Today I share two articles. This article comes from Paul Smalera, a vertically segmented content creator. He is employed by some top venture capital institutions as a ghost writer and has some unique observations on how investment institutions operate their own media and content strategies. Just like the concept of compound interest in the financial field, content also has a compound interest effect. Traditionally, venture capital is a business about access (channels and relationships). Now it is a business about attention (attention and influence), but in the long run it is an attitude (attitude and belief) business. The latter two points are how a modern media company builds its brand and the secret to commercial success.
Since Silicon Valley's new generation of venture capital A16Z quietly learned from Hollywood's all-around performing arts agency CAA, the investment industry has increasingly turned to sophisticated media-driven strategies. It is not just an option, but the core of competition. Although the voices in the media field are becoming more and more saturated today, unique insights and personal styles are still scarce, and new tools have begun to mature - artificial intelligence and intelligent agents, personalized hardware devices and robotic arms, etc., the toolbox of media creation is becoming more and more abundant. The cost and threshold of media have been reduced, so what does this mean for investment companies and financial institutions in the new era? Where to start experimenting and building?
I hope today's article will inspire you.
The next top venture capital institution will operate as a media company from the beginning.
The Next Great VC Firm Will Be Built Like a Media Company From Day One
Founders don’t just choose capital — they choose the stories they want to be a part of. Founders Don’t Just Pick Capital—They Pick the Stories They Want to Belong To
Author: Paul Smalera
Editor: Fan Yang
Published on: April 10, 2025
In the past, venture capital was a business that relied on “channels” ( leaf="">venture capital was a business built on access 。
Today, venture capital is a business built on attention 。
The top venture capital firms in the next decade will not win simply because of better project sources or wider connections. They’ll win because they build belief—at scale, with precision—as a media company builds a global brand. In short: The next legendary VC firm will operate more like a modern media company than a traditional investment partnership.
And the organizations that realize this trend first will dominate the battle for founders, capital, and mind share.
Here’s why this paradigm shift is happening—and how it affects smart organizations’ content strategies today.
The Old Model: Whisper Networks and Reputation
Traditionally, venture capital is a relationship business. Deals were sourced through tight personal networks ， Reputation traveled through private conversations 。 Institutional brands are limited to the evaluations of LPs, founders and other investors in closed-door meetings.
In that era, public content was just a nice-to-have or even a routine matter ( public content was optional. A nice-to-have. A box to check). The New Model: Always-On Distribution and Narrative Power Today, founders don’t wait for private referrals. They search. They follow. They listen.
Before the first meeting, they already know:
What do you think of their industry
What kind of founders do you admire
What kind of partner would you be
Your public content is your reputation now
It is no longer an accessory to investment work, but a core factor that determines the success or failure of a transaction. In the era of information explosion, founders choose not only capital, but also the ideas they want to bet their careers on.
What a Media-Company VC Firm Actually Looks Like
Structuring an organization like a media company is much more than just making a podcast or sending more tweets.
It means thinking like a newsroom about your entire platform
1. You Develop a Sharp Editorial Perspective
Top media have unique perspectives, and top venture capitalists need the same.
Not a generic “we invest in great founders,” but a true editorial stance on how the world is changing—and why you’re betting your time and money accordingly
But a true editorial stance on how the world is changing—and why you’re betting your time and money accordingly
Example:
Instead of saying “we invest in fintech,” make a specific thesis:
“We believe embedded finance will reshape the unit economics of all SaaS verticals by 2028 — here’s the data to back it up.”
2. Reusable content machine
You Build Repeatable Content Machines Great media companies aren’t guessing what to publish every week They have repeatable formats that build brand consistency Example: Launch the Insight Series to regularly break down early signals of PMF (product-market fit) in core tracks—publish an in-depth analysis every quarter. Founders start looking forward to your analysis like clockwork. 3. You Prioritize Storytelling Over Announcements Most VC content today looks like a corporate PR press release. But humans remember stories, not bullet points.
Example:
Investment announcements should not only have template quotes, but should tell the founder’s founding origin story, your market insights, and the key points that you see but others overlook.
4. Treat founders like your audience, not the source of projects
You Treat Founders Like Your Audience, Not Just Deal Flow
Media companies build loyalty by serving users to the extreme, and top venture capital firms should also focus on the needs of founders. Example: You invest time in building sector-specific resource libraries, founder playbooks, and micro-communities—not because it’s marketing, but because it makes the right people want to work with you. 5. You Think in Multi-Format, Evergreen Assets Media companies are not dependent on a single channel. The best firms will create foundational content—research, frameworks, tools—that remain valuable for years
Examples:
Instead of chasing hot topics, publish an industry benchmark report or technical recruiting guide that founders cite year after year.
Who’s already doing it?
Who’s Already Doing It
The most forward-looking investors aren’t just participating in media—they’re treating it as a foundational part of firm-building.
Before starting his own fund, Harry Stebbings built The Twenty Minute VC into the most influential media brand in the venture capital industry.
Homebrew’s Hunter Walk has long viewed blogging as the core of agency building, attracting founders with similar ideas through public writing.
Theory Ventures’ Tom Tunguz has spent a decade producing data-driven content that has defined the entire SaaS industry’s perception of growth.
Even before launching an agency, emerging voices like Molly O’Shea have been accumulating attention and trust through media-first personal brands.
Why this model will win? Why This Approach Wins Attention compounds The firms investing in media-grade content today are building advantages that will only widen over time: In Deal Flow: Founders will actively find you before financing. In LP Relationships: Differentiated narrative capabilities make fundraising more efficient. In Strategic Influence: You’ll shape how entire markets are understood, not just which startups get funded.
In an era where capital is commoditized, those who control the storytelling control the future.
Looking Forward
If you were starting a new venture firm today, how would you run it like a media from day one?
What storytelling investments would you prioritize first?
Reply to this email—I’d love to hear your thoughts, and your ideas may appear in the next issue.
Because in this new era, it’s not enough to bet on the next great startup.
You have to tell a story that makes great founders want to join.
Anais
Weatherly
Catherine
Kikyo