Narratives move the world. For early-stage founders, an impactful story is magnetic to talent, capital, and customers. Generalist Capital exists to help great entrepreneurs create and capitalize on narrative momentum.

Auren Hoffman: It used to be that “who you know” — not “what you know” — held the most value. But in the last 15 years, it has become much more important to build something than to know people.

This pattern repeats everywhere:

• Traditional path: Pay $50,000 for an MBA, then hope someone notices you.

• Attention path (shortcut): Create valuable insights for industry leaders, then get hired directly.

When you reframe every “how will I pay for this” problem as a “who can I serve” problem, you win. This is the Audience Shortcut:

• Instead of ask

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