Burning the Unicorn
In 2016, OATV raised their fourth fund, internally called Fund IV. But it was part of a larger transition to Indie.vc.
Fund IV was a pilot fund to continue iterating and building out the Indie.vc model. Originally introduced as a one-off experiment program under OATV Fund III, Indie.vc had seen enough success in it’s first iteration to warrant more testing.
With the new fund, OATV was going all in on the Indie.vc-style investing. As one of the original seed funds, we wanted to make sure that Indie.vc felt different — like it’s own thing.
Separate, different, opinionated.
So we doused a unicorn mask in camping fuel and set it on fire.
“Oh my god — that really worked perfectly.”
Commercial Art as a Brand
At the time, it felt like unicorns were being crushed under the weight of their own expectations. People were, rightly, throwing rocks at the Google busses. Juicero.
Traditional Venture Capital works exactly how it’s designed to work. Which is certainly part of the problem that Indie.vc is trying to solve. But it’s not about fixing VC. It’s about building something new all together. While the obvious commentary is there, the real purpose of Burning the Unicorn was to light the way for a different path.
Saying something directly with visuals as a brand only works when your actions back up what other people think you’re saying.
Stated clearly, the only reason the Burning Unicorn works for Indie.vc is because their portfolio companies are 50% women-led. Because 25% of their founders are non-white. Because 60% of their investments aren’t in California or New York.
Without real action behind the art, it’s just a plastic mask melting.
Burning A Unicorn — Practical Steps
— Run to the store and buy a unicorn mask.
— Call your friends who own a farm outside of Portland and ask if you can come light a unicorn on fire.
— Stop at Wal-Mart for a cheap, black sheet to turn into a backdrop.
— Build said backdrop.
— Set up a camera on a tripod and wait for the most even lighting outside.
— Stuff the mask full of newspaper so it holds it's shape.
— Soak the newspaper in camping fuel.
— Pour more fuel on the outside of the mask just to be safe.
— Light it on fire.
Iterations
Every year, we’ve used the Unicorn in different ways. With the first launch — black and white, burning in all its slow motion glory, complete with a great joke for a YouTube title.
The next iteration of Indie.vc had the Unicorn glitching out.
As we’ve settled into keeping the brand more consistent year over year, the Unicorn has remained a cornerstone. We’ve started using .gifs of various moments from the video depending on the timing of the announcement.
Bright, full-color, basking in the sun before it burns to the ground. Ready to be fired. Immediately after being lit.
For 2021, we set Indie.vc’s values to the fire.