2025-12-24 daily note

Wed Dec 24 2025

innovator's dilemma cac vs how long it takes to turn over that CAC you don't have to spend/burn money, but money helps a lot to save time

shopback got 2-3 million monthly active users 200M raised in the bank earning interest

More thoughts on token and network effects one wants to build with token:

token should be used to bootstrap network effects solana has strong network effects because of the token, people are incentivised to shill SOL, develop SOL, etc.

give it out to bootstrap the network and put some

prerequisite: be very clear what we are bootstrapping. "users to the app" dont feel like smth that needs to be bootstrapped, as much as a network bootstrapping is more of a financial marketplace, two- or three- sided marketplace etc.

a community can be bootstrapped people sticking around, helping other people

at the end of the day, know your users and community

problem: finance is broken, the system is kind of rigged, it's becoming more and more predatory or gambly

The world needs a better, less predatory financial system. We are building that Sanctum App to be the change we want to see, to nudge people towards better financial practices that secure their longterm future.

maybe i want to build for builders, entrepreneurs instead

altitude + grid + squads is an amazing product with clear vision, it totally makes sense

build for people who want to grow money slowly + build wealth through owning good companies?

build a smart network of people who just want to help each other create more value in the world?

Guiding question: "What sort of people do we want our users to become, after joining Sanctum?"

Shopback: save money, more frugal?
Signal: more privacy-conscious
Framework: more handsy, repairable, DIYish

It cannot possibly be the case that what we have today is optimal for our users and people around the world. There is obviously a problem.

Where your apps are making people more addicted, more gambly, losing them money in expectation, that's a problem

I want people who use my app to become a better person. Become the best version of yourself; more disciplined, less emotional, more patient, etc.

Sanctum should make money. We are here to make profit. I believe that. I don't want to run a nonprofit or charity. At the same time, all of this stuff is kind of sleight of hand, it is less important

The reason for the Sanctum app: Why Signal over Whatsapp/Telegram Why Framework over Apple

Simple
Clean
Long-term oriented
Will never sell out to maximise short-term revenues (long term)

Every feature we should build prioritise simplicity and ease of mental effort, and nudge people to make better financial decisions, to become the best version of themselves.

There are no shortage of apps promising to help you earn, save, spend, and invest your money. What makes Sanctum different?

Token primacy as a value alignment and accrual mechanism
Not gambly
How are we better than a bank? (more innovative, less middleman, way less conservative, less fat cats taking crazy middleman fees)
How are we better than crypto?/wallet/brokerages? (focus on using crypto rails to get rich slowly not quickly, less speculative)