Who Builds When There’s Nothing to Gain?

We don’t talk enough about how difficult it is to find developers who are willing to build without immediate financial gain.

In Web3, most building still revolves around wallets, not problems.
Teams get assembled based on how well a grant deck is written, not how well a system is designed to survive user stress. Developers optimize for token allocations, not real-world outcomes. And most projects despite their ambitious roadmaps are carefully wrapped in the soft cushion of speculation. They build until the funding runs out. They don’t build because the mission demands it.

This wasn’t how Web2 was born.

Web2 exploded because curious, stubborn, sometimes borderline-obsessed people stared at broken things and thought, “I can fix that.” The rise of platforms like YouTube, Reddit, Facebook, and even GitHub wasn’t incentive-led. They were side projects, labors of love. The value came after people solved problems at scale. And even though Web2 wasn’t perfect, it evolved because problem-solving was still sacred.

But now, in Web3?

We fund ideas before they’re validated.
We distribute tokens before we onboard users.
We reward speculation before contribution.
We make noise louder than we build trust.

The result? Shiny platforms with no players. Protocols with no purpose. Games with no fun.

If developers only show up when there’s a grant, are they really builders?

If the only measure of success is a presale round, what happens when the music stops?

We need to start asking the harder questions:

  • What are we building for?
  • Who are we serving?
  • And most importantly… What comes after this?

Is Web3 the finish line?
Or is it just another iteration like Web1 to Web2?

Because if we’re honest, Web3 hasn’t fulfilled the promise yet. Not for the users. Not for the creators. Not for the ecosystems still trying to bootstrap trust.

So what does Web4 look like?

Is it AI-native? Is it creator-owned?
Is it invisible infrastructure where blockchain is finally in the background, not the headline?
Is it a world where communities govern not just tokens, but the very narrative of the products they use?

Maybe Web4 won’t even be called that.
Maybe it’s a full return to utility, where decentralization exists as a default, not a debate.
Maybe we stop building apps and start building worlds.
Worlds where users are more than metrics. Where developers are more than mercenaries. Where ownership is not just financial, but emotional.

But we won’t get there if we keep building for ourselves.

We get there by finding real problems. Solving them like it’s life or death. And showing up even when there’s no airdrop waiting at the finish line.

Because that’s how revolutions happen.

So I ask again:
Who builds when there’s nothing to gain?

Maybe that’s the person who’ll invent what comes after Web3.

23 Likes

I like your example of Web2 - PURPOSE!
This is an excellent driver and motivation! It is paramount to find purpose and as a community I believe it is great driver to support our members in pursuing this goal!

1 Like

I am happy someone shares my view.. it’s a huge step in the right direction, will definitely be hard but really worth the effort.

1 Like

This is so true, and I completely agree.
Web3 needs more people focused on solving real problems, not just chasing incentives. Hopefully the whole space wakes up and starts building what truly matters, only then will we see real mass adoption. Thank you for spreading this message and reminding us what we should stand for.

1 Like

This is a really great point. That said, I’m not sure some of the big Web2 giants truly behaved all that differently either. Still, this is the uncomfortable truth we don’t say out loud enough in Web3. If we genuinely believe in decentralization and long-term impact, we need to move beyond the hype and start focusing on solving real problems, and not only talking 24 hours a day about tokenomics and Token prices

1 Like

I think web2 developers focus on adoption first before reward. It’s rare for web2 apps to generate revenue with any form of adoption. But I see where you are coming from, a selfish notion here and there would nudge in the right way. But the way forward is the solve problems.