"Every company needs to be media company"
EXCLUSIVE: A Toronto-based 'Gen Z VC' has raised $7 million.
Good afternoon. Today’s edition includes Liquid I.V.’s launch of electrolyte hot chocolate (not supportive), a week of drama-filled Canadian mall news, and a conversation about a Gen Z-run, Toronto-based venture fund.
EXCLUSIVE: A “Gen Z VC” has raised $7 million to invest in consumer technology and the future of work. I caught up with Matt Shoss, a 22-year-old who somehow has more work experience than me, this morning to talk about how things are going at Dragonfruit Ventures, the fund he founded with two friends 11 months ago. They’re all in their early-to-mid-20s, but their combined experience includes two exits, building a seven-figure start-up consulting business, inking social media deals (Shoss, who is also a content creator, was thrilled to hear that I found them on Instagram) and investment banking at J.P Morgan and Bank of America.
I was surprised to hear how organically this fund came about. Walk me through the initial thesis, and how it’s going.
Initially, our capital came from past exits and the work we were doing. Today our thesis comes back to our strengths, which some people would see as a weakness, but we’re young and understand what this generation of consumers wants, what the trends are, how work is changing, and the power of media, creators, and personal branding. We came back to this core thesis of ‘distribution is the new moat’ that’s empowering everything we do. We invest where we have experience, and are essentially building a media company with a VC layered on top. We’re hoping to close in Q1 with a $15 million fund, and so far the talks are looking promising.
Your investments include some Y Combinator-backed workplace tech companies. What else is catching your eye in the market right now?
Right now, products are being commoditized by AI. So many companies are doing the same thing, and a lot of things can be easily replicated. The companies that are winning are winning at distribution, whether it’s a content creator leveraging their community to start a business, a founder building in public, or someone with incredible connections that nobody else has. Anything like that is standing out to us. They just have to have some sort of distribution advantage, something others can’t replicate. In today’s day and age, every company, especially in the consumer space, needs to be some sort of media company. We’re seeing it more and more.
Practical tips on ‘how to escape kidnapping’ are now being offered at crypto conferences. The rising price of Bitcoin has led to more so-called ‘wrench attacks’, one of which targeted a Canadian CEO last year.
Conversations with ChatGPT are driving people to the brink of insanity. The chatbot led an Ontario man to think he’d uncovered a “math formula that could destroy some of the world’s most powerful institutions,” and a Wisconsin man to think he had “discovered a “time-bending theory that would allow people to travel faster than light.” But sure, keep using AI as your confidant and therapist. Last month, OpenAI said that hundreds of thousands of users may show signs of a manic or psychotic crisis weekly.
Have accepted that every package from Canada Post might be the last.
Pinnacle International wants to turn the old Toronto Star building into a luxury hotel. As it works out its “ultimate plan” to build a 106-storey Sky Tower, which would be Canada’s tallest. Neither plan has been approved.
Things are not going so well up at the other tall tower being built at One Bloor West, where 314 buyer contracts have been cancelled by Tridel, the new developer, so condos can be sold at higher prices.
106 storey Skytower rendering. Source: Hariri Pontarini Architects
Red light therapy is popping up in gyms, medspas and pilates studios around the city. The demand for red light sessions and infrared-heated pilates classes is growing despite many people not knowing what it is.
Trying not to talk about the Olympics too much but… athlete kits are out.
Air Canada’s best new restaurants list is out. I support this list because the restaurants are unexpected, the event is genuinely fun, and chefs who have made it on tell me Air Canada spends a lot of money to promote it.
If you drink Liquid IV electrolyte hot chocolate I don’t think we can be friends. The wellness industry has had it out for hot chocolate since the low-fat craze of the 90s, and while I can accept “healthy” takes like Village Juicery’s adaptogen hot cacao or David Tea’s hot chocolate tea, this feels like a step too far. Of the 16 ingredients, not one is cacao.
I personally would not spend $18 million on the HBC Royal Charter.
Oxford Properties is fighting to keep Fairweather out of Yorkdale Mall: “I cannot overemphasize how inappropriate and detrimental it would be to have Fairweather occupy the most prominent premises at Yorkdale for even one year, much less the next 50 years,” according to a representative from Oxford. The mall’s luxury vibe has made it Canada’s top-performing mall with $2,301 of sales per square foot in 2024 (compared to the Eaton Centre’s $1,500). There’s a lot of “mall news” today so let’s get to it all:
Dufferin Mall is thriving in its own way, reaching near-full occupancy by welcoming non-Yorkdale brands, like a dirty soda shop.
MTY Food Group, the group behind Manchu WOK, Thai Express, Jugo Juice, and the Sushi Shop, is exploring a potential sale.
Toys ‘R’ Us is selling another 12 stores, which would shrink its Canadian footprint to 28 stores (down from 105 in 2023).
An adaptation of Stephen King’s The Running Man is coming to theatres. Vanity Fair cover star Glen Powell puts his life on the line in a reality TV show with a $1 billion prize (a great New Yorker piece explores this).
Police officers will start popping up at busy intersections to speed up office commutes. Yesterday I ran into about a dozen trainees in Liberty Village all wearing bright yellow Vision Zero vests, who told me they are expanding the use of their powers under the Ontario Highway Traffic Act to override traffic lights and stop signs if cars aren’t flowing at rush hour.
Return to office mandates have meant more cars on the road, adding fuel to think pieces and a series covering bad commutes.
According to Reuters, the most influential individuals for news on social media in Canada are American. So tell your friends about Milk Bag.
