Opinion: Tim Hafner, founder and general director of Openserv
Starting was introduced to provide the Web3 project access to early investors. However, when they work today, they too often cause cash to bring long -term success. This caused a flood with half of the formed products hitting the market without real support for builders.
The Virtuals protocol has facilitated over 17,000 tokens of AI agents since February 2025, which indicates that the prime minister infrastructure does not tardy down. However, there are questions about long -term sustainable development and accounting of starts.
Projects without substance ensure financing, which ultimately causes failure, reflecting a deeper problem in the industry. Launchpads have become empty funnels that finance projects without the need for a real product or technical foundation.
Which was to be launched
Designed as a meeting point for builders and believers, Launchpads helps modern projects to raise funds and boost brand awareness, while enabling global investors to get promising technologies early. This approach helps to fill a significant gap, making teams easier to access funds and community support.
As the industry matures, this model revealed its limitations. Many starts are focused on collecting funds, and not on achieving long -term success. In this sense, they got stuck in the past, behaving like decentralized shark tanks, not innovation engines. Instead of managing technical innovations, Launchpads completely removed it as a category.
Problem with “start anything”
Many launching people are proud to be chain-agnostic, positioning as neutral arenas for funds to raise funds. This neutrality also causes a lack of focus and standards, turning into free for everyone who does not assist the best projects stand out and develop.
Some say that innovation should not be carried out and everyone should be able to raise funds. But without focusing on original, sophisticated technology or clear handrails for tokens, starting becomes an average arena, on which no one wins. Investors are bombarded with half -baked pitches and superficial noise cycles, while builders try to collect capital without significant support.
Related: Grayscale adds AI Launchpads, Solana DEFI applications to the highest Q1 2025 tokens
This approach worked for earlier iterations of Web3 projects, which prioritize to distribute tokens compared to long -term growth. However, this model no longer brings this market. Days of quick winnings and premiere with low content no longer have. Along with increased regulatory control, the next generation of launchpad must go beyond theory and in operation, introducing only projects with real products.
Developers need better infrastructure
Most builders juggle from three to four disconnected tools for shipping the project. Many factors should be taken into account, including building backends, maintenance of costs, servers hosting and security systems. No wonder that promising projects stop before they start correctly.
Building a real product requires a lot of work. Time-honored starts are narrowly on helping projects in raising capital. But capital does not assist to solve operational bottlenecks. Builders, especially those without deep pockets or pedigree, need starts that support them from end to end to simplify the entire journey.
The Launchpads ethos must be: “Giving designers to tools needed to focus on their products,” not to get the scaffolding around them.
Projects require the support of many agents
In addition to better tools, running must evolve to enable programmers to build really powerful applications that solve the real problems of users. Instead of simply implementing token contracts, contemporary platforms must ensure infrastructure to create applications with real usability, accept users and generate revenues.
Since 2025 became the year of AI agents, they employ projects by introducing a solid platform for building application, and then building running around these applications. This creates a cycle in which successful applications drive the platform reception, attracting more programmers and creating the effects of the network of valuable applications, builders and users, solving real problems on a immense scale.
Building better, not just raising more
If Launchpads want to be part of the solution, they must get out of their own way. They are extremely prepared to manage technical innovations, but we will not have better projects without better tools.
The next generation of Launchpads must transfer the distribution of tokens from the past towards helping builders in building better. This means providing comprehensive support through construction and developing products as well as offering brilliant incentives and handrails to ensure that everyone’s interests are even.
Opinion: Tim Hafner, founder and general director of Openserv.
This article is used for general information purposes and should not be and should not be treated as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are themselves and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
