Sahil Bloom on Building an Audience and Starting a Venture Fund

Sahil Bloom says he began sharing on Twitter in May 2020, after the pandemic changed the schedule of his private-equity job. He had followed a traditional finance path but wanted to work on earlier-stage growth and the future. Writing gave him a way to explore that transition.

His advice is to look for a ‘zone of genius’: work where one's energy and willingness to persist create a chance to become exceptional. He acknowledges that not everyone has the luxury to explore freely. His own experience is a personal framework rather than a universal career formula.

Bloom says his early Twitter rule was to create value before expecting attention. He focused on relatively evergreen explanations rather than breaking news, building a body of work consistently. His audience growth accelerated as the base grew; those numbers describe his own experience at the time, not a guaranteed growth method.

During the interview he announces SRB Ventures, a debut fund he describes as approximately $10 million. He says he originally planned to raise $5 million, but interest and the fund's legal structure influenced the final size. These are his account of a 2022 fundraise and not current fund terms.

Bloom expected the fund to focus largely on pre-seed and seed, while retaining flexibility to join later rounds. He described intended checks of approximately $50,000 to $250,000, with larger amounts for later opportunities. A small check, he argues, can make it easier to join a round when an investor can offer a specific benefit; access and returns are not guaranteed.

Stebbings asks how a media investor manages founder expectations. Bloom says only some portfolio companies may need substantial content support, while others need help around a fundraising or product announcement. He describes promoting the short-term rental company Wander, an investment in which his fund has a financial interest.

Bloom expects the venture landscape to become more distributed. He sees established firms with strong brands at one end and smaller investors with a clear specialized contribution at the other, with middle-tier firms under pressure to articulate their value. He later clarifies that he is not claiming all traditional venture will die; this is a 2022 prediction.

A media audience built only from other venture investors may not deliver the same customer reach as a broader community, he argues. At the same time, he acknowledges that whether media-led investing improves company outcomes or fund returns remains an experiment that will take years to evaluate. Bloom has a direct interest in that model.

Asked whether he plans to raise much larger funds, Bloom says he intends to remain small and continue writing small checks, while admitting he cannot know every future choice. His stated goal is strong returns and participation in companies he believes can improve the world, not fund size for its own sake.

Bloom traces part of his drive to his family and to a persistent feeling that he must prove himself. He describes using consistency and persistence to compete in baseball when he did not consider himself the most talented player. He also acknowledges insecurity about whether he knows what he is doing.

Baseball taught him to stay even-keeled, he says: becoming too high after success invites complacency, while dwelling too long on a setback can impair the next performance. He applies that lesson to work, knowing circumstances can change quickly in either direction.

Bloom calls luck partly ‘engineered serendipity’: repeated actions can place someone where an unexpected opportunity becomes possible. He recounts regularly meeting Tim Cook at an early-morning gym and says that developed into a mentoring relationship and financial backing. It is his personal account, not a guarantee that a routine creates similar outcomes.

He says he admires Cook's principles, long-term perspective and loyalty to friends, learned largely through observation. Bloom distinguishes those observations from a single explicit lesson Cook gave him.

His writing process starts with a ‘content engine’ of newsletters, podcasts and other material. He records ideas in Notion, waits until a subject inspires him, writes freely without worrying about character counts, and then edits the result into tighter posts suitable for Twitter.

Bloom distinguishes writing he considers well researched from writing that reaches a large audience. A broad idea may resonate emotionally, while a piece he values highly may be niche. He also uses writing privately to clarify his thinking or mood before deciding to share it.

He says he rarely deletes threads after posting, except when a substantive criticism reveals that he had not thought something through. He acknowledges that one negative response can overshadow many positive ones, recalling criticism of a personal thread about the kind of father he hoped to be.

Stebbings worries that family life could compromise ambition. Bloom says his definition of hard work changed: he once equated it with extremely long hours and little sleep, but now believes creative work benefits from caring for his whole life, including time with his wife and future child. This is his personal experience rather than a prescription for everyone.

For Bloom, high performance is improving the quantity and quality of his output relative to his own earlier work. In relationships he values trust, communication and enjoying ordinary time together, not just memorable occasions.

He hopes his child will be curious, kind and the sort of friend who remains present during difficult times. He recalls arriving at Stanford and feeling humbled academically and athletically after growing up as a standout in a small town.

A conversation with his father helped him recognize consistency as a strength. Bloom says he learned that he might not be the most naturally talented person, but could continue showing up and improving. He treats that experience as formative in how he approaches work.

In the quick-fire round, he recommends When Breath Becomes Air and repeats that he has changed his view of hard work. He describes an exercise routine and stresses that his account reflects his own habits, not a general training plan.

For founders seeking a Twitter audience, he advises identifying a specific form of value and sharing it consistently. Stebbings adds that an early niche can help build a small group of engaged readers. Their advice reflects their experiences on the platform in 2022.

Bloom identifies Wander as a recent announced investment. He praises its founder and says the outcome is uncertain and, in his view, may be low probability despite a potentially large impact. His fund's investment gives him a financial interest in that assessment.