🚩 VC Red Flag of the Week. №3
“Our token will drive the entire ecosystem.” 👀
Sounds ambitious. But then a VC asks: “What happens if you remove the token?”
If the answer is “the product stops making sense”, that’s a serious red flag. 🚨
Why?
Because the token can create incentives, but it can’t replace product demand.
If users only show up for rewards, farming, or token speculation, it becomes much harder to prove that people actually need the product.
A stronger approach:
Build the product first. Give the token a clear job.
The token should solve a specific problem in the ecosystem, for example by enabling access, coordination, governance, or another meaningful user action.
The key question is:
Would people still want to use the product if the token disappeared tomorrow?
If yes, you have a product with token utility. If no, you may have a token looking for a product. 👀
Founders, try this test before your next pitch:
🔥 Remove the token from your deck. Can you still explain why users need your product?
🚩 More VC Red Flags coming next week. #VCRedFlag
“Our token will drive the entire ecosystem.” 👀
Sounds ambitious. But then a VC asks: “What happens if you remove the token?”
If the answer is “the product stops making sense”, that’s a serious red flag. 🚨
Why?
Because the token can create incentives, but it can’t replace product demand.
If users only show up for rewards, farming, or token speculation, it becomes much harder to prove that people actually need the product.
A stronger approach:
Build the product first. Give the token a clear job.
The token should solve a specific problem in the ecosystem, for example by enabling access, coordination, governance, or another meaningful user action.
The key question is:
Would people still want to use the product if the token disappeared tomorrow?
If yes, you have a product with token utility. If no, you may have a token looking for a product. 👀
Founders, try this test before your next pitch:
🔥 Remove the token from your deck. Can you still explain why users need your product?
🚩 More VC Red Flags coming next week. #VCRedFlag
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How AI ruined the love story of a crypto founder 💔🤖
TRON founder Justin Sun shared that Claude AI advised him against a $50M request in his love life.
Founders nowadays are really trying to outsource anything…
Weekend read for u 🍿https://blog.alphamind.co/justin-sun-jing-tian-claude-50-million/
TRON founder Justin Sun shared that Claude AI advised him against a $50M request in his love life.
Founders nowadays are really trying to outsource anything…
Weekend read for u 🍿https://blog.alphamind.co/justin-sun-jing-tian-claude-50-million/
AlphaMind Blog: Real Alpha for Crypto Community
Justin Sun and Jing Tian: Inside the $50M Claude Drama
A crypto billionaire, a movie star and an AI with an opinion. Inside Justin Sun’s $50M story—and why even he was not sure Claude got it right.
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🔥 September Web3 Deals: Less Capital, More Signal
September brought a mixed picture for Web3 funding.
Investors deployed $1.05B across 48 announced rounds. That is well below the previous 12 month average of $2.01B and 66.8 rounds per month. (Source: FinDas)
But here is where it gets interesting 👀
The market may be funding fewer companies, but the deals that are getting through tell us a lot about where investors see real opportunities.
🏦 Tare: $13.25M
Tare is building onchain infrastructure for private credit, covering everything from origination and servicing to financing and securitization.
Why this one? Because of the investor mix.
The participation of Janus Henderson, a traditional asset manager, alongside crypto native investors is a strong signal for the RWA narrative.
Private credit is moving further onchain, and infrastructure that can connect blockchain rails with institutional credit markets is becoming increasingly relevant.
🃏 CatchBack: $8M
The startup combines physical collectibles with custom mystery packs, real time trading and instant buybacks.
Why this one? Because it shows where blockchain infrastructure can become almost invisible to the end user.
The product is built around a familiar consumer behavior, collecting and trading, while the underlying infrastructure creates new ways to aggregate demand and provide liquidity.
With 75,000+ users and more than 500,000 packs opened, CatchBack is also an interesting example of how crypto aligned infrastructure can support consumer markets beyond traditional DeFi.
🛡 Firelight: $8M
The startup is building decentralized cover infrastructure designed to protect DeFi capital against protocol, smart contract and economic risks.
Why this one? Because DeFi needs more than yield and liquidity. It needs risk infrastructure.
For institutional investors, the ability to protect capital can be just as important as the ability to deploy it.
Firelight is targeting exactly this gap, building protection infrastructure that could help make onchain finance more accessible to professional capital.
👀 What does September tell us?
The biggest signal is capital concentration.
Funding activity slowed, but investors continued to write large checks into infrastructure and financial products with clear institutional use cases.
Stablecoin infrastructure was the biggest sector anomaly, with 7 rounds versus a monthly average of 1.6.
