The new currency in VC isn’t just capital

Venture firms are waking up to a simple truth: founders trust people they already follow. Before a single check is written, before a term sheet is signed, the relationship often starts on Instagram, YouTube, or a podcast feed.

That’s why Lightspeed Venture Partners just made a telling hire. The firm is bringing on Claire Zau, a seed investor with a serious following on Instagram and a reputation for speaking founder’s language, not investor jargon.

It’s a signal. And it’s part of a much bigger shift in how venture firms position themselves.

Why creators are becoming the new VC recruiters

Think about how a 25-year-old founder discovers investors today. They’re not reading TechCrunch bios. They’re scrolling through Instagram Reels, listening to podcasts while commuting, and watching YouTube breakdowns of fundraising stories.

Claire Zau fits that mold perfectly. She’s built a community around honest, practical advice for early-stage founders. Her content doesn’t feel like marketing. It feels like mentorship.

That authenticity is exactly what a16z was chasing when it acquired Erik Torenberg’s Turpentine podcast network. And it’s the same logic behind OpenAI‘s acquisition of TBPN. The pattern is unmistakable: firms want distribution, but more than that, they want trust.

The Turpentine and TBPN playbook

Erik Torenberg built Turpentine into a media machine that reaches thousands of founders and operators. When a16z brought it in-house, they didn’t just buy a podcast. They bought a direct line to the next generation of startup talent.

OpenAI’s move with TBPN followed the same logic. AI talent is scarce, and the best way to attract it is through voices that already have credibility.

Lightspeed’s hire of Zau is a different flavor of the same strategy. She’s not a media executive. She’s an investor who happens to be a creator. That’s the sweet spot.

What creators bring that traditional VCs can’t

Let’s be honest: most venture firms sound the same. Same press releases. Same LinkedIn posts. Same boring event panels. Creators break that pattern.

• Relatability: Creators talk like real people. Founders feel like they’re getting advice from a peer, not a gatekeeper.
• Transparency: Good creator-investors share their thinking openly, including failures. That builds trust faster than any track record slide.
• Distribution: A single post can reach more founders than a year of networking events.

For a firm like Lightspeed, that combination is gold. They’ve always been strong on operational support. Now they’re adding cultural relevance.

A playbook for the next decade of fundraising

This isn’t a fad. It’s a structural change in how capital flows to startups.

Founders are drowning in options. There are more seed funds than ever, more angel syndicates, more micro VCs. When everything looks the same on paper, the differentiator becomes who you trust.

Creators win that contest almost every time. They’ve already proven they can build an audience. They’ve already earned attention. The question is whether they can convert that attention into deal flow.

Zau’s track record suggests yes. She’s been investing in seed rounds for years, and her community has become a funnel for quality startups.

What this means for founders

If you’re raising a seed round in 2025, pay attention to who’s creating content you actually consume. That investor who posts genuinely useful breakdowns every week? They might be a better partner than the one with the fancier office.

The bar for what counts as a “great VC” is shifting. It’s no longer just about check size and warm intros. It’s about whether you can help a founder build an audience, tell their story, and get noticed in a crowded market.

Lightspeed seems to understand this. By bringing in Claire Zau, they’re signaling that the future of venture capital is personal, public, and creator-led.

The takeaway

Creator-led venture capital isn’t about hiring influencers for PR stunts. It’s about recognizing that trust is the scarcest resource in early-stage investing.

Firms that figure this out early — like Lightspeed with Zau, like a16z with Turpentine — will have a massive advantage in the race for the best founders.

For everyone else? The writing is on the wall. Start building your audience, or start losing deals to someone who did.

A Weekend of Beekeeping and Backlash

OpenAI’s first-ever influencer brand trip was supposed to be a chill, aesthetic getaway. Instead, it’s become a PR headache.

Over the weekend, the company flew a small group of creators to a luxury retreat in upstate New York for what it called “Summer Club.” The itinerary read like a wellness influencer’s dream: farm-to-table dinners, beekeeping sessions, and workshops on making the most of OpenAI’s tools. One creator posted about building a website. Another snapped a photo of a brochure advertising a “painting workshop.”

The videos were soft-lit and serene. The comment sections were anything but.

