a16z New Media: VC is an access game (BIG NEWS AT THE END OF ARTICLE)
The playbook we used to invest in 20+ YC startups this year—update inside
Hey everybody, welcome back to The AI Opportunity, where I share the biggest opportunities in tech before they’re mainstream.
Today we I have quite a different newsletter to share with you that validates a hypothesis I’ve been working towards for 3 years.
Onwards
NOW,
A16Z just launched their NEW MEDIA TEAM
Erik Torenberg’s a16z team: Brent Liang (exTBPN), Henry Williams, Alex Danco just launched the New Media Team.
For those who don’t know it, Erik was the founder of Turpentine a podcast network that was acquihired by a16z some earlier 2025.
Since then, Erik and his team have take the A16Z Podcast to another level.
What’s the New Media team and why it exists
Last week (such good timing) I wrote this article about Why the VC game is broken.
The main idea behind it was that most of the venture returns are generated by a few funds, while all the majority of funds are fighting over the scraps.
The reason behind was that capital is more abundant than talent & companies, so it’s the great founders who chose the investors and not the other way around.
In this scenario, the VCs with the best brand always win (A16Z, Sequoia, Founders Fund, Accel, Index Ventures, etc).
A16Z knows this, but they are not happy with winning many of the rounds, they want to win them all.
That’s why they’re now building NEW MEDIA, to have a value proposition on top of the capital that founders will kill for.
The way that it works is simple:
A16Z NEW MEDIA main focus will be executing the Launch as a Service and try to get their portcos as many views as possible
How I’ve followed A16Z’s playbook investing in +20 startups this year
So, it’s been pretty aparent for me that for most funds it’s almost impossible to invest in the best companies (thus the image below)
So, my friend
& I have been working on a way to be able to do so, and go from the 80% of VCs that get 20% of the results to the 20% of VCs that get 80% of the results
STEP 1: GROWING A WORLDWIDE MASSIVE AUDIENCE & GET MILLIONS OF RECURRING VIEWS
There is no trick to this: it’s all about giving value away 24 7.
Ruben and I independently built two huge channels that allow us to connect with founders and investors worldwide.
What we do is simple but really hard: we create and find the best resources for founders and VCs worldwide and give them before anyone else.
At the same time, we built 3 of the top newsletters in Substack:
PMF - I write here about how to grow and fund your company
The AI Opportunity - Here’s where I share my unique insights on where the markets opportunity is before it’s mainstream
The VC Corner - Ruben’s newsletter with top resources for founders and VCs
STEP 2: LEVERAGING MEDIA INTO ACCESS
2025 has been wild so far. We’ve angel-invested in 20+ Y Combinator startups, co-investing alongside top-tier funds like Lightspeed, SV Angel, a16z, First Round, and Peak XV (formerly Sequoia India & SEA).
Some of the companies we’ve invested in:
• Replit (Coatue, a16z, Khosla, YC) - Turn your ideas into apps
• HappyRobot (a16z, YC, Base10) - Intelligence that runs your operations
• Artisan (Glade Brook, YC, Hubspot, Day One) - AI employees for sales teams
• Murphy (Northzone, Seedcamp, Lakestar) - AI Powered Debt Collection
• Pally (Pioneer Fund, YC, Founders Inc) - Personal relationship management platform
• Throxy (YC, Base10) - Vertical AI agents that automate the full sales funnel
• Azimov (a16z speedrun) - Building the missing half of the digital world
• Cubic (Peak XV, YC) - AI powered code review platform
• Nozomio (LocalGlobe, CRV, YC) - Context augmentation for agents
• QFEX (General Catalyst, YC) - The 24/7 exchange for traditional financial markets
• Bloom (YC, Moonfire, Pioneer Fund) - Build and share mobile apps in seconds
• Minerva Intelligence (YC) - AI to replace SMB bookkeepers
• Altan (JME, 4Founders, VentureFriends) - Create projects by talking to AI
• Novoflow (YC) - AI employees that automate medical ops for clinics
• YouShift (YC) - The operating system for healthcare staffing
• Emblematic AI (Passion Capital, Caesar VC, K Fund, PnP) - Transforming Financial Ops with AI
• Klavis AI (YC) - Open source MCP integrations for AI applications
• Clova (Founders Inc) - Cursor for video editing
• Cua (Peak XV, YC) - Docker for Computer-use Agents
• Flai (First Round, YC, Liquid 2, SV Angel) - Turn every call into a sale with AI that never misses a lead
• Veritus Agent (YC) - AI agents for the consumer lending industry
• Keystone (YC) - Your team’s on-call AI engineer
• Trace (YC) - Workflow automation that routes tasks to humans and AI
• OrangeSlice (YC) - AI agents that find you customers who already want to buy
• Hera (YC) - Your AI Motion Designer
• Motives (YC) - Consumer focus groups run by AI
• Floot (YC) - Vibecoding platform for non-coders who build serious apps
A big reason we’ve been able to get into competitive allocations is helping founders with distribution, which investors and founders really value. Capital is abundant, attention is scarce.
STEP 3: HELPING FOUNDERS LAUNCH & GROW FASTER
For the last year, we’ve helped founders launch, go viral and become relevant. We did content with Startups like: Vanta, Synthesia, ElevenLabs, Happyrobot, etc.
The results have been mindblowing. We got millions of views to the startups we worked with.
That accelerated massively their revenue growth and investor momentum
Just recently, I received this message from one of my readers, which blew my mind. (Floot is one of our portcos).
STEP 4: WHAT’S NEXT
BETTER & MORE, this was the MVP and the beginning of something (hopefully great)
1. Investing: we’re getting help from more investors
We’re now exploring a small, properly structured vehicle to let a small circle of people who can add value co-invest with us on select deals.
The goal is to write slightly larger tickets while keeping flexibility and speed.
If this sounds interesting or you’d like to be part of it, DM me or email me at g@guillermoflor.com.
I may give access to some of you if there is a strong fit.
Quick note: this isn’t an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security. If I move forward, details would only be shared privately with qualified people through the proper documents.
2. Media: opening up our services for more startups
We’re going strong to help companies that are already well funded (SEED TO IPO) launch & go viral.
The process is simple: we apply our knowledge + our channels to help companies go viral and grow faster.
Message me if interested!
Stay put for tomorrow, I’m working on a newsletter you’re going to love
Best,
Guillermo