RWA also remained above its historical baseline, while DEXs, Memes, Digital Identity and DePIN all recorded above average activity.
Meanwhile, DeFi had the sharpest decline, coming in 10.2 rounds below its monthly average.
Another interesting signal is round size.
Series A median funding reached $16.6M, up 38% YoY, while Series B reached $45M, up 12% YoY. Seed remained relatively resilient at $5.2M, up 4% YoY.
The takeaway for founders? 👇
The market is more selective, capital is concentrating around fewer companies, and investors are increasingly looking for infrastructure that can connect crypto with real financial and institutional demand.
September may have been a quieter month for Web3 funding. But the deals themselves are giving us plenty to watch. 🚀
September brought a mixed picture for Web3 funding.
Investors deployed $1.05B across 48 announced rounds. That is well below the previous 12 month average of $2.01B and 66.8 rounds per month. (Source: FinDas)
But here is where it gets interesting 👀
The market may be funding fewer companies, but the deals that are getting through tell us a lot about where investors see real opportunities.
🏦 Tare: $13.25M
Tare is building onchain infrastructure for private credit, covering everything from origination and servicing to financing and securitization.
Why this one? Because of the investor mix.
The participation of Janus Henderson, a traditional asset manager, alongside crypto native investors is a strong signal for the RWA narrative.
Private credit is moving further onchain, and infrastructure that can connect blockchain rails with institutional credit markets is becoming increasingly relevant.
🃏 CatchBack: $8M
The startup combines physical collectibles with custom mystery packs, real time trading and instant buybacks.
Why this one? Because it shows where blockchain infrastructure can become almost invisible to the end user.
The product is built around a familiar consumer behavior, collecting and trading, while the underlying infrastructure creates new ways to aggregate demand and provide liquidity.
With 75,000+ users and more than 500,000 packs opened, CatchBack is also an interesting example of how crypto aligned infrastructure can support consumer markets beyond traditional DeFi.
🛡 Firelight: $8M
The startup is building decentralized cover infrastructure designed to protect DeFi capital against protocol, smart contract and economic risks.
Why this one? Because DeFi needs more than yield and liquidity. It needs risk infrastructure.
For institutional investors, the ability to protect capital can be just as important as the ability to deploy it.
Firelight is targeting exactly this gap, building protection infrastructure that could help make onchain finance more accessible to professional capital.
👀 What does September tell us?
The biggest signal is capital concentration.
Funding activity slowed, but investors continued to write large checks into infrastructure and financial products with clear institutional use cases.
Stablecoin infrastructure was the biggest sector anomaly, with 7 rounds versus a monthly average of 1.6.
RWA also remained above its historical baseline, while DEXs, Memes, Digital Identity and DePIN all recorded above average activity.
Meanwhile, DeFi had the sharpest decline, coming in 10.2 rounds below its monthly average.
Another interesting signal is round size.
Series A median funding reached $16.6M, up 38% YoY, while Series B reached $45M, up 12% YoY. Seed remained relatively resilient at $5.2M, up 4% YoY.
The takeaway for founders? 👇
The market is more selective, capital is concentrating around fewer companies, and investors are increasingly looking for infrastructure that can connect crypto with real financial and institutional demand.
September may have been a quieter month for Web3 funding. But the deals themselves are giving us plenty to watch. 🚀
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📊 $60,000 value. $0 for the 1st year.
Founders, here’s a perk worth putting on your radar.
Amplitude is giving eligible early-stage startups one full year of its Growth plan for free, a package the company values at $60,000.
What’s inside?
Product Analytics, Session Replay, MCP and AI Agents, with unlimited seats and capacity for up to 100M events per month or 200,000 monthly tracked users.
Why does this matter?
Because “we have users” tells you very little.
You need to understand what they do, where they drop off, what drives activation and which product changes actually move the needle.
That’s the space Amplitude operates in.
The platform is used across industries from B2B SaaS and financial services to media, healthcare and ecommerce. It was also recognized as a Leader and Customer Favorite in The Forrester Wave™: Digital Analytics Solutions, Q3 2025.
For startups, the eligibility bar is straightforward:
🚀 Under $10M raised
👥 Fewer than 20 employees
Amplitude says 96% of startups that apply get accepted, with most approvals happening instantly.
One detail founders often miss: you need to create your free Amplitude account first, then apply from inside the product.
👉 Check the startup perk: Amplitude Startup Scholarship on InnMind
Stop guessing what users want. Start learning from what they actually do. 🔍
Founders, here’s a perk worth putting on your radar.
Amplitude is giving eligible early-stage startups one full year of its Growth plan for free, a package the company values at $60,000.
What’s inside?
