Aave started in 2017 as “ETHLend,” a peer-to-peer lending platform, but faced problems like user onboarding difficulties, poor UX, and lack of liquidity. In 2018, they pivoted and rebranded to Aave, becoming a leading DeFi protocol with a $1.9 billion market cap for $AAVE.
Here’s how they used Web3 values to succeed:
Tap into Community as a Resource: Drive Problem Awareness, Product Innovation and Growth
By listening to the community and fixing their problems, Aave created new features like flash loans and multi-collateral support. Flash loans, made because the community wanted more efficient ways to use capital, helped build a loyal group of users who cared about Aave’s success.
Building product is all about focusing on your users and solving their problems. Engaging with your community helps you create solutions they actually need.
☑️ Use social media, Discord, forums, and surveys to connect with your community and understand their goals and challenges.
💡Build with purpose, create value for users and you will be rewarded.
Share Value, Share Success: Distribute Tokens and Utility
By letting the community help make product decisions and giving out AAVE tokens, Aave built trust and shared ownership. This led to fast growth and new features. Ideas from the community helped make Aave better, increasing the amount of money in the system (TVL) and bringing in more users. Features like staking helped align everyone’s interests for long-term success.
Offering benefits to token holders can lead to more community-driven growth and innovation.
☑️ Let the community suggest and vote on changes. Offer special access or discounts to token holders.
💡 Getting tokenomics and incentives right can catapult your company to success
Questions to Think About
- How can you involve your community in product development decisions?
- What mechanisms can you implement to reward active community participation?
- How might you structure your token distribution to align community interests with your project’s success?
- What channels will you use to gather and act on community feedback?
- How can you make your governance process more accessible to a wider range of community members?
Aave’s success shows the power of community in the Web3 space. By listening to their users and sharing value through token distribution and governance, they built a strong and loyal community that drives innovation and growth. As you develop your own project, remember that engaging with your community and creating shared success can unlock the full potential of your Web3 venture.
If you’d like help answering the above questions, reach out with what your product is, who your community is and I’d be happy to share ideas.
GM and LFG 🚀