Startups and TV Shows: Overlapping Worlds 🎥

I’ve consistently been surprised by the many similarities between investing in startups and making TV shows. I transitioned from investing in and building startups to running a long-form content house last summer. Over the past year, I have built a creative team, led the scripting of 6 web-series, produced 4 shows and built a pipeline of 15+ ideas that we’re actively pitching to platforms.

The move has definitely been challenging: making a show is hard work. You’re managing sets of 60–80 freelancers with very different skill-sets. It often takes at least a year to write, shoot, edit and release a series. It’s also more fun and stimulating than I could have imagined.

Some of the similarities I’ve found striking are:

The pain and pleasure of being in a hits business

Just as in early-stage investing, despite your carefully thought out hypotheses, frameworks and screens, you can’t predict what’s going to work. You bring a strong idea of what you want to make and why to the table: but in the end, your success or failure is determined by what your consumer wants.

You take a portfolio approach: you know that you’ll end up having some hits, and some flops, and do your best to ensure that your hits are large enough to more than make up for the failures.