TGE: Incentives & Pre-Launch Campaigns

Strategic Context

The six months before your TGE are the most misunderstood—and most critical—period in your project’s life cycle.

This isn’t the time to “drop announcements” and hope for engagement. This is the time to architect participation, behavior, and meaning.

Great pre-TGE campaigns don’t just generate buzz, they build behavioral flywheels, seed long-term alignment, and turn users into stakeholders. This module gives you the tools to do exactly that.

Outcomes of this module:

• Craft a token incentive model aligned to real user actions

• Design a campaign arc that compels people to care, share, and return

• Align launch with ecosystem sequencing and partner compounding

Core Principles

Tokens Incentivize Behavior, Not Attention

Design incentives around staking, swapping, referring, and building—not just wallet count.

Pre-TGE Is a Campaign Arc, Not a Countdown

Launch is a climax, not a starting gun. Plan a multi-phase arc that earns attention.

Design Gamified Rituals That Scale Culture

Weekly quests, shareables, and rituals are how movements grow.

Segment Your Community, Don’t Spray and Pray

Map incentives to builders, referrers, LPs, and core contributors—don’t treat them the same.

Create Message–Market Fit

You need more than a feature list. Craft a “why now” narrative with an enemy and hero.

Map to the Ecosystem’s Sequencing

Coordinate with other launches, integrations, and momentum signals.

Pre-TGE Content and KOL Strategy

KOLs and founders drive story, not hype. Align them with your arc and turn them into advocates.

Action Plan: Build Your Pre-TGE System

This section walks projects through a 5-part process using the tools provided. Each step mirrors a core job to be done in the lead-up to TGE.

Step 1: Define the Behavior Flywheel

Tokens don’t market your project, they shape user behavior.

Tool: Token Incentive Design Canvas

• Define the 3–5 most important behaviors you want to drive (e.g., swap, stake, refer)

• Match each to an incentive type (yield, access, XP, status)

• Sketch a feedback loop (what makes the behavior repeat?)

Goal: Create a repeatable system, not just a one-time bribe.

✶ Tip: Start small. Great flywheels scale from a few deeply rewarding actions.

Step 2: Sequence Your Campaign Arc

TGE isn’t a single “event.” It’s the last beat of a well-orchestrated symphony.

Tool: Campaign Arc Builder

• Lay out your 3–6 month runway to TGE

• Place your key product milestones, ecosystem integrations, and community activations

• Map missions, rituals, and content drops into each month

Goal: Make each month feel more alive than the last.

✶ Tip: Think in waves. Each month should build anticipation and deepen engagement.

Step 3: Segment and Design for Real Users

Not all users want the same thing. Airdrops shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all.

Complete the Understanding your Audience module.

Tool: Community Segmentation Map

• Define your core user types (builders, traders, referrers, lurkers)

• Design custom incentives and campaigns for each

• Assign internal owners to steward each segment

Goal: Incentives land better when they feel personal.

✶ Tip: Rituals are most powerful when they feel personal.

Step 4: Nail Message–Market Fit

Before you go viral, you need to go visceral.

Complete the Core Narrative & Messaging module.

• Pick a cultural frame: rebellion, movement, meme, underdog, inevitability

• Craft a manifesto that answers: “Why now?” and “What’s at stake?”

• Align visuals, memes, and artifacts to reinforce your story

Goal: Make people believe they’re joining something bigger.

✶ Tip: If your story wouldn’t spread in a Telegram chat, it’s not ready yet.

Step 5: Coordinate Across the Ecosystem

You don’t have to go it alone. Align your TGE with others in the Stellar network.

Tool: Ecosystem Sequencing Template

• Identify who launches before you and after you

• List ecosystem apps that can integrate or support you

• Time announcements to echo broader narratives

• Partner for co-marketing, liquidity sharing, or ecosystem boosts

Goal: Shared momentum beats solo hype.

✶ Tip: If your token is isolated at launch, it will die isolated.

Real-World Models and Examples

Jupiter’s Flywheel

• Points only came after usage and traction

• Community feedback was invitational, not performative

• Airdrop horizon gave users a reason to stay, not just claim

Friend.tech’s Game Design

• Every referral triggered value for multiple participants

• Leaderboards and rituals created daily engagement patterns

• Scarcity and social triggers made it viral without paid media

Optimism’s Ongoing Missions

• Used missions and quests to keep builders and users aligned

• Adjusted retroactive rewards based on sustained contribution

Final Checklist: Are You Launching with Momentum?

✓ I’ve defined the core behaviors I want to incentivize
✓ I’ve mapped a 3–6 month campaign arc across segments
✓ I’ve designed rituals, not just rewards
✓ My incentives are aligned to long-term ecosystem value
✓ I’ve coordinated with upstream/downstream ecosystem partners
✓ I’ve tested my message on real users before launch
✓ My team and community are actively participating pre-launch
✓ My airdrop/reward structure extends post-TGE to prevent mercenary exits