VCs flock to TikTok to reach the next generation of founders and investors

In January, Redpoint Ventures gave Rashad Assir one task: Make TikToks about venture capital.

At the time, Assir ran his own TikTok account, creating satire about corporate life and tech trends, amassing more than 56,000 followers and 2.4 million likes in the process. Meanwhile, Redpoint Ventures had just launched a media operation to connect with the next generation of founders and VCs. The firm figured TikTok was the place to make those associations and Assir would be the one to do it for them.

Six months later, Redpoint’s account has collected more than 1 million views on its videos and gained nearly 9,000 followers and more than 200,000 likes. It’s expanded to create an account for its podcast, Cartoon Avatars, which now has more than 5,000 followers and 78,000 likes. Amid increasing interest, the plan is to launch more accounts and shows on the platform and use it to recruit talent and promote their portfolio companies, Redpoint Ventures Partner Josh Machiz told TechCrunch. Their next TikTok show will profile founders, the firm revealed.

“We get tons of requests for internships and a number of people who are interested in working at the companies we invested in,” Machiz added.

VCTok is slowly but steadily growing. TikTok has more than 1 billion users — the majority of whom are under the age of 30. Experts told TechCrunch that the increased presence of VCs allows for the democratization of industry knowledge that will inspire the next generation of investors and founders. There’s already an audience for VCs to tap into if they wish — #founder has roughly 232 million views, #entrepreneurship has nearly 800 million views, #investor has 1.2 billion views, #techtok has 12.4 billion and #entrepreneur has 22 billion views, for example.

Other VCs on TikTok told TechCrunch that using the platform has allowed them to source unexplored talent, find new businesses to fund and attract fresh audiences to their firms, portfolio companies and profiles on other social media platforms. Right now, Redpoint Ventures and the others sit comfortably knowing they have little competition on VCTok. But all agree that’s about to change.

“[TikTok is] where people’s eyeballs are,” Assir told TechCrunch. “There’s a new wave of founders and leaders in the world, and this is an opportunity to connect with them.”

A new way to find talent

TikTok remains new for many established players in the VC industry, who are probably less likely than their younger counterparts to jump onto a platform filled with dance videos and memes. But the VC players who have been convinced to try TikTok say the platform shows great returns in connecting with new talent and providing consumer research.

Julia Maltby, a senior associate at Flybridge Capital, opened her account last August to first learn more about the creator economy. She started mainly posting satirical content about her life as a VC and now has nearly 6,000 followers and over 47,000 likes. People reach out to her, saying her content piqued their interest in Flybridge Capital, while entrepreneurs now connect to discuss potential funding. She says creating VCToks is a very effective, low-effort source of top-of-funnel marketing.

“It can be a little intimating to reach out cold to a fund,” Maltby told TechCrunch. “The nice thing about TikTok is that it’s extremely candid and often self-deprecating. It humanizes people and by virtue of that, firms.”

Harry Stebbings, founder of 20VC, has a similar story. In January, he created his TikTok to post clips of his interviews with influential founders and VCs. His account gained 67,000 followers, 663,000 likes and millions of views in six months. Recently, he says he was sent a unicorn deal from a founder he’s never met but claimed to watch his TikToks.

“I went, wow,” Stebbings told TechCrunch. “This is happening because of my TikTok? That’s pretty cool.”

Paige Finn, a co-founder of Behind Genuis Ventures, plans to launch an official VC TikTok account later this year after seeing great success on her private profile. Scrolling through the platform is how she discovered one of the latest companies to add to her firm’s portfolio, and she plans to share investor tips and day-in-the-life videos, as well as clips from her podcast to further engage with her audience.

Craft Ventures Partner Arra Malekzadeh is also building out a brand on TikTok, calling herself a “SaaSy venture capitalist,” a play on the shorthand for the term software as a service. Launched in January, her account has nearly 10,000 followers and 56,000 likes. She posts VC recruiting guides, thoughts on tech valuations and advice on operating companies in economic downturns. She said her TikTok presence has allowed her to connect with possible founders in whom to invest.

“These are really smart, capable young people who will do great things in the future,” Malekzadeh told TechCrunch. “I want to capture their interest and attention early in their lives, so when they do decide to become entrepreneurs or investors, I’ll be someone they know to come to.”

Democratizing VC knowledge

When Jonathan Chang, an investor at Brex HQ, created his TikTok account in November 2020, he said there were hardly any other VCs on the platform.

His videos add a humorous element to VC concepts and trends to provide tips on how to break into the industry. He says the most rewarding part of his account is seeing all the students reach out, thanking him for teaching about a subject that was once opaque to them.

Chang said he relates to them: He didn’t know much about VC until he went to college and believes creating TikToks increases the number of accessible resources that allow people to better navigate the industry.

Machiz and Maltby echoed that, saying that the world of VC remains a black box for many people. As TikTok remains one of the easiest and most accessible social platforms, Banana Capital investor Turner Novak — who also has a growing presence on VCTok — told TechCrunch that providing entertaining and educational content about the VC space can have a domino effect decades later.

He has a point. Think of how all those coding videos and cooking tutorials on YouTube spurred a new class of computer programmers and chefs. Maybe more women or minorities would grow up wanting to be investors if they knew that profession existed. Then, their influx into the industry could increase investments in minorities and women — or even perhaps the number of top-level job opportunities given to these underrepresented groups.

“A 19-year-old will see it, and she’ll be like, ‘Oh, venture capital,’” Novak said. “Then, 15 years later, she’ll start a company because she learned about venture capital on TikTok.”

The view from VC Twitter

Although much of the VC community remains on Twitter, there is no harm in trying to expand one’s reach. In fact, Malekzadeh noted a common misconception is that only young people are on TikTok, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“All age groups are on TikTok these days,” she said.

The hard part is gaining traction on TikTok, which requires a certain sense of authenticity, humor and exposure that many people might not feel comfortable with, Maltby said.

Chang agreed, saying people can hire ghostwriters to craft Twitter threads or quickly draft content, but TikTok is much different.

“TikTok is showing parts of your personality,” he said. “It takes work to become more comfortable in front of a camera.”

That’s why Stebbings said it’s worth it for firms to look at hiring heads of content and creating special teams to focus on TikTok — similar to Redpoint Ventures. And Novak pointed out that TikTok is already overtaking YouTube in some ways as the go-to video platform.

“TikTok is a massive opportunity,” Machiz said. “You don’t think of the next generation as your customer today. They’re your customer tomorrow.”