Uniswap, DyDx, and Lido had great technology and their mindshare caused them to establish themselves as premier DeFi protocols. Uniswap generated a memorable brand by focusing on design simplicity and user experience. dYdX listened to its customers from the beginning and was not afraid to pivot from a dApp to its own L2 and finally migrate to a sovereign chain. Lido's bias for action, exemplified by its use of permissioned validator sets to start, allowed it to ship quickly and integrate rapidly with various other protocols.