Picture this: It’s 2027. A distinguished journalist, seasoned event promoter, and a top-notch marketer at one of the world’s biggest athletic brands all gather in Dolores Park in SF. They lay out a blanket, unpack their spread—sushi, hummus, and Spindrift—and get to talking.
They were brought together by the same core problem: sourcing.
When they met four years earlier, the journalist didn’t have a reliable way to source credible experts for their articles. The event promoter was exhausted from having to find engaging speakers and build exciting panels. The marketer has been tasked with generating unique ideas and bringing in inspiring creatives to keep things fresh.
None of them had a centralized location to access the thinkers and experts who could drive the outcomes they were looking to create.
Back on the East Coast, a VC partner, the founder of a highly regarded biotech startup, and a distinguished professor from Columbia—all thought leaders in their own right—lay out their own blanket in Washington Square Park. They pull out bagels, lox, a caesar salad featuring lab-produced chicken, and canned cocktails.
They too, had bonded over a similar set of issues: access to opportunity. They all wanted more press, amore speaking opportunities, and partnerships with brands they believed in. That seemed to be incredibly daunting. They didn’t want to task their overloaded teams with doing more, and they didn’t know how to draw connections between what seemed like siloed industries and opportunities.
Fortunately, in the years since their first meeting, they found a solution: A centralized platform that connects thought leaders to journalists, event promoters, and brands. A home where the best minds can connect with those who benefit most from them.
What if?
What if you had exactly that—a place where thought leaders could connect with journalists, brands, and event organizers looking for them?
Events could be created faster, all while increasing speaking opportunities for thought leaders.
Journalists could access great insights on niche subjects from top leaders around the world with a couple of clicks.
Brands could more easily source a wide array of talent to create unique experiences internally and externally. In short, we could break down silos, build opportunities, and increase the pace of credible connection and knowledge-sharing. It’s a world that’s better for companies, creators, and consumers.
One Platform for Multiple Channels
This wouldn’t be yet another social media channel to manage alongside all the others. You’ve got enough channels and apps to manage, and the landscape is changing all the time—favoring one algorithm or app over the rest. There’s no need to complicate things further. With that in mind, it would be a platform through which to distribute and scale your message, enable you to get in front of the right people—potential partners, clients, and audiences—at the right time, with far less noise. Rather than adding to the chaos, it would help you navigate all those channels, helping you put the right stuff in the right places.
Of course, thought leaders will still need to build their brands, complete with clear messages. But with a one-stop shop to manage and distribute all of their content across every channel where they have a presence, we’re talking about much greater impact with far less effort—for everyone.
Such an approach eliminates the pain of traditional PR, where we pay so much per month for assets we don’t own, to be placed in outlets that aren’t necessarily a perfect fit in terms of message or audience—if we’re placed at all.
It also reduces the manual labor involved in it all—particularly when it comes to maintaining a presence on multiple channels. With one platform, where you can drive PR, book speaking gigs, cultivate brand relationships, benefit from the support of a community of some of the world’s best thinkers, and stay true to your unique trajectory, or arc, you can do so much more with so much less.
How Do We Build It?
To be totally honest, we’re in the process of figuring it all out. We see the need and the opportunity it presents, and we’re creating the one-stop shop to service all of the pieces—books, podcasts, speaking, PR, and more. But we’re not quite sure what that platform will look like. This is brand new territory for all of us; all of these brand aspects—all of these industries—have always been so isolated. But if we pull it off, it will transform the way all of us can communicate with and add value to the world.
And while we don’t know exactly what the platform will look like, we do know some of the components necessary to bring it to life:
- Building a vetted supply side comprising industry experts across different categories who are at the top of their space and have a clear message.
- Bringing together a vetted demand side of brands, journalists, and event professionals who source from that exceptional talent pool.
- Onboarding the internal engineers, designers, and growth marketers to help scale this.
- Establishing a service engine that supports the individual voices on this platform and further optimizing accessibility.
We know we’ll get there, and we have our eyes on the horizon—considering what things will look like three, five, and ten years down the line to make the brand-building and distribution process easier for you.And when we do, you’ll get the chance to think critically about your message, who you want to reach, and where you’ll go. We’ll handle the rest.
In the meantime, your interest, insights, and feedback will help us shape the future. We look forward to launching your arc—and a better tomorrow—together.