March Summary and Strategy

Hey everyone,

today I’m going to share some brief observations from the market, my progress in internal strategy, as well as some recent learnings practicing a value-aligned sales process.

You can watch the full recording of our last meeting here:
https://tldv.io/app/meetings/67ee946e6b4dd70013fe2b22?origin=meeting-delivery-email

Total Treasury Balance: $5,598.00 (0.12 BTC)

Unpaid liabilities include operational costs for the company and a social media project, mentioned below.

External Observations:

1. Beefy.finance made money from mostly financial strategy, not product:

   • Beefy.finance, one of the most well-known DeFi projects, made most of its revenue not directly from its core DeFi products but from its financial strategy, mainly through treasury management (see annual report). This is noteworthy because it points to the uncertain profitability of many DeFi projects, confirming my observations from last year that financial management is more critical than technical product development in startups.

2. Trump’s back-and-forth creates market uncertainty:

   • The unpredictable market dynamics influenced by US politics contribute to a volatile environment. These macroeconomic factors could impact business and investment decisions of our clients. Deep Work has a limited investment capacity, with only around $5,600 in the treasury. Our strategy for managing resources in volatile markets is to remain 90% in USDC and 10% in BTC.

3. Job Security in entrepreneurship:

   

   A Tweet I came across that hints at declining job security in traditional employment. With the rise of freelancing, gig economy, and digital nomadism, entrepreneurs may have more flexibility and long-term security compared to those relying on salaried positions.

4. Readers of our content recommend Deep Work

   Especially this year, several friends of ours have thought of Deep Work in the context of Product or Design, and job openings at other web3 platforms.

Internal Updates:

1. Confirmed Events: EthCC and EthCluj:

   • I’ll be attending EthCC in Cannes (with Anya and Cath) and EthCluj (with Anna). My presentation will be on applying principles of magic to product design.

2. Potential Deep Work Locations (Hua Hin, Berlin):

   • I recently stayed in Hua Hin, a coastal town in Thailand, which seems to offer a low-cost space for living (around $1,000/month incl. food), making it a peaceful environment conducive to focused work.

     

   • Dan is currently staying in my apartment in Berlin, but if anyone is interested in temporarily staying in Berlin (a few months), let me know. The total rent is approximately 1680€/month for 52m².

     

3. Note-Taking Framework for Complex Goals:

   • I have been working on a note-taking framework designed to help people get unstuck and achieve complex goals. It’s currently being tested with a few people, and I’m collecting feedback to refine it further.

4. PKM Design Sprint:

   • The Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) design sprint is moving on, which focuses on organizing individual knowledge.

5. Social Media Content Experimentation:

   • As part of testing how content resonates with their audience, Mitul, Lucia and I have been experimenting with social media. So far, we have created a tweet and illustrations for an article.

6. Client Engagement Challenges & Sales Process:

   • Despite several prospect conversations, none of the clients . This lack of engagement has led me to reflect on how I engage in conversations (see below) and increase the number of potential leads.

What the Team Has Worked On:

• Balint: Focused on outreach efforts, contacting potential clients in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany. He has also been working on a personal project with no-code tools.

• Sarah: Worked on several projects, including writing articles for Gitcoin and the Arbitrum Ventures Initiative. She also contributed to workshops and documentation for EthDenver and Scroll, and is exploring how to diversify her service offerings beyond copywriting.

• Anya: Worked on a product design project for a German company focused on creating a booking platform. She also received some requests for work from Gitcoin related to book design.

• Lucia: Recently moved to Berlin and has been documenting processes from her previous project management role in a branding studio in Argentina. She is also working on administrative tasks related to her relocation.

Updating the Sales Process:

The sales process I started practicing is based on “Soulful Selling“, an authentic and consultative approach to building client relationships. This is particularly interesting in the context of peer-to-peer business development, where establishing trust and value alignment is important and sensitises me to the most suitable client.

Instead of falling back into selling what the client wants and trying to fit to their requests, I’m focusing more on:

• Increasing clarity and confidence in the value of our offerings.

• Meaningful conversations to learn “where they are“, understand the problems they face, their goals and what makes our products special in the words of our ideal customers.

• Asking questions to determine not just what they need, but whether they are the right fit for our services.

• Identifying potential (or not) for collaboration faster. Most of the market is noisy, and I need to protect my boundaries better to minimise waste of time.

• Focusing on our values and how they relate to the client’s values, ensuring that all advice comes from a confident place of knowledge and a better match between the customer’s requirements and our solution.

My main objective remains the same - increasing meaningful interactions with interesting founders.

Have a nice weekend and see you next time!