Welcome to Fan Behavior!

P.S. this is the newsletter/platform that I’ll be sharing the consumer investor market maps on. That is (finally) coming out next week. Had tons of VCs reaching out to ensure they were included hence the delay.

Hi everyone! This is the first edition of Fan Behavior, and I want to set the tone with more specifics about what you can expect here.

What is fan behavior? 

Fan Behavior is a newsletter written by me (Zehra) dedicated to consumer-first social media, fan culture, communities, content, and culture in the digital age. 

This newsletter is written from the POV of a chronically online Gen Z fangirl who also happens to be a Series A consumer tech VC and former founder. I generally understand most internet meme lore more than your average VC; I wrote fanfiction and used to run anonymous stan accounts on Tumblr and Twitter.

What does Fan Behavior mean? 

Fan Behavior is a term popularized by Gen-Z slang and is typically used with a negative connotation. I would say it fits into the same category as a pick-me-girl. “Fan Behavior”, in my opinion, is best explained in examples related to social media. And so, here are a few examples of fan behavior:

• Following someone who doesn’t follow you back

• Someone who views your Instagram story repeatedly but doesn’t follow you

To be clear, this is used to describe social relationships with people we’re distantly connected with. Not celebrities or people with a large following. That’s why, in this case, fan behavior is not a good thing. You’re acting like someone’s fan. 

On the other hand, I want this newsletter to be about literal fan behavior. Fangirls very much created the internet as we know it. Fanboys too. As soon as social media (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) started to lean more heavily on content vs. social networks, the fan pages began booming. Online pages to follow your favorite shows, chat with other fans, and more became intensely popularized. Then came Tumblr, Polyvore, Wattpad, and Reddit.

Thus, Fan Behavior (this newsletter) was born. It’s a cheeky name that combines both Gen-Z consumer social slang and internet culture all in one. And so, a perfect name for a newsletter dedicated to consumer tech & culture written by a fangirl at heart.

Who is Fan Behavior for? 

• Consumers: do you think about the internet, brands, new technology, how social media sucks, why it’s hard to maintain friendships online? This is for you. 

• Fans: did online communities change the way you enjoy content? Did you write One Direction fan fiction in 2013? This is for you to relive your childhood and understand the power of how we shaped the internet as we know it today. 

• VCs: I believe this newsletter will be useful for VCs and angel investors looking to invest in pre-seed and seed-stage consumer social startups. My thoughts and theses drive my own investments.

• Founders: I want to feature what you’re building, share it with the folks in this newsletter, understand what problems you see, and hope that this resonates with you.  

Who am I? 

First and foremost a fan. When I like something, I like it a lot. Obsession, drama, loyalty, and community drive my passion for the things I love. Whether it’s a movie series (I’m a Marvel apologizer), TV show, book, video game, creator, brand, product, or person, I lead with enthusiasm and excitement in everything. I like to think that my ardor for anything I like is signature to me. Want to get to know me better? Ask me about what I love.

I’m an angel investor and Series A VC at Headline. I’ve advised, worked at, or worked with 14 startups. Some of my favorites include Alinea Invest, Smalls, Republic, Kulfi Beauty, Parallel, etc. 

I founded two companies: GLO and Curled. GLO was an eComm clothing company I started in 2012 with my sister (we ran a huge influencer marketing campaign in 2013 and Dior ended up copying one of our designs — reply to this email for the story). Curled was a consumer tech company that I started in 2020 with my friend Marly.  

Why did I start this? 

In my day job, VCs and other investors have essentially said that “consumer is over”. A lot of investors place the blame of “failed” consumer companies on the founders rather than their own miscalculated valuations and poor guidance. As an avid consumer and investor, I have consistently been tired of this negative rhetoric when some of the most monumental companies in the world are all dedicated to the consumer. Facebook, Google, Airbnb, Uber, Instacart, DoorDash, Discord, Reddit, Twitch etc. — are we (VCs) going to act like these don’t exist?   

Someone should advocate for the products we all want to see in our lives. B2B SaaS is great, don’t get me wrong, but that only benefits other businesses. What about the rest of us (consumers)?

What to expect? 

Below is a list of things to expect from Fan Behavior and the working titles of the posts I have lined up for the next three months. If you’d like me to post more frequently than once a week, reply to this email and let me know.

1. Market Maps

   1. Consumer VCs

   2. Consumer Social Founders

   3. Pre-seed VCs (who invest before traction)

   4. CPG VCs/investors

2. Deep dives: the upcoming editions are titled 

   • IRL to URL and Back Again 

   • Bring Back Social Networks

   • Fan-Girls

   • Cult of the College Club

   • Our Digital Identities: Who Owns IRL You?

   • IRL Social Lives: New Friends & Being Perceived

   • Offline is the New Luxury

   • Fandom: Wedge into Emerging Markets? 

   • Gatekeeping in a Girls-girl World 

   • Side Hustles are here to stay 

   • Chronically Online Gen Z’s to Chronically Offline Gen Alphas? 222 etc. 

3. Research Reports: long-form content that is less opinion-led and more factual (perhaps informing an opinion of mine down the line)

4. Op-Eds

   1. Mine

   2. Op-Eds from guest contributors 

Coming up next: VCs investing in consumer (from social apps to b2b2c) and IRL to URL and Back Again