Had the pleasure of meeting @Pons_ETH today — sharp on the timeline, sharper in person. Excited for his vision with @xeetdotai: finally, a blend of common sense and attribution in a space flooded with noise.

Firstly, I don't pretend to be an expert but I worked in social media addvertising and then programmatic ads at tech firms in SF for a few years -> brands like Dollar Shave Club, SuperCell, Toyota, Halo Top etc.

I have a few thoughts:
- Online advertising is brutal
- Declining margins
- Attribution is nearly impossible.
- Web3 marketing is a mess
- Most “Web3 agencies” and KOLs are just flippers/traders who went semi-viral once and decided they’re brand strategists
- Their playbooks are recycled. Their strategies are generic. Their “growth” is a mirage

But let’s stay on track — this is about attentionfi.

You’ll pay influencers $100 to $10K+ for a tweet. Maybe they write a thread. Maybe someone shares it. But post-2021, that doesn't really convert. The hype cycle is over. Very few of these KOLs drive real users, let alone paying ones.

Most unicorns you idolize aren’t relevant benchmarks — they’re anomalies, not playbooks.

Take Kaito. Great product. But since Feb, the same 300 people rotate through the top 30. Closed loop. Looks like reach, but it’s just recycled engagement.

The algorithm on X favors yapping, not quality.
Fake news gets attention. Sandwich pics do numbers. That’s fine. But it doesn’t scale outside the same 10K crypto trenchers. Take @camolNFT fake news run or when a bunch of ppl screenshotted Voh and made it to the top.

You can farm X likes all you want but ask yourself: Would a real customer care?

Most KOLs can’t cross the chasm. Their content is culturally irrelevant outside this niche. And while memes and shitposts have a role, they rarely translate to conversions or retention.

Yes, there are outliers:
@icobeast, @blknoiz06, @breadguy -> they’re storytellers, community builders, and narrative crafters. They drive energy. They’re worth hiring -> them solo tweeting unless you're hoping for a CA is probably not as valuable as their orchestrating narrative and community strat.

But that’s 1%. The other 99%? You’re lighting a marketing budget on fire...often $1M+ a month.

Remember Luckio? Probably burned millions on marketing. Some worked. Most didn’t.
Same story with Sui. Same story across the board.
Crypto KOLs (today) have capped distribution. Their audience is reflexive, memecoins, fake PnLs, exit liquidity, pics of lambos.

If you really believe they have value, ask them to charge $100/month for access. I want to see if any of these guys can build a subscribership like @wizardofsoho - he's one trader who has a paying base and its not cheap for the average lad.

The rest? Noise.

Attention isn’t attribution.
Impressions aren’t conversion.
And marketing without measurement is just blind leading the blind homie.

So anyways, if someone can build tools and bridge the gap, it will save Web2 a lot of pain and build an ev+ tool