Vidit Agarwal is a curious mind. He is a Venture Partner at Ecotone Ventures and Founding Partner of FB10x AdVentures, investing in founders at pre-seed, seed and Series A stages, and a regular collaborator with the VC Catalyst cohorts at Wade Institute of Entrepreneurship.
Vidit is also a natural when it comes to storytelling, both as practitioner and curator. He creates high-quality and ultra-consistent output with his The Curiosity Center, delivering a range of offerings including events, advisory and especially, his renowned The High Flyers Podcast. Thus far, he has produced 150+ podcast episodes (and counting) in just over 3 years and has scaled up the charts globally as a result.
‘My first episode featuring a VC was episode 42 from memory, with the first 40 focussed on healthcare, sports, politics and business, simply because that’s where my curiosity was. I was asked to mentor at a session one day, with other mentors consisting of VCs. That got me very curious about the industry and the rest I guess is history.’
Vidit has now interviewed some of the best and brightest minds in the world of Venture Capital and Angel Investment and hosted acclaimed interviews at activations such as Forbes Summit, SXSW and Blackbird’s Sunrise (Vidit counts Blackbird co-founder Niki Scevak as one of his favourite storytellers).
Storytelling as an investor trait
“(As an investor), many people think storytelling is multiple meetings or long blogs. Brevity is a beautiful thing. Because if I can shorten this into a 10-minute meeting, a one-sentence email or text message, I’m confident you can gain the founder’s trust, rather than overdoing it.”
Then, Vidit is reminded of a well-known quote, which rings especially true in the world of Venture, where stories abound as a natural way of life and a fundamental driver of knowledge share and investment decisions.
“What’s the saying? “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead?” Vidit explains.
“As a new investor, it can be easy to overdo it at the start, where you’re over-extending yourself with the founder, having multiple meetings, asking a lot of questions, really trying to sell yourself. A founder just wants to be heard in the early days. They want to know you believe in their actions and will support them. Do you understand their product? Do you care?”
Earning the ability to get founders’ trust and acceptance of funds, plus demonstrating value, is a critical aspect of storytelling. Something Vidit places high importance on, as he continues to refine his place as an investor with more experience each year.
He sees mentorship and guidance for the next wave of investors entering the market as an essential thing to do and provides tips on how they may harness the power of storytelling themselves as well. (Vidit helped highly regarded deep tech investment group Main Sequence Ventures in a short-term capacity as Chief Storyteller in 2022)
Tips for emerging investors using content as a means to build trust amongst founders
1.
“Create something small to start. A podcast, newsletter, WhatsApp group – a marriage of information, network and access. Stand out in a busy ecosystem so you’re noticed.”
2.
“Create consistency in what you’re putting out there. Just like in sport, the ones who do it week-in, week-out for years earn a special respect and an enduring reputation.”
3.
“Reach out, ask, and accept rejection. Failure sits in our own minds, but in the external world, we forget about it once success comes.”
4.
“Start. Many people first spend six months strategising, planning, branding and waiting before launching. Start it and evolve it, as you will not have an audience early on. Put yourself out there, get feedback, and that can be great leverage.”