Dark Arts of Web3: Growth Hacking

Hi Rebels!

Let’s talk about growth today, since lately that’s been one of the most common topics in my conversations with Rick about the Rebel Speakeasy.

Growing as a new brand is not easy but unless you nail it you may risk ending in a “stealth mode” forever. Paid marketing is too expensive… Organic growth, without growth hacking: too slow…

But what is growth hacking?

It’s pretty much this 👇

In web3 though almost everything is very “specific” and I don’t mean it in a good way.

Just like the space completely changed what “marketing” means - they did the same with the concept of “growth hacking”. As a result what’s done in web3 in most cases is neither marketing nor growth hacking.

And things are done is such way that pretty much any stupid stoned degen out there can be BD, head of community, marketing lead, chief vibe officer - or whatever else they prefer to be called… and do a decent “job”. In fact, based on what “growth hacking” is in web3 - the degens may even do a better job than professional marketers.

In order to understand what I mean, let’s see what web3 projects do in order to grow.

Fake it till you make it

Numbers… everyone is after numbers.

Those provide social proof and make people think that the project has a solid community and a promising future (which usually is so NOT true).

So when web3 founder hires a marketing person - that’s all they require - grow those numbers. Doesn’t matter how… just do it!

Vanity metrics that boost egos and don’t matter at all… but still that’s what they love to see.

But let’s be real – most of the numbers you see in web3 are complete BS… because they are fake.

The fact that the most popular stuff the web3 marketing agencies sell are different variations of bot services says a lot.

Fake followers, bot-driven engagement, and artificially inflated Discord servers...

Projects are after looking popular over actually being popular.

Why? Because in web3, hype is everything…

This “fake it till you make it” mentality might work for a short while. It might help you sell out your mint or your useless token.

But what happens after the hype dies?

Bots don’t buy, fake followers don’t stick around, and artificial numbers don’t convert into loyal users. But nevertheless those breathless numbers are called a “community”.

Bribes

Another praised “growth hacking” tactic is airdrops.

It sounds like a smart thing to do – incentivize engagement, right?

Wrong!

Here’s the problem: everyone comes only for the free tokens. They don’t give a shit about your project - they come for the money.

These aren’t users, supporters, or community members – they’re opportunists. They will stay as long as they keep making money and will leave you as soon as that stops.

It’s not growth; it’s bribery.

And guess what?

There will always be someone new out there at some point who will bribe them better.

Shitfluencer Marketing

We all know influencer marketing works and it’s a bit expensive but still a good way to tap into their audiences. Influencers with loyal audience are powerful and when there is overlap of values and audiences the collab can bring very good results.

In web3, though?

Half of these self proclaimed influencers are just glorified shillers with a price tag. They’ll promote anything – yes, anything (incl. rugs) – as long as you pay enough.

Token launches, NFT collections, shady projects that vanish overnight – it doesn’t matter if the project is garbage or if it’s blatantly a scam. As long as the ETH flows, they’ll happily tweet, host a Space, hype it up… and then dump on you.

Does it work for a web3 project though?

Yes, every single time.

Would you like to “grow” that way…? We definitely wouldn’t!

Rebel Speakeasy Growth?

On our X space last week we promised you that we will be building in public and taking you with us through the journey.

So how are we going to deal with growth you may wonder….

Here’s the truth: we don’t have the answer yet.

We know one thing for sure, though – we’re not going to do it like everyone else in web3. If there’s one thing we’ve learned from observing the space is: the tactics used do not align with our values and even if we implemented those they would hurt us in the long run.

We’re not about fake followers, empty hype, or getting caught in the numbers game. We don’t know yet what will work best – but we know that whatever it is, it’s going to be authentic. It’s going to be real. And it’s going to focus on the kind of growth that actually matters.

For us, that means genuine community.

A community that isn’t just here for freebies (no tokens, no airdrops, none of that shit) or fake hype (shhhh we’re secret and underground hidden from hype chasers, remember?) but one that truly cares about what we’re trying to create here.

Rebel Speakeasy will stay exclusive since it’s not gonna be for everyone.

It’s not about numbers. We’re not chasing follower count or want to engage farm. We don’t want MANY people - we want the RIGHT people.

For us, it’s about creating the kind of experience that those RIGHT people deserve – a space away from the noise and hype and the bad crowd, a place where like-minded people can connect, share, and grow together.

It will never be about the number of people in the rebel community we’ll have relationship with - but rather the quality of that relationship with them.

We’re still figuring it out – but we’re doing it our way. And our way is doing it together with you.

X space

So join me and Rick on Tuesday’s X spaces and let’s discuss growth hacking together!

Now what?

Remember last week we said that you don’t need the password to the Rebel Speakeasy because you’re already in.

We meant it.

Starting next week, we’re going all in on Rebel Speakeasy. That means all emails and updates will now come directly from our exclusive underground secret bar.

So, keep an eye out for emails from Rebel Speakeasy.