Written by Bram Van Roelen, Head of Product at Maven11 Capital

Compiled by: Tia, Techub News

“How should startups balance product development and brand marketing at different stages? In the early stages, they should focus on building excellent products, and brand marketing should be gradually increased in the later stages to avoid relying on brand packaging too early.”

Every week, some startup hires expensive agencies to craft their “brand story.” But Aave has grown from a little thing that looked like a hackathon project to a major force in the DeFi lending market. This is no coincidence — it’s a pattern, and it’s one that most founders misunderstand.

Just look at Curve. While their interface is still one of the clunkiest in DeFi — it looks like a scientific calculator from the 90s — they’ve traded over $1.5 trillion. Today, they remain one of the most successful protocols in DeFi and are proof that if your product is good enough, users will overlook almost everything else.

Building vs. Selling

As a startup, your team is likely to be made up mostly of engineers. While they excel at building great products, they often lack the ability to translate those products into a vision that communicates a broader vision. A good example is that recently one of our great technical founders described his product using only adjectives such as "secure, fast, decentralized" without focusing on what these features actually bring. Anyone can say these things, and it's very difficult to differentiate from this perspective. Because you should focus on what your technology stack enables users to do, not what it is in itself. Doing so will allow more people to understand and resonate with it. This is a pure skills gap that can be completely avoided.

As mentioned before, founders tend to be highly technical engineers rather than skilled marketers. But I think that in the early stages of most projects, there is no need for exquisite marketing. Technical communication led by founders, although a bit rough, is usually more authentic and friendly than clichéd marketing language. Examples like @0xMert_ , @enzo_gte , and @mteamisloading , they just promote what they do in the market to accumulate influence. It's not that you have to be online all day like them, but some well-placed "nagging" can play a big role.

Conversely, projects that focus too much on packaging and too little on substance in the early stages often have trouble gaining traction and staying fueled (remember the campfire and fireworks analogy). The key is to focus on communicating the 5% of information that matters most to your users: what does this product do for me, how does it work, and why is it better than existing solutions?

Marketers hired early on often focus too much on superficial branding elements and vanity metrics (like number of followers on X) that don’t do much to actually gain market share and influence. That’s not to say these people are wrong. More often than not, you’re still early in the product and there’s nothing to market to. I recommend being lean on that front, but hiring a talented, motivated person to help drive the needle (like reminding the founders to market) and get everything ready for launch. It’s often hard to get real value out of hiring a brand agency or multiple early-product marketers because you don’t have anything to market to yet. Authentic, user-centric communication from the founders is often the most effective way to build trust and drive adoption.

Know your audience

It’s important to note that the recommendations in this article apply primarily to consumer-facing applications. Infrastructure and developer-facing projects may require different strategies.

For infrastructure projects, a strong narrative is needed from the outset. These projects operate in a highly competitive space, and winning the support of partners and investors is key. To raise significant funding, they need a compelling brand and marketing strategy that articulates their multi-year roadmap and vision. This narrative needs to remain active before the project goes live, and often needs to be maintained after launch to achieve continued success.

@movementlabsxyz and @berachain are infrastructure projects that have done a great job in brand communication and marketing. Their brand strategies are crucial in building trust and generating public enthusiasm for their projects.

Infrastructure and mature applications must gain attention, especially before TGE

Likewise, projects targeting developers are very dependent on the quality of their documentation and technical content. Poor documentation often leads to the failure of technically sound projects, limiting their adoption and growth. In this case, documentation itself is a form of marketing - it's just that it's targeted at developers rather than end users. Developer relations can be thought of as the developer version of traditional marketing.

While the 95/5 rule (95% product, 5% brand) generally holds true for early-stage Web3 applications, understand that there are situations where it doesn’t apply. By tailoring your brand strategy to your audience, you can more effectively build credibility, drive adoption, and ultimately achieve long-term success.

Stage 1: Product-led (95/5)

In the early stages of a project, the focus should be almost entirely on building a great product. This is the time to focus on developing a strong technical foundation, testing and refining core features, and collecting feedback from early users (especially UX feedback). Brand building and marketing, while not entirely irrelevant, should be secondary to product development.

The 95/5 rule suggests that 95% of your effort should be focused on your product, and only 5% can be spent on branding and marketing. This doesn’t mean to ignore branding completely, but to make sure your product is the star. Any effort on branding should be minimal and focused on clearly communicating what your product does and what it means. Create a strong identity that reflects how you want people to see you, and act accordingly.

Hyperliquid is a great example of this, especially in their early days. If you go back and look at their marketing and branding materials, you’ll notice that there were very few bells and whistles, and that every communication was delivered in the same manner. The product was all that mattered, with a focus on technology and user experience. Remarkably, their branding and communication style has barely changed to this day.

Phase 2: Market Validation (80/20)

As your product matures and begins to gain market acceptance, you can start to focus more on brand building and marketing. At this stage, you have validated that there is a market demand for what you make and are starting to see some organic growth. Now it’s time to start thinking about brand positioning and considering how you want to be viewed in the market.

The 80/20 rule suggests that 80% of your energy should still be focused on product development, and 20% can be spent on branding and marketing. At this point, you can develop a more refined visual identity, produce content that showcases your product’s value proposition, and begin building relationships with key influencers and partners in your industry.

Stage 3: Market Dominance (20/80)

When your product reaches market dominance, brand building and marketing become even more important. At this stage, you don’t just want to build brand awareness and lead generation, but to establish the brand as a thought leader and innovator in the industry. This requires a more comprehensive and strategic approach to brand marketing.

The 20/80 rule suggests that 20% of your efforts should be focused on product development, and 80% should be invested in brand building and marketing. This may include investing in high-end partnerships and sponsorships, developing a strong content marketing strategy, and creating a brand narrative that resonates with your target audience. The goal is to solidify market leadership and build a loyal community around the brand.

in conclusion

In our fast-moving industry, it’s natural to want to prioritize branding and marketing from the start. However, the most successful projects understand that product wins first, and branding follows later.

There is a clear evolutionary pattern that keeps emerging: in the early stages, focus on building a great product and, after gaining some market recognition, let the brand grow naturally. As the project matures, gradually invest more resources into branding and marketing.

The key to success is timing. Invest in branding too early and you risk over-promising and under-delivering; too late and you risk failing to stand out in an increasingly crowded market.

By staying focused on your product, staying connected to your users, and strategically adding brand building as you grow, you can build a lasting brand that stands out in our dynamic and evolving industry.