Product Analytics, Session Replay, MCP and AI Agents, with unlimited seats and capacity for up to 100M events per month or 200,000 monthly tracked users.
Why does this matter?
Because “we have users” tells you very little.
You need to understand what they do, where they drop off, what drives activation and which product changes actually move the needle.
That’s the space Amplitude operates in.
The platform is used across industries from B2B SaaS and financial services to media, healthcare and ecommerce. It was also recognized as a Leader and Customer Favorite in The Forrester Wave™: Digital Analytics Solutions, Q3 2025.
For startups, the eligibility bar is straightforward:
🚀 Under $10M raised
👥 Fewer than 20 employees
Amplitude says 96% of startups that apply get accepted, with most approvals happening instantly.
One detail founders often miss: you need to create your free Amplitude account first, then apply from inside the product.
👉 Check the startup perk: Amplitude Startup Scholarship on InnMind
Stop guessing what users want. Start learning from what they actually do. 🔍
InnMind
Amplitude Startup Program: Growth Plan Free for 1 Year | InnMind
Amplitude gives startups under 20 employees and $10M raised the Growth plan free for 12 months, a $60,000 value. What it covers, who qualifies, and how to apply.
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3 lessons about startup freebies you’d better learn 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nelli-orlova_google-offers-up-to-350k-in-free-credits-share-7513567566968266752-bNSh/
LinkedIn
Google offers "up to $350K" in "free" credits for AI startups. But you won't be able to claim it all if you don't pay $400K on…
Google offers "up to $350K" in "free" credits for AI startups. But you won't be able to claim it all if you don't pay $400K on your own to Google. 🤪
Sounds weird, doesn't it?
Reading the boring details, the maths works like this:
- Year 1: Google covers…
Sounds weird, doesn't it?
Reading the boring details, the maths works like this:
- Year 1: Google covers…
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💸 Who’s writing seed checks in 2026?
I bet: many investors who back startups like yours are still NOT in your fundraising radar.
Why⁉️
Because the publicly available data about recent early-stage deals is a mess.
And sources that have actual & verified data cost a fortune.
2 months were spent on collecting, cleaning & structuring data about web3 deals for PitchPop.
And 1 more to dive into early-stage investments in AI startups.
And today NEW PitchPop beta is live for both verticals.
An example from a $2.5M seed round for DePIN startup:
▪️ 579 funds screened
▪️ 208 marked as a good fit
▪️ 12 ranked & ready for this week outreach (with contacts, deal info, intro message, and follow up reminders for your calendar).
PitchPop does it in 3 minutes. €49 one-time fee during beta (free for InnMind PRO members - ask abt promocode in support chat), €149 after.
👉 Check your first investor matches for free 👈
I bet: many investors who back startups like yours are still NOT in your fundraising radar.
Why⁉️
Because the publicly available data about recent early-stage deals is a mess.
And sources that have actual & verified data cost a fortune.
2 months were spent on collecting, cleaning & structuring data about web3 deals for PitchPop.
And 1 more to dive into early-stage investments in AI startups.
And today NEW PitchPop beta is live for both verticals.
An updated fundraising intelligence module, that analyses your startup & similar deals, filters relevant funds that fit your case, matches investment partners who curate that kind of deals & gives you ready-to-use fundraising outreach pipeline, segmented as 12 prio investors to contact each week.
An example from a $2.5M seed round for DePIN startup:
▪️ 579 funds screened
▪️ 208 marked as a good fit
▪️ 12 ranked & ready for this week outreach (with contacts, deal info, intro message, and follow up reminders for your calendar).
That’s the research a professional fundraiser bills from a $1.5k/mo minimum retainer, often plus a % of your round.
PitchPop does it in 3 minutes. €49 one-time fee during beta (free for InnMind PRO members - ask abt promocode in support chat), €149 after.
👉 Check your first investor matches for free 👈
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🚩 VC Red Flag of the Week. № 4
Imagine you’re a VC. A founder opens the deck:
Nice. You keep reading. Then you discover that most of this capital came through aggressive yield incentives and points campaigns. Suddenly, that $100M looks very different. 👀
The question isn’t: “How much capital did you attract?”
It’s: “What kind of capital is it?”
Here’s what a VC will want to understand:
🔹 Concentration: Is the TVL spread across many depositors, or does a handful of wallets control most of it?
🔹 Duration: How long does capital stay in the protocol? Long-term deposits are a stronger signal than capital that moves in and out within days.
🔹 Organic vs. incentivized: How much capital remains when points, farming rewards, or other incentives are removed?
🔹 Economic activity: Is that capital actually being used? Look at transaction activity, borrowing, trading, or other meaningful protocol usage.
