Eight years, four transformations: A Web3 entrepreneur's confession, why skills matter more than resources?

Host: George, Co-founder & COO of Conso

Host: Yuanyuan, VP of Marketing at BitMart

In this crypto cycle, a very interesting phenomenon is happening.

More and more people are starting to discuss personal IP, super individuals, AI, growth methodologies, and how to acquire incremental users from Web2. Compared to the past few years when the industry was keen on public chains, DeFi, NFTs, or memes, now everyone seems more concerned with a practical question: when traffic becomes more expensive and competition intensifies, what can an ordinary person or a startup rely on to sustain growth?

From starting a business at 21 with annual revenue in the tens of millions, to experiencing investor withdrawals and team disbandment; from quantitative trading to wallet products, and now focusing on the TON ecosystem and user growth. Over the past eight years, George has experienced several major cycles in the crypto industry.

Compared to track record, fundraising, and valuation, George cares more about: how to continuously create value and keep amplifying that value.

The biggest crisis in entrepreneurship is not lack of money, but losing direction.

Many people find George’s entrepreneurial journey quite legendary. By 21, his project was already generating tens of millions in revenue; later, he entered crypto and successively worked in quant trading, wallets, gaming, and other areas. From the results, it seems like a very smooth entrepreneurial path.

But what left the deepest impression on him was not those shining moments, but the sudden crisis in 2022. Due to external events affecting investors, they were forced to withdraw funding, causing the company's cash flow to rapidly break down. Faced with the choice of continuing to hold on or disbanding the team, he ultimately chose the latter—team disbanded, compensation paid, business paused, everything reset.

Looking back, he believes the hardest part was not the financial pressure, but the confusion that followed. Copy-pasting Web2 products into Web3 is not sustainable, but there was no clear answer for a new direction. Throughout 2023, he kept pondering one question: if the market environment changes, what is the core ability he can truly rely on long-term? In the end, he returned his answer to growth.

Compared to investing, trading, or chasing hot tracks, he trusts more in his accumulated experience in user growth and market operations. It was during that phase that he reaffirmed his future development direction—helping more Web2 users enter Web3.

Anxiety is not a weakness, but a competitive advantage.

Another word George repeatedly mentioned in the program was anxiety. Many hope to get rid of anxiety, but in George’s view, it’s almost impossible for people not to feel anxious. There will always be someone better than you, new opportunities will always emerge, and new changes will always happen. The question is never how to eliminate anxiety, but how to coexist with it.

He said he’s long accustomed to that “walking on thin ice” state. Because this state constantly reminds him to cherish opportunities, take every partnership seriously, and not to stop. To some extent, this persistent sense of crisis has become a driving force.

Many entrepreneurs, after reaching a certain stage, start relying on resources, connections, or past advantages. But George prefers to rely on himself. That’s why he always insists on long-term planning. At 18, inspired by his teacher, he set a five-year goal to grow tenfold: by 20, annual revenue of 1 million; by 25, 10 million; by 30, 100 million... It sounds somewhat idealistic, but the goal isn’t to show off numbers, but to help himself continuously expand his capabilities. After reaching the first 1 million, he found that 10 million was no longer an abstract concept; after 10 million, 100 million also became more tangible.

For entrepreneurs, the greatest growth often isn’t earning more money, but constantly improving their problem-solving abilities.

The essence of growth isn’t投流, but finding leverage.

In the past few years, countless growth myths have emerged in the industry. Some rely on airdrops, some on subsidies, some on traffic dividends.

George believes that growth is fundamentally about finding leverage. He shared a case where his current project Conso used about $20k to acquire over 1 million users. Many would first think of channel dividends or luck with traffic, but in his view, what really works is the stacking of a series of levers. From TikTok’s algorithm recommendations, to small KOL’s viral dissemination; from performance-based paid modes, to multi-platform distribution; from localized operations, to user invitation mechanisms—each link is a fulcrum.

He always believes in the saying: “Give me a fulcrum, and I can move the Earth.” Growth is about constantly seeking new levers.

TON’s opportunity might not just be a public chain.

In the past year, TON has undoubtedly been one of the most watched ecosystems in the industry. But in George’s view, many people still understand TON only at the public chain level. The truly important aspect is the user network behind Telegram.

Compared to most crypto products, Telegram naturally has hundreds of millions of users and has formed a mature Mini App ecosystem. For many users in developing countries, Telegram has even become part of daily life. This means the challenges TON faces are not exactly the same as traditional public chains. Most public chains focus on on-chain users, while TON pays more attention to how to better serve users off-chain.

George mentioned that he is long-term optimistic about the development of Web3 financial infrastructure, partly because of this.

In the past few years, industry narratives have constantly shifted—from DeFi to NFTs, from GameFi to AI—but the core long-term theme remains unchanged: making Web3 a new financial infrastructure. Especially in many developing countries, where local currencies face long-term devaluation pressure and cross-border payments are inefficient, these real needs won’t disappear just because market cycles change. Platforms that can connect hundreds of millions of ordinary users naturally have greater opportunities.

In the era of IP, everyone should become their own media.

Besides growth and entrepreneurship, George has also been doing something else in the past year—helping creators grow.

In this process, he found that many talented people are not lacking in ability, but in expression. Many developers, entrepreneurs, and even project leaders have good resumes and real achievements, but almost no presence on social media. Not because they are not excellent enough, but because they don’t know how to communicate their value to more people.

Therefore, George increasingly believes that everyone should cultivate their own personal IP in the future. This isn’t about becoming an internet celebrity, but about building trust. When talking about this, he mentioned the young KOL, HmmHuh, who rose rapidly in this cycle. In his view, many see only the results, but overlook the behind-the-scenes accumulation. As early as 2024, HmmHuh had been active in various communities, continuously learning and observing. The real difference between people isn’t luck, but long-term learning and consistent output.

As industry information becomes more fragmented, those who continuously produce content are more likely to get opportunities, collaborations, and resources. Often, people don’t trust you just because they know you; they trust you because they see your content over time.

In the past, a person’s credit was mostly based on education, resume, and company background; today, more and more credit comes from the content they publish publicly. What you have written, thought, and shared has become an important basis for others to judge you.

For entrepreneurs, IP is not only a communication tool but also a long-term trust asset. The biggest feature of this asset is that it compounds over time.

AI won’t eliminate you, but those who use AI will.

In the AI era, tasks that once required three people can now be done by one. Design, editing, data analysis, operations—many repetitive tasks are being redefined. George believes that AI’s greatest value isn’t replacing jobs, but amplifying individual capabilities. The truly irreplaceable skills are becoming more important—such as product skills and creativity—because AI can generate answers but cannot replace the people who create answers.

The future competition may no longer be about who has more tools, but who can use tools to create more value. He also said that AI cannot replace him, so he won’t delegate his social media accounts to AI for maintenance.

The real opportunity comes from continuously amplifying value.

Resources disappear, connections change. But when a person keeps creating value, opportunities tend to come to them naturally. Perhaps this is the most important lesson from George’s eight years of entrepreneurship.

“Entrepreneurs should free themselves from dependence on resources and connections, and prioritize improving themselves,” he said, because investors leave, markets change, trends rotate, and methods that work today may not work tomorrow. The only thing that can accompany you long-term is your own ability.

Whether it’s the TON ecosystem, growth, IP, or AI, what he truly cares about is always one thing: how to create value, how to amplify value. Because a person’s ability to create and amplify value will accompany them through cycles—this applies to entrepreneurs, companies, and perhaps the entire crypto industry.