👋🏾 Hi friends!

This week’s podcast catch up explores the interesection of venture capital, startups, journalism, PR and, for a short while, quick commerce too.

I’m in conversation with Steve O’Hear, founder of O’Hear & Co who is probably bet known for the decade or so he spent covering the European tech ecosystem for TechCrunch.

Check out the conversation and let me know your thoughts 🙂 

I’m well underway writing about all the things I’ve learned from the last couple of decades as founder, CFO and CEO, so sign up for early access to Off Balance - The Book and feel free to share with anyone else you think might enjoy it 😄.

Now let’s get down to business…

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦?

In the latest episode of Nothing Ventured, I spoke to Steve O'Hear. Steve has played a pivotal role in the European technology sector for more than 20 years, as a journalist, founder, executive, and angel investor.

Steve is currently the CEO and co-founder of O'Hear & Co, a strategic communications agency helping startups, scale-ups and venture capital firms tell their story while reducing risk and increasing commercial success. He also serves as SVP at Zapp, London’s leading premium 24/7 on-demand convenience app.

With over 15 years of experience as a technology and business journalist, Steve spent over a decade at TechCrunch, where he is famous for having covered European startups and venture capital and being the first journalist to report on companies such as Wise, Deliveroo, Monzo Bank and Wayve.

He was also the CEO of the social question and answer platform Beepl, which he founded and led until its acquisition in 2012 and in 2006, he wrote and directed the Silicon Valley documentary "In Search of the Valley."

My top takeaways:

➡️ 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲:

Steve highlighted the misconceptions surrounding the quick commerce space, noting the importance of understanding the convenience retail model. He discussed the need to attract customers willing to pay for convenience and the significance of serving the right use cases with premium products.

➡️ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴:

We explored the intersection of journalism and venture capital, discussing how storytelling plays a crucial role in attracting customers, investors, and aligning stakeholders. Steve really highlighted the value of a compelling story and the impact it can have on a startup's success.

➡️ 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀:

Steve shared a contrarian conviction about the importance of intent, highlighting the human element often overlooked in debates and culture wars. He talked about the significance of understanding people's intentions and the role it plays in shaping our interactions and perceptions.

We also discussed:

📰 Whether journalists move through the hype cycle, bullish when startups are small, but critical when they’re bigger.
🚦When an investor puts capital into an early stage startup, that’s a signal where very few exist.
🥴 Can you have too much press.
⚖️ The Ideal Balance of Story, Relationships, and Execution in PR.
💻 Steve's thoughts on remote work and the impact on social mobility.

Check it out!

Else listen on Spotify or Apple

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That’s it from me so until next time…

Stay liquid :)

Aarish