Project Overview
The Pixel Paper started as a newsletter and grew into a full digital media house. I co-founded and led it as Chief Editor and Growth Manager, writing, growing the audience, managing a team of 8 (6 marketing VAs and 2 writers), and closing advertising deals with Nike, Notion, HubSpot, Netflix, and Masterworks.
I built and ran the cold outreach sequences to land these sponsors, tracking what was converting and iterating until it worked. I used AI throughout to draft and refine content, summarise research into tight briefings, structure data into insights, and automate parts of the distribution workflow.
Out of the 5 publications, I personally ran SearchVentures and Investor Briefcase as content verticals, researching and writing them entirely myself. Beyond the newsletters, we also collaborated with external partners: sourcing startup deal news for Tech Funding News, supporting Drebbel with research reports for their startup marketplace, and contributing early-stage due diligence for European angel investors. The audience and client relationships we built directly led to the launch of Haven Influence (now First Query).
What I Built
Built a newsletter operation publishing 5 weekly editions across distinct verticals: European startups, VC and funding news, and creator economy. Two of these were sub-brands I ran personally:
SearchVentures was a weekly deep-dive into the European startup ecosystem. Each edition mapped funding trends across sectors and countries using Crunchbase, Dealroom.co, and PitchBook data, profiled interesting deals and early-stage companies, and included interviews with founders (such as SeedLegals) and VCs (such as Serena) to add operator and investor perspective. I also collaborated with ecosystem partners on deal news, marketplace reports, and early-stage due diligence content for angel investors.
Investor Briefcase was a long-form, research-driven publication focused on how top investors think and build portfolios. Each edition broke down a major investor or fund, analysed their decision-making frameworks and mental models, and covered case studies of notable deals. It was structured as narrative-style journalism aimed at readers who wanted to learn investing principles alongside the news, not just consume it.
The Challenge
Bootstrapping and growing a media brand from zero with no budget, no existing audience, and no brand recognition. Every reader had to be earned organically through content quality, SEO, and distribution while simultaneously building a monetisation model attractive enough to land Nike, Notion, HubSpot, Netflix, and Masterworks as advertising partners.
Outcome
Grew The Pixel Paper to 110,000 readers and 60M+ impressions across all 5 newsletters. Secured recurring advertising revenue from Nike, Notion, HubSpot, Netflix, and Masterworks through cold outreach sequences we built and tracked ourselves. Built a team of 8 and a content operation that ran consistently for 18+ months.
This became the foundation for launching Haven Influence (now First Query), directly validating our understanding of the influencer and creator ecosystem.
110,000 readers and 60M+ impressions across 5 newsletters
Recurring ad revenue from Nike, Notion, HubSpot, Netflix, and Masterworks
Team scaled to 8 people (6 marketing VAs, 2 writers) with operations running 18+ months
External collaborations with Tech Funding News, Drebbel, and European angel investors
Directly generated the client base and market insight that became First Query