Web3 investors operate on a different risk calculus than traditional VCs. Many of these funds emerged from crypto-native backgrounds—former protocol developers, DeFi traders, or early token holders—which means they're comfortable with technical complexity but allergic to founders who can't articulate why their project needs to be onchain. The bar for "why blockchain" is higher than you'd expect; these investors have seen hundreds of pitches where the token felt bolted on. Come prepared to explain the specific mechanism design, not just the market opportunity. Also know that deal velocity in web3 can be deceptively fast—term sheets sometimes arrive within days—but that speed often comes with strings: token warrants, advisory token allocations, or expectations around launch timelines that can create pressure you didn't anticipate.

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Sector focus matters more here than in generalist funds. Some web3 investors are infrastructure-obsessed (L2s, interoperability, developer tooling), others are DeFi-native and want to see novel financial primitives, and a growing cohort is focused on where crypto intersects with AI agents, real-world assets, or payments rails. The funds that came up through trading or market-making tend to scrutinize tokenomics and liquidity design more aggressively—they'll ask about vesting schedules, emission curves, and exchange listing strategy before they ask about your team. Meanwhile, the more traditional VC-style crypto funds (often spun out of firms like a16z or Paradigm alumni) will pattern-match closer to conventional startup metrics: team, traction, defensibility. Knowing which type you're talking to will save you from leading with the wrong part of your story.