One influencer who documented the trip on TikTok and Instagram faced a barrage of criticism. Commenters accused her of selling her soul “for a nice hotel room.” Others asked whether she could film a video reconciling the retreat with the environmental toll of AI data centers.

Another creator was jokingly asked if she’d do a get-ready-with-me video from inside a data center. A third influencer, when reached by TechCrunch, appears to have deleted the video she made about the trip — though she kept other posts that don’t explicitly mention it was an OpenAI junket.

Why the OpenAI Influencer Trip Struck a Nerve

This isn’t just about a few snarky comments. The backlash taps into something bigger: a growing public unease with AI’s real-world costs.

OpenAI is currently negotiating a $500 billion data center deal in Ohio — a project that has reignited debates about energy use, water consumption, and the environmental footprint of AI infrastructure. Holding a luxury retreat nestled in nature, complete with beekeeping, felt tone-deaf to many.

Then there’s the $200 million contract with the Department of Defense. Several commenters pointed out the irony of cozying up to influencers while OpenAI deepens its military ties.

TechCrunch spoke with one commenter who left a negative note on an influencer’s video. She said the event gave people “ammunition to have negative opinions.” Her words were blunt: “The world is on fire. It’s not a great time to brag about your $5,000-a-night suite.”

OpenAI’s Defense: Education, Not Indulgence

OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri pushed back on the criticism. He told TechCrunch the trip was “education-led” and designed to give creators hands-on experience with the newly released ChatGPT Work — a tool that helps with drafting documents and presentations.

“Creators are an important part of our community and how people get information and learn about our products today,” Pusateri said. “We welcome healthy debate as AI becomes more prevalent, and we value creators who choose to engage with us, attend our events, ask tough questions, and learn alongside everyone else.”

That framing hasn’t fully landed. Critics note that a luxury retreat with beekeeping and painting workshops is a strange way to teach people about productivity software. The optics, they argue, undermine the educational message.

The Celebrity Whisperer and the Creator Economy Playbook

OpenAI’s pivot to influencers isn’t random. In February, Vanity Fair reported that the company hired Charles Porch — a former Instagram VP with a reputation as a “celebrity whisperer” — as its first VP of global creative partnerships.

Porch said his mission was to talk to creative communities “to figure out how we build the best products to serve them.” He planned a “listening tour” to understand how people relate to AI tools.

The Summer Club trip looks like the first big test of that strategy. It’s a classic Silicon Valley move: wine and dine creators, get organic content, own the narrative. But the execution may have backfired.

Not the Only AI Lab Playing This Game

OpenAI isn’t alone in courting influencers. Anthropic reportedly hosted a brand dinner for Claude. In February, Microsoft Copilot took creators to the Super Bowl, as the tech newsletter Sarah and Kate reported.

But none of those trips generated the same level of online fury. Why?

Partly it’s timing. AI anxiety is at a peak — from job displacement fears to data center energy demands. Partly it’s optics. A luxury retreat screams “wealth and privilege” at a moment when many people are struggling. And partly it’s the perceived hypocrisy: OpenAI wants to be seen as a responsible AI leader while throwing money at influencers and signing defense contracts.

One influencer who attended the trip wrote on LinkedIn that she assumed people “would be interested in the behind-the-scenes tips and tricks” of using OpenAI technology. She admitted she never considered it would be controversial.

“I didn’t for one second consider it would be controversial,” she wrote.

What This Means for Creator-AI Partnerships

The backlash is a warning shot for any company thinking about influencer marketing in the AI space. Creators are walking a tightrope: they want access to cool new tools, but they’re also accountable to audiences who are increasingly skeptical of Big Tech’s motives.

Some influencers have already learned that lesson the hard way. Deleting videos and dodging questions isn’t a sustainable strategy. The smart ones will engage with the criticism directly — and maybe ask tougher questions themselves.

OpenAI, for its part, seems committed to the creator route. The company says it values “healthy debate” and creators who “ask tough questions.” Whether that’s genuine or damage control remains to be seen.

One thing is clear: the era of the free AI influencer trip is here, and it’s going to be messy. The question is whether companies like OpenAI can learn to do it without looking like they’re out of touch.

This article was updated to include comments from OpenAI.

