for VCs, angels, and founders: how to consume content and stay in the "know" by time-blocking
Week 4 2023 (January 22-28)
There’s a lot of content out there. It can feel overwhelming.
A symptom of being a VC or founder is required reading, listening, and watching content to maintain awareness of the latest tech news and trends. Moreover, materials on strategies to operate efficiently, personally, and professionally are also part of a VC / founder’s purview. If you aren't organized in your approach to digesting content, it’s easy to feel like you’re drowning in a sea of information. Whether it’s a Twitter thread about five books you should read to break into VC or a release of Harry Stebbings’ 20VC podcast, there’s a lot to keep up with, and you need to prioritize.
It’s taken a while, but after two years of studying the VC / startup ecosystem, I’ve figured out how to construct my days to consume what’s relevant to my investment thesis, fund managers, and life goals. I’m sharing this with you because I wish I had had someone do the same when I started.
1. Define your goals
Investors (junior VCs, future VCs, angels)
Being an investor requires A LOT of research. Before investing in a company, you’d ideally define your investment thesis. Here’s an example of the building blocks of a thesis. Decide on (an example):
A geographic region (Africa)
A sector - e.g., fintech, healthtech, proptech, agtech, etc (sector-agnostic)
A business model - e.g., B2B, B2B2C, B2C (B2B & B2B2C)
An investment Stage - e.g., pre-seed, seed, series A, etc. (pre-seed & seed)
Your secret sauce - e.g., previous operator, investment track record, sector-specific experience, etc.
In summary, if you were a fund being asked your investment thesis in one sentence, it would read:
“[Fund Name] is launching a [$x MM] [Stage] venture fund in [Country / City] to back [Geography] [Sector / Market Companies] [with Secret Sauce].”
If you’re an angel, you will modify this statement for relevance.
If you work at a fund, you’ll need to research and source deals pertinent to the fund’s thesis. But develop your own because one day you’ll invest in companies that YOU believe in.
Founders
As a founder, you’re building an industry and customer-specific product or service. Your offering will fall into an investment thesis if you plan to raise venture capital (which is not the only funding source you can target!). If you do end up pursuing venture capital, you’ll need a pitch, which requires you to research and build for product-market fit by defining the following:
A problem
A solution
A market
Your competition and prospective business models
VCs that fit your thesis
Your raise
Etc.
It’s beneficial to determine your goals right away in this industry because there’s so much information you’ll need to absorb to be in the “know.” You want the learning process to feel like leisure vs. labor.
2. Decide on the content you should consume
Investors (junior VCs, future VCs, angels)
Focus most of your time on gaining knowledge that will help you draft and evolve your thesis. Information related to your thesis that you’ll need to research includes:
History
Economics
Government policy and regulation
Sector-specific nuances
Successful mature startups (unicorns, acquisitions)
Experienced investors
Potential investments
Etc.
There are sub-categories for each of the above that I’ll leave out for haste. However, you’ll also need to keep up with general industry trends.
Founders
While a founder’s primary focus is building, you’ll need to keep up with information related to your industry and customers. Therefore, your resource library will involve learning from the following:
Competitors
Exited founders
Other builders
Consumers
Resources for building and raising capital
Etc.
Both
The most successful investors and founders I’ve observed tend to understand the benefit of life balance. They prioritize physical and mental health. They find time to take care of their bodies through exercise and minds through knowledge and intentional rest.
Sources
There are several sources of content. Here’s a short list:
Audio: Podcasts / Videos
Traditional Text: Articles, Newsletters, Books, Reports, etc.
Databases: World Bank, Briter Bridges, Africa The Big Deal, etc.
Socials: Twitter, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, etc.
Several others…
3. How to stay organized via time-blocking
As someone raised to respect routines, I advise creating a calendar and blocking off time to take in content at specific times consistently every week. Of course, it’s fair to assume that every week can’t be the same. But building routines is the safest way to remain productive and progress.
Here’s how you can do it:
Orange Sections: this is ME time. I sleep early and rise early. As a competitive swimmer, it was a lifestyle. And it’s a standard I’ve kept up to this day. During this time I:
Work out
Run / Body Pump / HIIT Monday & Tuesday
Swim Wednesday & Friday
Hot Yoga Thursday, Saturday & Sunday
Spend time with my daughter
Get ready for work
Green Sections: times when I listen to audio/visual.
Podcasts #1-4 are self-improvement and industry-agnostic podcasts
At least three days a week, I listen to content specific to my industry.
You can double-task while listening to a podcast (cook, clean, do laundry, email, etc.)
Purple Sections: times when I read text
I read industry-specific and agnostic newsletters, tech news, and books.
Red Sections: times when I engage on socials
There’s much to keep up with on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and group chats. So if I come across things I want to read while perusing these sources, I’ll add them to a Notion page where I keep a list of things I need to get back to. I’ll then slot them into times I read to limit distractions.
Blue Sections: I grind out. Here’s what it would look like for different professions:
9-5 Angel: you’re doing your 9-5. If time allows, maybe you’re doing more research, reading reports, writing, meeting founders, or networking
VCs: you’re researching, writing, meeting founders, meeting investors, speaking at / attending events, attending pitch competitions, working on communications to LPs, fundraising, etc.
Founders: you’re building, meeting investors, meeting founders, speaking at / attending events, etc.
Yellow Sections: When I create (write, brainstorm ideas, research, etc.)
These are moments when I create resources or meet with people that help inspire creativity.
Pink Sections: If you have a family, don’t neglect it. It’s more important than anything else.
I get it; life happens. So keeping up a schedule this rigid is impossible, especially if you’re a mom to a 3-month-old like me. But it’s a framework that helps you stay organized, limits distractions, and makes becoming an industry expert as a VC or founder plausible, all while building and maintaining your health.
What are the benefits of time-blocking?
It promotes focused “deep work.”
It generates a massive amount of productivity.
It helps you knock out shallow work more efficiently.
It makes you aware of how you spend your time
5. Download the Content Consumption Calendar
To start, you can download a copy of the above content consumption calendar and build out what makes sense for you.
There are also several time-blocking tools that you can download and use that can sync with your calendars. I recommend:
Tick Tick - several integrations and very easy to use. Great mobile app experience. Very affordable.
Todoist - several integrations and easy to use.
Motion - is powered by AI and automatically time-boxes. Great desktop experience but doesn’t have the best mobile app experience.
Thanks for reading!!
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