🔹 Revenue: How much actual protocol revenue or fees does the TVL generate?
💡 The VC takeaway:
$20M of sticky, productive TVL can be more convincing than $100M of rented liquidity.
So next time you put TVL on a slide, don’t stop at the number. Show what’s behind it.
🚩 Would you rather see $100M TVL or $20M TVL with strong retention and organic fees?
Imagine you’re a VC. A founder opens the deck:
TVL: $100M 🚀
Nice. You keep reading. Then you discover that most of this capital came through aggressive yield incentives and points campaigns. Suddenly, that $100M looks very different. 👀
The question isn’t: “How much capital did you attract?”
It’s: “What kind of capital is it?”
Here’s what a VC will want to understand:
🔹 Concentration: Is the TVL spread across many depositors, or does a handful of wallets control most of it?
🔹 Duration: How long does capital stay in the protocol? Long-term deposits are a stronger signal than capital that moves in and out within days.
🔹 Organic vs. incentivized: How much capital remains when points, farming rewards, or other incentives are removed?
🔹 Economic activity: Is that capital actually being used? Look at transaction activity, borrowing, trading, or other meaningful protocol usage.
🔹 Revenue: How much actual protocol revenue or fees does the TVL generate?
💡 The VC takeaway:
$20M of sticky, productive TVL can be more convincing than $100M of rented liquidity.
So next time you put TVL on a slide, don’t stop at the number. Show what’s behind it.
🚩 Would you rather see $100M TVL or $20M TVL with strong retention and organic fees?
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Investors rarely say direct “no”;
instead, they say “let’s stay in touch” to waste your time.
But you should know: No meeting or next step is a polite refusal.
We built a free tool to decode these VC replies. Paste the message to identify if it’s a soft no, hard no, or genuine interest, and get advice on what to send back.
TRY to decode investors’ replies in your inbox 😉
instead, they say “let’s stay in touch” to waste your time.
But you should know: No meeting or next step is a polite refusal.
We built a free tool to decode these VC replies. Paste the message to identify if it’s a soft no, hard no, or genuine interest, and get advice on what to send back.
TRY to decode investors’ replies in your inbox 😉
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Amounts below = total public rounds this quarter.
1️⃣ Coinbase Ventures | 4 seed rounds
- CatchBack ($7.8M; trading collectibles backed by physical cards)
- River Markets ($8.5M; trading across prediction markets)
- Tenor (undisclosed; fixed-rate onchain lending)
- ZeroDelta / Glacis Labs ($6.8M; clearing & settlement across chains)
2️⃣ Maven 11 | 3 pre-seed/seed rounds
- Firelight ($8M seed; cover against DeFi losses)
- Tenka ($2M pre-seed; marketplace for asset-backed credit). Lead.
- functionSPACE ($1.7M pre-seed; prediction markets with numerical outcomes). Co-lead.
3️⃣ Nascent | 2 pre-seed/seed rounds
- Bundle ($5.5M pre-seed; shared rewards pools for customer acquisition)
- Tenor (seed, undisclosed; fixed-rate onchain lending)
4️⃣ Metalayer Ventures | 2 seed rounds
- Birdai Labs ($4M; measuring & improving onchain trade execution)
- Firelight ($8M; cover against DeFi losses)
5️⃣ The Venture Dept | 2 seed rounds
- Birdai Labs ($4M; measuring & improving onchain trade execution)
- Tare ($13.25M; originating, managing & financing loans onchain)
6️⃣ Blockchain Capital | 1 seed lead
- Tare ($13.25M; onchain private-credit infrastructure)
7️⃣ Electric Capital | 1 seed lead
- infiniFi ($3M+; onchain yield products)
The recurring bets this quarter: credit & lending, trading infrastructure & protection against DeFi losses. Prediction markets & collectibles also attracted seed funding.
Raising in one of these niches? 👉 Find web3 funds matched to your startup on PitchPop.
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🚀 FREE AI CREDITS: Don't Leave Startup Money on the Table!
Founders, before you spend your runway on AI and cloud infrastructure, check what startup programs can offer you. 👀
From Claude and GPT to Gemini, GPUs, AI agents, and developer tools, there are multiple ways to reduce your tech costs while building your product.
🔥 What's worth exploring?
💰 Cloud credits for your infrastructure
🤖 AI model and API credits
⚡️ GPU compute, voice AI, and developer tools
The best part? You can start with self-serve programs, even if you're bootstrapped or haven't raised funding yet.
We've mapped out the opportunities in our 2026 guide to free AI credits for startups, with eligibility requirements, application routes, and tips for stacking programs strategically.
