Crypto Founders Are Stuck in a Cycle: Here’s How They Can Break Out

At ETHDenver 2025, Supermoon Ventures Co-Founder Elena Obukhova took the stage to address one of the biggest issues in Web3: founders are building for hype, not solving real problems.

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Speaking in a fireside chat, Elena criticized the industry’s focus on short-term gains, token launches, and hype-driven trends over sustainable, scalable businesses. “More and more projects are getting stuck in Web3, not realizing there’s a bigger market. We talk about innovation, but most of the time, we’re just moving money in circles.”

Many founders, she noted, pivot to AI or DeAI without a clear purpose, chasing funding instead of real product-market fit. “If you ask them why they’re adding AI, they don’t have an answer. They just know investors are throwing money at it.”

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She advised startups to launch early, get traction, and focus on go-to-market strategy before scaling. “You don’t need a perfect product—just launch and see if people want it. Otherwise, you’re building blindly.” Without this, founders risk creating a product that doesn’t fit the market. “So many founders prioritize building the product but have no idea how to bring it to market. No matter how good your product is, if you don’t know how to sell it, it won’t survive.”

Investors, she warned, look for founders who understand revenue, not just tokens. “When someone says their business model is ‘launching a token,’ that’s a red flag. Tokens aren’t revenue.” Yet, many VCs actively encourage this model because it serves their own short-term interests. “In crypto, we’re seeing less and less belief in equity deals. Some VCs tell me, ‘We don’t make money from equity—we only do tokens.’ We’re turning the industry into one big Ponzi scheme.”

Instead of supporting long-term value creation, many VCs have begun to push for token launches as fast liquidity events, exiting their positions once tokens pump. “We’ve built a system where both investors and founders chase fast money. Founders hit their payday in two years and stop building. Investors exit after the token pumps. Nobody’s thinking beyond that.” This cycle rewards hype, but in the end, projects collapse, users get burned, and the industry suffers.

Founders often fall into this short-term mindset, pivoting their projects toward whatever is trending—AI, DeFi, DAOs—without a clear reason. “Founders see what’s trending and pivot their projects to fit. But when you ask them why, they have no answer. It’s all about chasing the money, not solving real problems.” Without a long-term product vision, these startups are doomed to fade when the hype does.

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The cycle will only break when founders stop chasing trends and start building solutions with real-world value and markets. The projects that last won’t be the ones following the hype—they’ll be the ones solving real problems, both now and in the future.

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