Re: Why are There So Many VC Blogs?

Paul Kedrosky asks: Why are There So Many VC Blogs?, and lists his hypotheses:

   1. Professional service firms are highly branded by individual, so it makes sense to get out there and present yourself as a way of attracting deal flow.
   2. There are just as many legal/financial/other blogs, but those people aren't as good at getting media attention.
   3. Venture capitalists don't have enough to do.
   4. Having a blog as a technology VC is a way of demonstrating your technical competencies.
   5. Having a blog is a way to lay out your thought process about markets and technologies, thus demonstrating your added value as a putative investee board member.

I will strike 2 (PR blogs are referenced much more than VC blogs), 3 (most seem to blog on their personal time, not their work time - I sleep even less than I used to), 4 (what kind of a technical competency is that ?) and half of 5 (you are putting forth your thought process, your interests,... which is good for dealflow, but that only partially demonstrates your value as a board member or investor).

I would add:

6. If you invest in social media, unless you actually are an active blogger, use all the tools, interact with the community, you won't really "get it". And guess who social media entrepreneurs are getting financing from: Brad Freld/Mobius -> Technorati, Newsgator, Feedburner; David Hornik/August Capital -> Technorati, 6AP; Steve Jurvetson/DFJ -> Technorati, SocialText; Fred Wilson/Union Square -> del.icio.us. Not to mention Esther Dyson, Joi Ito,... Of course there are, and will be, exceptions, but the most visible companies in the space have followed that rule to date.
7. A few actually set off to help demistifying the arcanes of the VC world (especially David, Brad, Allen Morgan).
8. Blogging is a form of conversation that allows you to "open up", and give a feeling to prospective investee as to who the person behind the blog is.
9. Like in any profession, some of us actually like to express ourselves on what we are interested in ? Like my wine moblog, which has nothing to do with my professional activity ?

One last point: all in all there are a couple dozen VC blogs (?), and they barely cover all geographies, industry sectors, stages of investments, etc. We could use a few more.

Two cents from one of the "everyone inbetween".

Comments

[Luca]

One more hypothesis I'd add is that a VC blogger immediately attracts a big audience of wannabe investees. It's a big ego boost to have lots of people paying attention to what you have to say. The good news is that most VC bloggers have actually something interesting to say.

[Michael Parekh]

Possible 10: Like to see name up in (Blog) Lights.