Don't apply blindly. Find the credits that actually fit your startup. 👇
🔗 Read the guide
Founders, before you spend your runway on AI and cloud infrastructure, check what startup programs can offer you. 👀
From Claude and GPT to Gemini, GPUs, AI agents, and developer tools, there are multiple ways to reduce your tech costs while building your product.
🔥 What's worth exploring?
💰 Cloud credits for your infrastructure
🤖 AI model and API credits
⚡️ GPU compute, voice AI, and developer tools
The best part? You can start with self-serve programs, even if you're bootstrapped or haven't raised funding yet.
We've mapped out the opportunities in our 2026 guide to free AI credits for startups, with eligibility requirements, application routes, and tips for stacking programs strategically.
Don't apply blindly. Find the credits that actually fit your startup. 👇
🔗 Read the guide
InnMind Blog: Fundraising & Growth for Web3 + AI Startups
Where the free AI credits actually are in 2026
Anthropic closed its startup program. Here is where Claude, GPT, Gemini & GPU credits still come from, and the fastest way to each.
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🚩 VC Red Flag of the Week. № 5
“We acquired 50,000 users last month!” 🚀
A VC checks the growth chart. Impressive spike! Then asks one question: “Where will your next 50,000 users come from?” 👀
Silence.
That’s the problem with growth built around a single campaign, KOL partnership, airdrop, or viral moment.
You might have found a way to attract attention. But have you found a repeatable way to acquire customers?
💡 What makes a stronger story?
Show investors that you understand:
🔹 Which channels bring users who actually activate
🔹 How much it costs to acquire an active user
🔹 Which channels keep delivering users over time
🔹 What makes users stay after the first interaction
You don’t need to have every growth channel figured out. But you should know what’s working, why it works, and how you plan to scale it.
🎯 Founder challenge: If your best acquisition channel disappeared tomorrow, what would you try next?
🚩 More VC Red Flags coming next week. #VCRedFlag
“We acquired 50,000 users last month!” 🚀
A VC checks the growth chart. Impressive spike! Then asks one question: “Where will your next 50,000 users come from?” 👀
Silence.
That’s the problem with growth built around a single campaign, KOL partnership, airdrop, or viral moment.
You might have found a way to attract attention. But have you found a repeatable way to acquire customers?
💡 What makes a stronger story?
Show investors that you understand:
🔹 Which channels bring users who actually activate
🔹 How much it costs to acquire an active user
🔹 Which channels keep delivering users over time
🔹 What makes users stay after the first interaction
You don’t need to have every growth channel figured out. But you should know what’s working, why it works, and how you plan to scale it.
🎯 Founder challenge: If your best acquisition channel disappeared tomorrow, what would you try next?
🚩 More VC Red Flags coming next week. #VCRedFlag
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📉 What Happens When Millions of Tokens Unlock?
A token unlock is coming. How much selling pressure can the market handle? And how long could it take to absorb those tokens?
These are the questions Web3 founders need to answer before launch. 🚀
We’ve broken down the key tokenomics metrics that can help you spot potential risks early.
🧮 Try the mini-calculator featured in our guide to check your FDV/MC ratio, estimate how many days of trading it would take to absorb sales after the biggest unlock, and identify red flags.
📊 The guide also includes 2026 data and detailed tokenomics breakdowns of 4 real projects: MegaETH, Backpack, edgeX and Gensyn.
Discover what their token distribution, liquidity and buyback models can teach us about designing more sustainable token economies.
👉 Read the full article
💪 Better understand the numbers before your next token launch.
A token unlock is coming. How much selling pressure can the market handle? And how long could it take to absorb those tokens?
These are the questions Web3 founders need to answer before launch. 🚀
We’ve broken down the key tokenomics metrics that can help you spot potential risks early.
🧮 Try the mini-calculator featured in our guide to check your FDV/MC ratio, estimate how many days of trading it would take to absorb sales after the biggest unlock, and identify red flags.
📊 The guide also includes 2026 data and detailed tokenomics breakdowns of 4 real projects: MegaETH, Backpack, edgeX and Gensyn.
Discover what their token distribution, liquidity and buyback models can teach us about designing more sustainable token economies.
👉 Read the full article
💪 Better understand the numbers before your next token launch.
InnMind Blog: Fundraising & Growth for Web3 + AI Startups
How to Analyze Tokenomics in 2026: Checklist, Calculator & Examples
Learn how to design successful tokenomics in 2026 by focusing on the metrics that actually matter: token distribution and vesting, token velocity, network usage, and burn / buyback mechanics. A practical guide for Web3 and crypto startup founders.
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