Friends and family often ask if I want to become a venture capitalist. After all, I know the business after covering it for more than a decade, and the pay is infinitely better. But the truth is that I enjoy journalism too much, and couldn't stomach having to regularly crush the dreams of aspiring entrepreneurs. So no, I tell them, I'm good.

    What I wonder, however, is if venture capitalists often get asked by their friends and family if they really want to be journalists? You know, if it didn't impact their ability to make payments on the beach house. And the ski house. So many venture capitalists not only blog, but have a deep desire to be considered "thought leaders." Or "influencers," in the LinkedIn (LNKD) parlance.

    There was a time when I criticized this practice, arguing that VCs would best serve their investors by putting down the pens and hitting the pavement. But I was wrong. Blogging helped generate deal-flow, particularly by letting entrepreneurs know that there was someone out there who was thinking about similar stuff. Someone who had money to invest.

    Now, however, venture capitalists are no longer content to publicize their own views. They want their entrepreneurs to be noticed as well. Not for what those entrepreneurs are actually doing, but for what they're thinking.

    Battery Ventures yesterday hired Rebecca Buckman, formerly of The Wall Street Journal andForbes, as vice president of communications and content. This follows fellow WSJ alum Ben Worthen recently joining Sequoia Capital as head of content, and ex-Wired editor Michael Copeland joining Andreessen Horowitz in a similar role.

    These are all new positions, with the ex-journos each expected to spend part of their time helping their firm's entrepreneurs be viewed as thought leaders. Guest posts at the most-read sites, smarter tweets, more meaningful status updates, etc. Let someone else handle the ghosted quotes for press releases about a new product or client win.

    The basic explanation for such hires is that one entrepreneur's insights can have a positive effect on another entrepreneur, thus improving the overall ecosystem. And the stronger the entrepreneurial ecosystem, the better for venture capital returns. It's important math, given that each of these folks is likely being paid at least a couple million dollars (out of management fees) over the life of a fund.

    But let me offer up an alternate theory: VCs are trying to win deals by appealing to entrepreneurial ego.

    朋友和家人常常问我，想不想做一名风险投资人。毕竟，我已经跟踪报道这个行业十多年了，我熟悉这个行业，而且做风投收入肯定比现在要高。但现实是，我非常享受干新闻这一行，也硬不起心肠经常击碎那些创业者的宏伟梦想。所以，我告诉他们，我不会做风投，我现在就挺好。

    但我不知道风险投资人是否也会经常被家人和朋友问起，他们想不想当记者？你知道的，前提是，如果转行不影响他们购买海滩别墅的能力。当然，还有滑雪度假屋。因此，很多风险投资人不仅写微博，也有成为“意见领袖”或“影响者”(商务社交网站LinkedIn的说法)的强烈欲望。

    我曾经一度批判过这种做法，认为风险投资人应该放下笔走出去，才能最好地服务于投资者。但我错了。写博客有助于促成交易，博客能让创业者知道世界上有些人正在思考类似的问题。有些人手里有钱可以投资。

    但是，如今的风险投资人已不再满足于宣传自身观点。他们想让他们投资的创业者也受到关注。不是关注这些创业者正在做的事情，而是关注他们的想法。

    Battery Ventures日前聘请了曾经供职于《华尔街日报》（The Wall Street Journal）和《福布斯》（Forbes）的瑞贝卡•巴克曼担任传媒与内容副总裁。与此类似，最近，还有同样曾经供职于《华尔街日报》的本•沃森加盟红杉资本（Sequoia Capital）任内容负责人，前《连线》杂志（Wired）编辑迈克尔•科普兰加盟安德森-霍罗维茨风险投资公司（Andreessen Horowitz）任类似职位。

    这些都是新设职位。媒体老兵到任后的任务之一估计就是帮助把这些风投公司所投资的企业创业者塑造成意见领袖。在点击量最大的网站发布嘉宾文章、在Twitter撰写富有智慧的微博、更有意义的状态更新，等等。至于那些新产品发布或赢得重要客户的新闻稿，成文的套话就让其他人去处理吧。

