Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention:

* The “angel investor party trick” - Paul highlighted how the rush to become an angel investor mirrors the increase in the appeal of the “celebrity entrepreneur” we’ve seen over the last couple of decades. He believes that to flourish, the investor community must consolidate (read: more of us become an LP in a fund vs doing our own thing) and the “average” angel must level up their value-add. His direct and aggressive stance on this aligns with commonly discussed themes here at the Diligent Observer, and correlates perfectly with comments from Mitra Miller (VP of the Houston Angel Network) on the topic of “smart” vs “dumb” money in Episode 19.

* The “do they have an audience” screen - Paul explains why many investors fundamentally require founders to be storytellers with an audience - essentially treating this as a screening tool.

* Niche Angel >>> Generalist Angel - Paul offers a scathing critique of unfocused, “shoot from the hip” angel investing, which he posits actually harms the ecosystem. The benefits of niching down are twofold: 1) You become the “go to” angel in that niche which increases the quality of your insights (read: increased value-add) and deal flow, and 2) That niche ecosystem actually improves as a direct result of your energy, which creates a virtuous cycle.

I explore these ideas and more with Paul O’Brien, Founder of MediaTech Ventures.

Paul O'Brien has a fascinating view of the startup ecosystem - he blends the rigor of an economist with a deep media innovation expertise to help cities build sustainable startup communities. He's the founder of MediaTech Ventures and publishes the Startup Economist, where he dives into how specialized investors can better deploy capital by really understanding their sector. What makes Paul's perspective unique is his firsthand experience seeing how misaligned incentives can kill innovation - whether it's through overreliance on government grants or disconnects between capital and expertise. After years of advising governments and building media-focused incubators, he's developed some powerful insights about how marketing, smart capital, and healthy ecosystems come together to drive long-term innovation.

During our conversation, Paul shares:

* Why most current angel investors should become LPs, illustrated through clear examples of how specialized knowledge drives better outcomes.

* An analysis of why Europe lags behin

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All opinions are personal and may not reflect the views of The Diligent Observer. Not investment advice.