O’SHAUGHNESSY VENTURES
Building a Venture Platform Around Ideas, Curiosity, and Long-Term Thinking
Strategic Advisor. Collaborated closely with founder Jim O’Shaughnessy to shape the OSV brand from day one. Advised on platform structure, brand messaging, and voice across Ventures, Media, and Fellowship arms. Helped translate a big vision into a clear ecosystem for creators and capital.
A Creative Company, Not Just a VC Firm
Jim O’Shaughnessy had already built one of the most respected names in investing. OSV was about building something entirely different. But with OSV, he wanted to build something new—an idea-led investment platform for the next generation of thinkers, makers, and risk-takers.
I was brought in as a strategic advisor, by Executive Creative Directors John Foster and Greg Collins, to help translate that ambition into a coherent brand system and launch platform.
Brand Structure for a Multi-Legged Platform
OSV was always bigger than just a fund. It had three arms: Ventures, Media, and the Fellowship. Each had a different audience, but needed a common ethos—optimism, belief in ideas, and a commitment to long-term thinking.
I worked directly with Jim and his team to shape:
OSV’s platform messaging
Brand voice and point-of-view
Fellowship story and internal communications
Early content and media strategy
Founder-to-founder narrative framework
Brand as an Operating System
We treated brand like code: lightweight but essential. We didn’t overbuild. Instead, we created modular language and a flexible structure that could evolve alongside the OSV portfolio and community.
At its core, OSV exists to discover and fuel ideas that lead to positive-sum, win-win outcomes. Our job was to dimensionalize that intent, beginning with the brand line: Unleash your infinite potential.
Takeaway
This was vision work to help a legendary investor build something that felt personal, expansive, and modern. OSV was a reminder that even the smartest ideas need clarity, language, and energy to connect. Jim leads with enormous intellectual energy and genuine curiosity. That combination creates momentum around him naturally. Our job was to build a brand system capable of carrying that energy across investments, media, and community without losing the humanity behind it.