thinking...

What convinces them

•You are building a **protocol or platform** where the core value grows as more developers build on it. He wants to see a network effect, not a standalone app.

•The system is **credibly neutral**. No single company or foundation controls the rules. If you control the keys, the fees, or the data, he will assume you are building a walled garden.

•You have a clear **developer loop**: a specific, repeatable action a developer takes (deploy, query, verify) that gets faster or cheaper as the network grows.

•You can articulate **why blockchain specifically** solves a coordination or trust problem that a normal database cannot. If the answer is "tokens for incentives," you need a deeper reason.

What will kill the pitch

•**"We use blockchain for provenance."** He hears: "We have no idea why we are on-chain." Instead say: "The state must be shared across untrusted parties, and a ledger is the only way to settle it without a middleman."

•**"We have a centralized API and will decentralize later."** He hears: "We are building a startup, not a protocol." Instead say: "The first node is ours, but the consensus and data layer are open from day one."

•**No developer story.** If you cannot name the exact developer, their pain, and the first command they run, he will pass. Say: "A Solidity dev can deploy in 10 minutes, and here is the log from our first 50 testers."

Questions to prepare

1. Why blockchain for this? What fails if you use a Postgres database? 2. What is the developer loop? Walk me through the first 10 minutes of a new developer. 3. Who is the marginal developer, and why do they choose you over a centralized alternative? 4. What is the smallest network that is still useful? How do you get there? 5. Where is the centralization risk in your current architecture, and how do you plan to remove it? 6. What is your incentive design for early contributors before the token exists?

How to talk to them

Be direct, technical, and humble. Do not pitch hype or "revolution." He will interrupt with sharp questions, and he respects a founder who says "I don't know yet" and then reasons out loud. Avoid buzzwords like "ecosystem" and "synergy."

What to lead with at your stage

Since you are at SEED:

•**Early developer signals**: waitlist signups, GitHub stars, or a pilot with 2-3 real teams using your devtools.

•**A live demo of the developer loop**: show the exact command and the result, even if it is clunky.

•**Your insight on the market gap**: name the specific developer pain that existing infra ignores.

The bar

A PASS means he believes you have a credible path to a decentralized network with a self-sustaining developer community, and that you are the right systems thinker to build it. He benchmarks against the best protocol founders he has backed, so you need a sharp thesis and a working prototype.

Chris Dixon

Quick profile

Fund facts

How to win Chris Dixon