transaction experience offered by the OKX Web3 wallet today.

But while the hype may be pie in the sky, our product iteration speed and quality are truly on point. The team maintains a bi-weekly iteration cadence, releasing progress updates every two weeks to ensure the community can continuously see the project's evolution. Loois's user interface and interactive experience stood out among similar products at the time, earning high praise from many early users.

After seeing our product, the Loopring team expressed their approval and invited us to participate in their 2018 Digital Economy Summit as an ecosystem partner, giving us greater industry exposure. Later, they also made a small investment in our project tokens. While the amount was small, it provided both financial support and official endorsement from the upstream protocol.

Since then, I have been invited to participate in several industry salons and private board meetings, and started to get in touch with more blockchain venture capitalists, which also expanded some early connections in the Web3 circle.

The investor who impressed me most was Jiang Haibing, known within the industry as "Old Naughty Boy." He was Alipay's second employee and later founded Duoniu Capital in 2014, focusing on early-stage investments in the blockchain sector. We met with him several times, and he expressed strong interest in Loois. Although we ultimately didn't secure an investment, those discussions were incredibly beneficial and gave us a deeper understanding of how to present a project in fundraising.

This phase is when the project is most promising and the team is most confident. Although the shadow of a bear market has already loomed, we still believe that as long as we build a product, financing and growth are only a matter of time.

But soon, we will have to face the backlash of reality.

The backlash of reality

For a while after the launch, team morale was high, product progress was smooth, user feedback was positive, and ecosystem collaboration and media attention were gradually increasing. From the outside, everything seemed to be "on the rise."

But what we didn't realize was that it was actually at the critical point of a downward cycle.

Although Loois's product is now live and offers a superior experience compared to many similar products, the market is gradually cooling. The 2018 bear market is quietly approaching—on-chain enthusiasm is fading, and investor enthusiasm is also rapidly cooling.

We weren't initially anxious. After all, the company had other profitable business lines, cash in hand, and the product had launched, generating positive feedback. Everyone believed, "As long as we keep developing this product, fundraising and growth are only a matter of time."

But soon, reality began to tear apart our self-confidence bit by bit.

The business line that was originally profitable suddenly "bleeds"

The business line that supported the company's cash flow quickly cooled during the initial bear market, leading to a steady loss of customers and a sharp decline in revenue. Our Loois team's salaries were dependent on the overall company structure. In other words, our salaries weren't funded by the Loois project itself, but rather by other businesses.

Once the blood transfusion capacity weakens, the pressure is immediately transmitted to us.

Financing is hindered: the ideal is full, but the market is getting colder and colder

At that time, we officially started the fundraising process and began to pitch our product to the public. But reality soon hit us hard.

Many investors still lack confidence in the DEX track and have limited knowledge of the Loopring protocol. Although our product is online, the number of users is still small and the data is not yet convincing. The backgrounds of team members do not carry the halo of "serial entrepreneurs" or "star technical teams."

What’s worse, the entire industry is entering a “capital winter” and investors are becoming extremely cautious. Projects must be highly certain and anti-cyclical to be favored.

After several rounds of roadshows, we received very similar rejection reasons: "The project is good, but we dare not invest now."

Internal concerns: invisible money, visible anxiety

Funds were becoming increasingly scarce, and everyone was starting to get anxious. Some of the team members I brought over from Guangzhou had initially been treating this as a long-term endeavor. Initially, we could comfort ourselves with the thought that "funding is almost here," but gradually, even I began to doubt that statement.

The founder also seemed overwhelmed. The wealth he had accumulated early on through cryptocurrency trading had been drastically reduced by the sharp drop in prices. Under pressure, he began to grow impatient, and internal communication became increasingly chaotic.

The most typical symptom is: we are still working hard to write code and do optimization, but no one can answer the question "Can we still get paid next month?"

It feels like you are driving a good car with good performance, the accelerator is pressed firmly, and the direction is correct - but you don’t know if there is a gas station ahead.

Things did not collapse suddenly at a certain moment, but slid quietly and step by step into a state of disarray.

First, funds were tight and salary payments were delayed; then, team members quietly updated their resumes and looked for opportunities; later, communication became difficult, decision-making was delayed, and team morale visibly declined.

We tried to persevere, continuing to polish our products and look for funding, but at a certain point, we all knew in our hearts: this car really had run out of gas.

From the superficial highlights to the backlash of reality, and then to the real realization that you are in a quagmire - this is the power of a bear market. It will not destroy you overnight, but like a tide, it will swallow up your confidence, resources and endurance bit by bit.

This is the cruel reality that many Web3 entrepreneurs will experience: they don’t die due to technical difficulties, but are defeated by cycles and confidence.

Ultimately, we announced that the Loois project was discontinued and the team was disbanded.

Fortunately, a partner was preparing a centralized exchange (CEX) at the time. They highly recognized our team’s execution and collaborative work, and took the initiative to invite us to participate in the construction of its core system.

Although there is some idealistic gap in the transition from DEX to CEX, we all know that at that stage, staying in the industry and doing something practical is more important than anything else.

I accepted the job and started my new Builder journey.

Gains and reflections

This failure experience brought me not only lessons, but also many irreplaceable accumulations and precipitations.

First, I began to build my network of connections within the Web3 community. This is crucial in an emerging industry. I began to connect with some core Builder friends, and these connections proved useful repeatedly in various subsequent situations:

• Information exchange and sharing helped me quickly expand my industry horizons;
• When recruiting talent, you can find trustworthy recommendations from within the industry;
• When you want to find a new job or cooperation opportunity, you can also directly find internal referral channels.

Secondly, it was a leap in professional capabilities. During that time, I not only improved my Golang and Solidity skills, but also began to understand how to write white papers and design economic models. More importantly, I was truly involved in connecting "on-chain products" with "business logic" for the first time.

For the first time, I had the opportunity to participate in industry events as a Builder, interact with experienced entrepreneurs and investors, and learn firsthand how they understand trends, assess risks, and judge timing. This experience rapidly broadened my business perspective.

Finally, I gained a true understanding of the industry ecosystem. I gradually began to see the Web3 community from both its surface and its depths: the blockchain and cryptocurrency worlds, the hype and speculation, ICOs, speculative tokens, and pyramid schemes—especially in Shenzhen, where the entire ecosystem was far more chaotic than I had imagined. Web3 possesses strong financial attributes, and during periods of rapid growth and decline, it attracts both true builders and those seeking to profit from it. This is the reality of the industry that must be faced.