Why do 90% of project TGEs end in disappointment?

Doing these things is the prerequisite for a successful TGE.

Written by: Antonio Sco

Translated by: Luffy, Foresight News

Over the past two years, I have worked with more than 30 Pre-TGE projects, and I have discovered three unexpected key reasons that are precisely the factors causing most tokens to fail miserably during TGE.

Those projects that raised millions of dollars keep making the same mistakes. I have summarized some patterns: failed projects never disclose their problems, only busy blaming others; successful projects also never share their secrets, wanting to take all the credit for themselves.

This leaves new founders confused, having no idea where to start. So, what are the core keys to a TGE? Without them, the TGE is doomed to fail, so founders must devote most of their time to these areas.

As the founder of a marketing company, I am reluctant to admit it, but the answer is not marketing. Marketing can amplify good fundamentals, but without a solid foundation, no matter how flashy the marketing is, it’s just a castle in the air, easily toppled.

Here are three core factors that are rarely mentioned but can destroy a TGE project.

Market Makers

Choosing a market maker is essentially like playing Russian roulette:

• Best case: both parties are aligned, and profits are shared together;
• Worst case: they scheme behind your back, causing years of hard work to go to waste.

The problem of information asymmetry is terrifying. They will only show you successful cases and never mention their failures.

So, how should you choose a market maker? 99.9% of the time, you should choose a market maker strongly recommended by a project party you trust or someone you have worked with directly.

Don’t trust recommendations from strangers. They can get hefty referral fees from market makers, and even if the market maker is unreliable, they will still push them hard.

An important reminder: if the project fails, you bear the consequences, not them.

Even if you have the best marketing, the most active community, and the top team, if the market maker causes your token price to plummet by 50%, there’s nothing you can do.

Tokenomics

The same logic applies to tokenomics. You and your team may not have studied 50 token models or seen their actual effects.

You absolutely cannot simply copy the tokenomics of a successful project and assume it will work for you. Investors’ goals and appetites are always changing, so if you want to attract them to buy in, you must adjust accordingly.

Similarly, advisors will only show you the successful cases they have, and you will never see the projects that went to zero.

One more thing: if the current tokenomics are destined to ruin your project, then change them decisively.

Don’t worry about:

• Airdrop hunters getting angry;
• People on social media complaining;
• Seed round investors being dissatisfied.

If, according to the current token model, the token price crashes by 90% in a week, they’ll still be dissatisfied. The only difference is that you’ll go bankrupt within three months.

Obviously, the best solution is to avoid this situation from the start, but as an old Roman proverb says: “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

Exchange Listings

This is the point I want to emphasize the most. The problems with market makers and tokenomics only become apparent after the TGE, but working with exchanges is the most painful and dangerous thing before the TGE.

Why is it painful?

• Communication is extremely difficult;
• It’s hard to coordinate a consistent schedule;
• They often change their minds at the last minute, forcing you to postpone the TGE.

Why is it dangerous?

• Predatory terms can drag your project down;
• Many teams get scammed by fake representatives;
• Spending millions of dollars on listings, only to attract selling pressure and no buying interest.

The fastest way to solve this problem: know people inside the exchange and understand the benchmark costs for listings to avoid being ripped off.

Due to information asymmetry, many teams waste hundreds of thousands of dollars during initial negotiations.

Conclusion

Everyone is waiting for a better market environment to launch their TGE, but if you haven’t done the above three things well, no matter how good the market is, your token won’t be able to gain a foothold. As a founder, you should focus your main energy on these three things, while supervising other team members to do their respective jobs well.