    对于这类任职消息的基本解释是，一位创业者的真知灼见能对其他创业者产生积极影响，进而改善整个生态体系。创业生态体系越完善，风险投资回报越高。这一点很重要，因为在一只基金的整个生命周期中，这些人每人都可能(依靠提取管理费)获得几百万美元。

    但我有不同的看法：风险投资人正在试图通过迎合创业虚荣心，赢得交易。

    It goes like this: "Yes, I know those other guys are coming in with a slightly better term sheet. But what are they bringing you besides a bit less dilution? We don't only believe in your business, but we believe in you. And we've even got someone here who knows how to get your ideas out there, and make sure that when people talk about [mobile/content/SaaS/analytics/tacocopters] they'll be talking about you. We'll make you a star, and the best people and customers will flock to your business. That difference in valuation today will be just a drop in the bucket compared to what we'll do together."

    Okay, maybe it's not quite so explicit, but that's the general conceit.

    And, to be honest, I think it just may work. Entrepreneurs generally think quite highly of themselves almost by definition. After all, they have forgone traditional employment due to an abiding faith in their own abilities. If the money is close, this a strong secondary way to bolster the entrepreneur's sense of self worth.

    What I don't know, however, is if the actual "content" strategies will really help businesses all that much. After all, people don't generally join a startup because they like how the CEO thinks, or because the CEO is well known. It's first about the money/equity package, and then about if the prospective employee expects to enjoy and be stimulated by the work environment. That may include a CEO's demeanor or vision, but not something they wrote on TechCrunch. Jerry Maguire isn't real life.

    And this goes double for potential customers, who care that the product works and how much it costs. That's it. Maybe there are isolated exceptions like all those folks who did/didn't go to Chick-fil-A last year, but I don't imagine that most of these entrepreneurs will be encouraged to make controversial social policy statements.

    Of course, if more and more VC firms begin hiring head of content, then the ego-stroking differentiation will be lost. And all the firms will have created at that point is a lucrative landing spot for ex-journalists. Well, until their investors tell them to send out pink slips.

    Or am I wrong once again?

    比如，像这样：“是的，我知道其他人带来的投资意向书更出色一点。但除了价格好一点，他们能给你带来什么？我们不只是看好你的公司，我们也看好你本人。我们甚至还有相关的专家，他们知道怎么宣传你的商业点子，确保人们聊起【移动/内容/软件即时服务（SaaS）/分析/无人机送餐服务】时，马上就会说起你。我们能让你变成一个明星，吸引最好的人才和客户纷至沓来。今天的估值差异比起未来我们要一起做的事情不值一提。”

    好吧，也许不会说得这么直白，但想来也差不太多。

    而且，老实说，我觉得这么干能成。创业者往往都自视甚高，这几乎是一种本性。毕竟，他们能放弃传统就业职位，就是因为他们对自己的能力有持久的信心。如果出价相差不多，有效的第二条途径就是如何提升创业者的自我价值感。

    但是，我不知道实际的“内容”策略能否真的给企业带来那么大的帮助。毕竟，人们加入一家初创企业往往并不是因为他们认同CEO的想法或者CEO名声响亮。首先还是金钱/股票方案，其次是潜在雇员认为能在这里愉快工作，受到激励。这里头可能包括CEO的言行举止或远见，但不是他们在知名科技博客TechCrunch上写了些什么。甜心先生(Jerry Maguire)不是真实生活。

    对于潜在客户就更是如此了，他们关心的是产品好不好用，价格是多少。仅此而已。或许有个别例外，比如，2012年连锁快餐厅Chick-fil-A因为公开反对同性婚姻在美国社会引起轩然大波后，仍有大量的消费者进店吃炸鸡表示声援。但是，我并不认为风投公司会鼓励大部分创业者发表一些极具争议性的社会政策言论。

    当然，如果越来越多的风投公司开始聘请内容主管，这种迎合虚荣心的差异化将会消失。到那时，所有公司都已经为这些曾经的媒体老兵准备好了一个归宿。或者说，在投资者们指示这些公司开人之前，他们可以一直好好待着。

    不过，也许我这回又猜错了？（财富中文网）