Social Media Mavens: A Look at Venture Capitalists on the Web

The Top 10 Technology Venture Capitalists Online

Social media and other online channels are increasingly driving the influence, reach, and ultimately the success of today’s venture capitalists. Whether through blogging or tweeting, podcasting or networking via professional communities on LinkedIn, the Web provides powerful opportunities for venture capitalists to interact with entrepreneurs and the world.

For this report, OpenView examined what it deemed to be the top technology-focused venture capital firms in the United States. We then compiled a list of 28 venture capitalists to analyze for the report by examining their use of three social media tools: blogs, Twitter, and Quora. The result was a ranking of the 10 most influential venture capitalists online overall, as well as the top five using each of these tools. Importantly, the report also looks at the techniques these leading venture capitalists use to fuel their success online.

“Social media is quickly becoming the most compelling form of communication in the world,” says OpenView Managing Director, Brian Zimmerman. “Those venture capitalists looking to significantly increase their influence on the Web should adopt the techniques outlined throughout this report as industry best practices. Fail to do so, and it could mean getting left behind altogether.”

As the report shows, leading venture capitalists are using social media channels to drive community awareness and education, which they view as fundamental branding activities. Other key differentiators include their ability to leverage cross-channel synergies to expand their reach and influence, and their use of social media as a communication platform and personal branding tool, rather than just a content broadcasting channel.

An upcoming companion report will take a similar look at top venture capital firms online and the marketing strategies that help them stand out.