If you’re reading this, you’re one of 54 “investors” in Thought Liters. While you might not have written me a check, you’re nonetheless seated at my personal cap table — so, for that, it’s time once again for me to show returns.
In this issue, I’ll first show you the money, and then I’ll show you the roadmap.
This was a highlight.
Let’s the money out of the way first, and then we’ll talk about highlights and Q4:
Costs: $16,402.65
Thought Liters is not a cheap endeavor. Between talent, supplies and events, it takes a fair amount of resources — but I’m considering it an investment needed to show up and grow (while not half-assing it).
Revenues: $0
Alright so this isn’t a fantastic look. And it’s not to say there aren’t opportunities I’m pursuing as a result of my Q3 efforts. But this is the reality. Right now, Thought Liters is not a money-maker.
Plug time: I own a media production business which mostly serves B2B tech organizations through full-stack video and podcast production. If you are reading this, and you know someone looking for these services — or you are looking — we should talk. Ultimately, that business is how Thought Liters is able to put on the events it does, and make the content it makes.
OK: brass tacks, check.
Highlights:
Thought Liters Ship: By far, the highest-profile thing I did this quarter was to put an event on a yacht for Pittsburgh’s best and brightest entrepreneurs. What started as a LinkedIn quasi shitpost ending up turning into a real-life testing of the waters. Feedback glowed — “a superbly unique event on an absolutely perfect night” became “hands down the best start-up networking/marketing event I have been to in my decade in the space.”
Out of 65 confirmed-yes RSVPs, 62 showed up. I’ve never run an event before, but I’m told that’s extraordinary. I think that just speaks to the strength of the concept.
This event will undoubtedly happen again next year!
Look at that view.
First Press Coverage: In late August, Thought Liters earned its first mention in broader journalism, thanks to Alice Crow and the team at Technical.ly.
First Partnership: As the article teased — the next episodes of Thought Liters represent its first partnership: the debut chapter of a format I’m unofficially dubbing “the 6-pack series.” It’s a view of Pittsburgh’s entrepreneurial ecosystem from the POV of Innovation Works. The series will premiere with Ven Raju, and follow with five of the firm’s investments from this year. Like everything else, it’s been a ton of work to pull together, but it will launch in the coming weeks.
Q4 Roadmap:
7+ New Episodes: There’s a lot rolling out in Q4 — and from a content perspective, that means at least 7 new episodes will be dropping.
1 Live Event (possibly 3): I’ve got another private, invite-only, curated event cooking (on land, this time). Beyond that, I’ve got an open live filming in the works, and one more opportunity linked to a large conference in Pittsburgh (that’s one’s still TBD). So, plenty of Adam out in the wild to gawk at.
Testing Formats: This is mostly because of the AI presence in town — there’s so much potential content that I’m either going to run several short episodes (10 mins or less) or one monster one (2+ hours) to cover the topic. Regardless: that means new formats for the show will be tested in market!
I hope you all finish this year strong — in the meantime, thank you for following along with me. I said it last quarter, and I’ll say it again: I’m glad you’re here in the early days.
Adam