Why Your LinkedIn Strategy Needs a Refresh

LinkedIn isn’t the quiet professional network it used to be. It’s now a battleground for attention, and the rules have changed. AI-generated posts are flooding every feed, making it harder than ever to stand out. But here’s the thing: LinkedIn has also rolled out a suite of new features that can help your brand break through the noise.

From collaborative posts to the creator marketplace, and a new analytics metric that shows whether your content reaches beyond your existing network, there’s a lot to unpack. Let’s dig in.

Collaborative Posts: The New Way to Amplify Reach

Collaborative articles are one of LinkedIn’s most intriguing recent additions. These are AI-generated prompts that invite experts to contribute their insights. When you add your perspective, your network sees it, but so does the audience of the original poster and anyone else who engages.

This is a low-effort, high-reward play. You don’t need to create a full post from scratch. You just add your expertise to an existing conversation. The result? Your name gets in front of people who wouldn’t normally see your content.

How to Make Collaborative Posts Work for You

Don’t just drop a one-liner. Treat it like a mini-article. Share a specific example, a lesson learned, or a contrarian take. The more value you add, the more likely others are to engage, which pushes your contribution higher in the feed.

Also, monitor the topics that align with your niche. Set aside 10 minutes a day to respond to relevant collaborative posts. Consistency matters more than volume.

The Creator Marketplace: Your Ticket to Paid Opportunities

LinkedIn’s creator marketplace is a game-changer for freelancers and consultants. It’s a space where brands can find creators to collaborate on sponsored content, product launches, and thought leadership campaigns. If you’ve built a following and have consistent engagement, you might already be eligible.

To get the most out of it, optimize your profile. Make sure your headline clearly states what you help with, and that your featured section showcases your best work. LinkedIn’s algorithm matches you with brands based on your niche and activity, so stay active and relevant.

What to Expect from the Creator Marketplace

The marketplace is still evolving, but early adopters are already landing paid partnerships. You’ll get access to campaign briefs, direct messages from brands, and the ability to pitch your own ideas. It’s like a freelancing platform, but built into LinkedIn.

If you’re not seeing the marketplace tab yet, don’t panic. It’s being rolled out gradually. Focus on building your authority in the meantime.

Out-of-Network Reach: The Metric That Matters

Here’s a metric you probably haven’t been tracking: out-of-network reach. This shows you how many people outside your direct connections saw your content. It’s a crucial number because it tells you whether your content is breaking beyond your echo chamber.

Previously, you could only see total impressions. Now, LinkedIn breaks it down. If your out-of-network reach is low, it means your content is only resonating with people who already follow you. That’s not growth. That’s just maintenance.

How to Boost Your Out-of-Network Reach

Start by analyzing which posts perform best outside your network. Look for patterns in topics, formats, and posting times. Then, double down on what works.

Engage with content from people outside your industry. Comment thoughtfully on posts from adjacent niches. This exposes your profile to their audiences, which can drive new followers and engagement.

Standing Out in an AI-Flooded Feed

AI-generated content is everywhere on LinkedIn now. Some of it is good, but most of it is generic. That’s your opportunity. If you can be authentic, specific, and human, you’ll stand out.

Here are a few tips to keep your content from blending in:

• Share personal stories. AI can’t fake lived experience. A specific anecdote about a client win or a failure teaches more than any generic tip.
• Use data and screenshots. Show your results. A screenshot of a campaign’s performance or a chart of your growth adds credibility.
• Ask real questions. End your posts with a question that invites discussion. The more comments, the more reach.
• Be consistent. Posting once a week won’t cut it. Aim for 3-4 times a week if you can.

Putting It All Together: Your New LinkedIn Playbook

So, what’s the takeaway? LinkedIn is no longer a place to just post your resume and hope for the best. It’s a platform where collaboration, paid opportunities, and data-driven growth are all within reach.

Start by experimenting with collaborative posts. They’re the easiest way to get in front of new eyes without creating content from scratch. Then, check your out-of-network reach metric. If it’s low, adjust your strategy. And if you’re a freelancer or consultant, don’t sleep on the creator marketplace.

The professionals who adapt to these changes will be the ones who thrive. The ones who don’t will keep shouting into the void. Your move.

For more insights on social media strategy, check out our guide on social media marketing tips and how to measure social media ROI.