Atelier Ventures

Hi everyone! 👋 I’m Li, the founder and General Partner at Atelier Ventures. Why am I launching this fund on Product Hunt? For a very long time, investors always expected startups to be highly differentiated and to excel versus their competition, but didn’t hold themselves to the same bar. I believe VC firms are also products (that are always work-in-progress), and that investors likewise have to differentiate themselves, just as startups do. In a world with more capital available than ever, founders get to vote on the products they like with their cap tables. I think of Atelier as a product that I’ve been incubating for a long time, and I’m so excited to finally unveil it to the world. The initial spark occurred long ago, weaving through an immigrant childhood of art and writing, and efforts to reconcile my creative side with the pragmatism required for existence in the world. This firm is more than just a VC fund: it’s a network of projects; content properties; and a community of founders, creators, and more who can help startups grow. These projects include Side Hustle Stack (https://sidehustlestack.co), a newsletter (https://li.substack.com), a podcast (Means of Creation), a creator database (http://bit.ly/tiktokcreators), and a Slack group of more than 400 founders. The core of Atelier is expressed in an essay I recently wrote about the creator middle class, wherein I made a call to action for platforms to promote more opportunities for a wider swath of the population to succeed in monetizing individuality. Atelier is investing in this future, backing early-stage companies that are broadening access to new forms of work; lowering the barriers to entrepreneurship; democratizing the means of production and distribution; and empowering community. Companies I’ve already invested include Stir, Geneva, Patreon, Substack, Dumpling & more. I look forward to a future in which the value of unique skills and knowledge can be unlocked, augmented, and surfaced to consumers. If you’re a founder who is building in this space, please reach out to me at li@atelierventures.co! If you have any questions, leave a note in the comments.

Li is an incredible investor and human, and I'm a huge believer in the movement that she has popularized and chronicled; the Passion Economy is the future of work, and Atelier is the present and future of investing in this category.

Li reached out to us after we launched Luma (then ZmURL) last March. Since then she's been incredibly helpful and fun to work with. I couldn't imagine a better person to work alongside of. So if you're starting something new I recommend reaching out to Li!!