Forest for the Trees: How to Build an Evergreen VC Content Flywheel

Venture capital firms invest in companies that can scale. But what about their own brand equity? The best VCs don’t just rely on press coverage or big conference appearances to establish credibility. They create their own narrative through a content strategy that compounds, becoming more valuable over time—like a well-placed early investment that keeps delivering returns.

But too often, VC firms treat content like a PR play—episodic, reactive, and short-lived. The problem? Once the news cycle moves on, so does the audience. Instead of building real influence, firms end up chasing fleeting attention. Meanwhile, the smartest investors are playing a different game: building an evergreen content engine that continuously attracts founders, LPs, and top talent.

Here’s how they do it—and why most firms get it wrong.

The Pitfalls of Press-Driven Content

It’s easy to see why firms default to press hits and media opportunities. A TechCrunch feature or a Bloomberg quote delivers immediate visibility. It’s a credibility marker, a social signal: “We’re important.” But it’s also ephemeral. The audience skims, scrolls, and moves on. The impact fades within days.

More importantly, press mentions put control in someone else’s hands. Journalists shape the narrative, often simplifying complex investment theses or ignoring a firm’s true differentiation. The best firms don’t wait for someone else to tell their story—they take ownership of it.

The Power of Evergreen Content

The opposite of fleeting press hits? Evergreen content: insights, frameworks, and analysis that remain valuable long after they’re published. This kind of content functions as a compounding asset—ranking in search, getting shared organically, and repeatedly delivering value to new audiences over time.

Notable VC firms have set the standard in different ways:

• First Round Capital’s First Round Review: Instead of generic thought leadership, they built an extensive library of tactical, founder-focused advice sourced directly from operators. Their in-depth interviews with startup leaders provide real-world lessons that remain relevant for years.

• Redpoint Ventures’ Content Hub: They’ve carved out a niche by consistently publishing multimedia insights (videos, podcasts, TikToks, etc.) on topics ranging from product-market fit to growth-stage metrics, to talent acquisition and retainment, helping founders navigate their biggest challenges.

• NFX’s Founder Library: By leaning into their branding as expertis network effects, NFX has created a lasting resource of frameworks, mental models, and founder playbooks that continue to attract new readers and reinforce their brand as strategic thinkers.

The best firms follow a simple but powerful playbook:

• Think in Decades, Not Days: Instead of newsy takes, they publish frameworks and foundational insights that will be just as useful five years from now. Consider Emergence Capital’s Secret Playbook, which helps founders prepare for their next fundraise and is refreshed annually.

• Depth Over Volume: Instead of publishing constantly, they focus on depth—each piece is designed to be a reference point for years and a touchstone for the firm’s investment thesis. The most successful of these by far is of course a16z’s Software is Eating the World, but Sequoia also has a string of seminal presentations in its archive, including the late pandemic guidebook “Adapting to Endure” and going further back, the Great Recession-era “R.I.P. Good Times.”

• Founder-First Perspective: Their content isn’t self-promotional; it’s designed to make founders better at what they have to do to survive and thrive.

The result? Instead of a flash-in-the-pan media hit, they’ve built a lasting intellectual brand. It’s worth adding that these pieces of content resonate not just because they are Tier 1 venture firms — rather these are Tier 1 venture firms, at least in some part because they are bold and culturally empowered enough to create provocative, opinionated, useful pieces of content.

How to Build Your Own Evergreen Content Engine

Most VCs know they should be writing more, but they don’t know how to make it sustainable—or effective. Here’s how to build a content strategy that doesn’t just exist but compounds in value over time.

1. Establish Your Firm’s Unique Lens

Great content isn’t just about saying smart things—it’s about saying them in a way that no one else can. The best VC content comes from a unique point of view: a firm’s investment philosophy, its sector expertise, or its differentiated way of evaluating companies.

Examples of unique lenses:

• Bessemer Venture Partners’ Anti-Portfolio, which flips the usual bragging playbook on its head by highlighting their biggest missed investments.

• We’ve already mentioned it, but First Round’s Review goes beyond VC perspectives and gathers tactical lessons directly from startup operators.

Before writing anything, ask: What can we say that no one else can?

2. Create Content Pillars That Stand the Test of Time

Think of your content strategy like an investment portfolio. Some bets (news reactions, trend commentary) have a short half-life. Others (deep industry analysis, tactical founder guides) keep paying dividends for years.

Examples of evergreen content strategies:

• A playbook on scaling from Seed to Series B.

• A deep-dive on a critical industry shift (e.g., "The Rise of Vertical SaaS").

• A founder guide to negotiating venture terms.

These aren’t blogs—they’re reference points. They get bookmarked, cited, and reshared long after publication.

3. Optimize for Search and Discovery

Evergreen content isn’t just about writing something valuable—it’s about making sure it’s easy to find when people need it.

• SEO for Long-Term Value: Identify key search terms founders, LPs, or industry analysts are looking for, and structure content accordingly.

• Internal Linking: Every new post should connect back to existing insights, creating a web of knowledge rather than isolated one-offs.

• Repurposing for Distribution: A strong long-form piece can become a Twitter thread, a LinkedIn post, or even a discussion point on a podcast.

4. Build a Direct Audience—Not Just a Passive One

Press hits rely on borrowed distribution—getting someone else to put you in front of their audience. An evergreen content strategy builds owned distribution: email lists, engaged LinkedIn followers, and direct relationships with founders and LPs.

• Newsletter Flywheels: The best VC newsletters (like Not Boring by Packy McCormick or Sourcery by Molly O’Shea) create ongoing relationships with their readers, not just one-off impressions. Another example is the 20VC podcast, which Harry Stebbings famously used to launch his VC career,

• Exclusive Community Access: Some firms go beyond publishing and create forums or Slack groups where content leads to deeper engagement.

Building a direct audience means that every future piece of content has a compounding effect—because it goes straight to people who already care.

Final Thought: Play the Long Game

Press-driven content might get you in the headlines today, but an evergreen content strategy builds an enduring brand. The best VCs don’t just comment on the conversation—they shape it. They create resources that become industry standards, frameworks that get referenced, and ideas that define categories.

A single great piece of evergreen content can deliver value for years. The question is: are you creating content that lasts? If you’re a VC trying to figure out your own content playbook, get in touch.