Content That Improves Dealflow

In 2014, Jason Lemkin published a piece of content. A founder named Tiago from Talkdesk read it, then cold emailed Jason mentioning their recent launch and business stats.

SaaStr was impressed enough to invest based purely on that email.

And today, Talkdesk is valued at approximately $10 billion.

There is power in content that attracts the right founder at the right time.

Dealflow separates okay outcomes in venture from great ones. But most inbound to VCs is noise - founders at the wrong stage, in sectors you don't cover, or just chasing any investor with capital.

What if you could flip that? What if you could curate exactly the inbound you're looking for - pre-qualified founders who already understand what you offer and why they're a fit?

The solution isn't more content. Generic content compounds generic results and attracts more low-quality inbound.

Building on last week’s “unique data, unique perspective” piece this week will explore how to create ‘magnetic content’, that actively improves your inbound.

Your Content is a Magnet: What Are You Actually Attracting?

Every fund wants to back "eXcEpTiOnAl FoUnDeRs." But your content reveals who you're actually optimised for.

First Round wants to partner with founders at the earliest possible stages. So, they produce The Review, full of operator content - hiring frameworks, go-to-market playbooks, operational guides - and attract founders who need execution help. This is similar to Hustle Fund’s approach:

Founders Fund instead, has a unique brand focused on attracting non-conventional thinkers. They brand events like Hereticon - "A conference for people banned from other conferences…" Their content attracts risk-takers building things others dismiss.

YC makes "how to get into YC" content, and lo and behold… they attract founders trying to get into YC.

This isn't coincidence. Your content is a magnet.

The question is whether it's attracting what you actually want.

The Problem

Most funds make content that feels productive but doesn't attract the founders they can actually back.

European funds are really leaning into the “But Europe is a good place startups!" debate. Meanwhile, their target founders - already building in Europe - need content about navigating GDPR or hiring across EU borders.

Likewise, I have been watching a pre-seed stage fund consistently publish content (albeit wide reaching) about how companies like Stripe scaled to billions. Their inbound is probably full of founders dreaming about unicorns instead of founders with novel ideas trying to hit $500k ARR.

Your content should signal what you value and what you can help with.

If that doesn't match your actual capabilities, stage, or model, you're filling your calendar with the wrong meetings.

Big Audience vs. The Right Audience

We have touched on this before as part of measuring the effectiveness of your funds content, but most funds are mistakenly optimising for reach.

The algorithm is sophisticated. Content IS the targeting.

I work with funds whose reach is low compared to mega funds but who have outsized influence because we've built their audience of exactly the right people.

A European deep-tech fund making content about Flagship 2 might get <5,000 views. But if 500 of those are exactly their target founders, that's a massive win.

Measure success by: "Did the right people see this?" not "How many total views?"

How To Influence the Right People

I have a degree in Defence Studies. One of the core lessons from counterinsurgency is that winning over the local population is primarily about winning over tribal elders or community leaders.

Get to them, and they propagate the message for you. And it's more effective coming from them than from you, because you're self-interested and probably an outsider.

In counterinsurgency, reaching one person considered an authority in a community is more valuable than reaching 200 random people. In the age of social media, maybe 10,000 random people.

Founder referrals work the same way. The founder network is tight-knit. Get an "in" with the right nodes, and your dealflow quality improves dramatically.

For VC content, this means:

Optimise for reaching the influential nodes in your target community.

One respected founder or voice in your sector sharing your content does more than 10,000 random followers.

Identify 10-20 people who are authorities in your target community:

• Well-connected founders in your sector/geography

• Operators who advise multiple startups

• Angels who see deal flow in your space

• Portfolio companies who know your ideal founders

Make content that's valuable enough that these people share it. They become your distribution.

Better yet: partner with these influential people to co-create content like this or like this.

How Content Improves Dealflow

Traditional marketing sees content as a top-of-funnel activity.

Make content → get awareness → founders reach out → dealflow improves.

This is partially true, but it misses the key mechanism.

Dealflow improves by making the right founders reach out earlier and with context.

The issue with the traditional dealflow model (cold inbound, warm intros, network) is that many founders arrive unaware of your funds specifics.

What changes with content-founder fit:

Founders who are exactly your profile discover you before they need to raise. They consume your content while they're still building - maybe they're 6 months from fundraising. During those 6 months, they're reading your portfolio learnings, watching you explain how you think about their specific problem, seeing you demonstrate expertise in their exact context.

By the time they're ready to raise, you're the fund that understands their specific challenges. The founder reaches out, already understanding what you offer, already pre-qualified on stage and sector fit.

[more ideas on this concept here, and I'll cover capturing and warming founder contacts in a future piece].

The Framework: Your Content Filter

Before you make any content, answer three questions:

Question 1: Who can you realistically back?

This is your realistic target. Make content for this profile, not the profile you aspire to.

Question 2: What problems does that profile have RIGHT NOW?

Not problems they'll have in 3 years. Problems they have at the moment they'd take your check.

Question 3: What can you actually help with?

For each problem you listed, what unique data or unique perspective do you have?

If you can't answer either data or perspective, don't make content about that problem. You'll attract founders expecting help you can't provide.

Based on your answers to the three questions, create your filter:

• We make content for: [Your specific founder profile from Question 1]

• About these specific problems: [Your 3-5 problems from Question 2]

• Where we can demonstrate: [Your unique data/perspective from Question 3]

• That would be shared by: [The influential people in your target community]

Everything you make should pass through this filter.

With consistency your content will find the right people if you make content for the right people and the influential nodes in your community will amplify it if it's of value.

Laurie, Refinery Media

If you made it all the way through, thanks so much for reading! Several hundred VCs now open this every week. If it’s helped you think differently about marketing, Venture, or storytelling, please send it to someone in your orbit.