Should I jump on the blockchain bandwagon to secure venture capital funding?

Buddy, if you had this idea a few years back, you would've been riding the wave. Just write a whitepaper, shout a few slogans about decentralization and disrupting the future, get a few big names to endorse it, and VC money would likely have poured in. Back then, everyone was playing the "greater fool theory," betting on the next 100x coin. VCs were afraid of missing out on the next big thing, so they were very generous.

But it's 2024 now, and the situation has completely changed.

First, VCs aren't foolish anymore. The wave of "survival of the fittest" from a few years ago saw 99% of blockchain projects die out, with the remaining 1% still struggling. Having learned their expensive lessons, VCs are now much savvier. If you go to them now with just concepts, they'll grill you with soul-searching questions, just like a job interview:

• "Why must your business use blockchain? Can't traditional centralized servers and databases solve this? Wouldn't that be more efficient?"
• "What's your Tokenomics model? Beyond speculation and trading, how does it capture business growth value? Why would users hold your coin?"
• "Who are your target users? Do they truly care about 'decentralization,' or do they just want something easy to use that solves a problem?"
• "How will it be implemented technically? Is the TPS (transactions per second) sufficient? How do you ensure security? What happens if it gets hacked?"

You see, none of these questions are easy to answer. If you're just trying to "scam money" by shoehorning a blockchain concept, you'll be exposed after two or three questions. They've seen more projects than you can imagine.

Secondly, the trend has shifted. Now, VC money is pouring into AI, especially AIGC (AI-Generated Content) and various large language model applications. If you tell VCs you're doing AI now, even if it's just a superficial application, they might still be willing to listen. But if you talk about blockchain now, unless you're a true tech guru with significant breakthroughs in underlying protocols or core applications, they might not even bother to offer you a coffee.

So, what should you do?

To be frank, stop thinking about shortcuts to "scam money." Entrepreneurship ultimately needs to return to its core business essence: What problem are you actually solving?

1. Start with the problem, not the technology. Forget buzzwords like blockchain or AI. Think carefully: Does your product or service make people's lives easier? Work more efficient? Entertainment more diverse? Find a real, existing pain point that people are willing to pay to solve.
2. Solve it with the simplest, most effective method. If a simple app + server can do the job, then don't touch blockchain. Using a sledgehammer to crack a nut is not only costly and inefficient but will also make users find your product slow and complicated.
3. Only use blockchain when you find that your problem can only be solved, or is best solved, by it. For example, if you need to build a completely transparent and immutable public donation platform; or if you want to create a marketplace where digital art truly achieves ownership and scarcity (NFTs); or if you want to establish an identity verification system not controlled by any single entity. In these scenarios, blockchain is a tool, not the goal. Only then, when you talk to VCs, will your story hold water, because you're not using blockchain for the sake of it, but because your business inherently requires it.

In summary:

The era of trying to get rich quick with just a blockchain concept is long gone. VCs now invest in teams that genuinely solve problems and create value.

Instead of figuring out how to "scam," it's better to genuinely do something useful. When you truly create value, money will naturally come to you. This is far more reliable than "scammed" money and will allow you to go much further.