The Real Issue in Web3 BD

If Web3 wants to lead, it needs to grow up first.

Business development in Web3 is broken—and it’s not because of market conditions or competition. It’s because basic professionalism is missing.

Business development (BD) is a constant topic on Crypto Twitter—debated, compared, and often misunderstood. It’s frequently stacked up against roles like marketing or developer relations, but no matter how it’s framed, BD stays at the center of industry conversations.

Having done BD in Web3 for years—and in other industries before that—I felt it was time to weigh in with more than just a tweet. The truth is what makes someone good at BD isn’t unique to Web3. But what is unique is how often the industry lacks one essential trait: a baseline level of professionalism.

So what does professionalism actually look like in business development? It’s not flashy pitches or knowing the right people—it’s about consistently showing up and executing the fundamentals. That means being prepared, following through, communicating clearly, responding in a timely fashion, and building trust over time. These are basic principles in any industry, but in Web3, they’re often overlooked.

In my time in Web3 alone, I’ve closed between $35 million and $40 million in business. That spans raising capital for my own companies, helping others secure funding, securing grants for builders, and closing deals that directly generated revenue for the organizations I’ve worked with. These deals have involved Fortune 10 companies, Web3-native organizations, high-net-worth individuals, major nonprofits, and NGOs.

Without being exhaustive, some of the partners I’ve worked with include Shell Oil, UNICEF, American Cancer Society, Mercy Corps, Coinbase, Binance, Optimism, Protocol Labs, OKX, Bitget, Gnosis, zkSync, Lens, and individuals like Vitalik Buterin, Juan Benet, and Stefan George.

Whenever my work comes up, I’m often asked about the secret sauce behind closing these deals. The truth is, there isn’t one. It all comes down to mastering the fundamentals of business development—skills that apply across any industry. The difference is that in Web3, basic professional standards aren’t upheld as consistently as they should be.

This gap in professionalism isn’t just a minor issue—it’s holding the industry back. Nearly every leader I speak with brings up struggles with this inside their own organizations. Those who don’t are usually talking about how much deliberate effort they’ve had to put into hiring just to find people who understand the basics. Deals fall through, partnerships stall, and promising projects struggle to scale because fundamental business practices aren’t taken seriously. Web3 is maturing, but its approach to business development needs to catch up—and fast.

This is usually the part where articles list out the numbered steps or bullet points on how to “fix” business development in Web3. I’m not going to do that. The basics are straightforward, and I respect that readers don’t need to be spoon-fed what should already be common sense.

What I will say is this: we need to talk about how this issue came about—and why it feels unique to Web3.

Back in the summer of 2021, I was a Venture Fellow at LDV Capital. Most of my work focused on helping develop part of an upcoming thesis report titled “Content & The Metaverse are powered by Visual Tech”, specifically covering DAOs, the metaverse, blockchain, NFTs, and more.

When I first spoke with the fund about the role, they told me something that stuck with me. A venture partner mentioned that they typically filled this position with MBA students who had just finished their first year of grad school. But this time, they couldn’t find MBA students who understood these emerging topics.

Instead, the only people who did know about the space were 19-year-olds—plugged in, sharp, and deep in the industry, but lacking basic professional skills. They didn’t know how to properly respond to emails, show up to scheduled calls, or even use a calendar.

That gap between deep industry knowledge and basic professionalism wasn’t just a hiring issue in 2021. It’s a pattern I’ve seen play out across Web3 for nearly four years now.

The root of the problem is that many people in Web3 roles lack experience in traditional work environments. Most have never held jobs outside of this industry, so their understanding of work is skewed. It’s shaped by the belief that they deserve high six-figure salaries, can juggle multiple roles, don’t need to respond to messages promptly, should travel the world on the company’s dime, and can somehow print magic internet money out of thin air.

That’s not to say this industry isn’t exciting or full of opportunity—it is. But that mindset has been tolerated because Web3 has been in its early stages. Now, as governments worldwide recognize that this industry isn’t going anywhere, this immature approach won’t cut it.

For Web3 to mature, the people driving it need to grow up too. Because here’s the reality: every deal that falls apart, every partnership that stalls, and every promising project that flames out isn’t just a missed opportunity for one company—it’s a setback for the entire industry. Web3 is supposed to be about rewriting the rules, but if we can’t get the basics right, how are we supposed to convince the world we’re ready to lead?

We’ve all seen it firsthand teams missing critical deadlines because no one bothered to confirm deliverables, deals falling apart because follow-up Telegram messages were ignored, or partnerships dissolving because expectations were never clearly set. I’ve been in meetings where founders couldn’t articulate their value proposition or showed up unprepared to answer basic questions. In traditional industries, these slip-ups would be deal-breakers. In Web3, they’re often shrugged off as part of the culture.

This kind of behavior doesn’t just hurt individual teams—it damages the industry as a whole. When deals fall apart or partnerships fail due to unprofessionalism, it erodes trust with investors, slows down product adoption, and makes it harder for Web3 to gain mainstream credibility. Institutional players and traditional businesses hesitate to engage when they perceive the space as chaotic or unreliable. And you can’t blame them for it either. Web3 has the potential to reshape industries, but it can’t do that if it can’t be taken seriously.

It’s time for Web3 leaders to raise the bar. Professionalism can’t be optional if this industry wants to mature and scale. Whether you’re a founder, investor, or team member, the responsibility to build a stronger foundation starts with you.

That means showing up prepared, following through on commitments, and treating every deal—big or small—with the seriousness it deserves. It means setting higher standards when hiring, mentoring younger talent, and holding teams accountable. If we want regulators, investors, and the broader public to take Web3 seriously, we need to start taking ourselves seriously first.

Web3 was built on breaking rules and challenging the status quo—but not every rule is meant to be broken. We’re a trillion dollar industry now. The next phase of growth won’t come from hype or shortcuts. It’ll come from discipline, accountability, and treating this industry like the serious business it is.

Because the future of Web3 will be built by those who can deliver, not just those who can disrupt.