Alan Cruz’s path to venture capital has been anything but straightforward. Cruz began his career as a teenage activist, a role that led him to work for Congress in Washington, D.C. after college, before quickly realizing that politics wasn’t his true calling. Last year, Cruz faced a health crisis that required multiple surgeries and nearly left him blind.
However, this past June, the Las Vegas native made the most transformative action in his career yet by making the move to San Francisco, a decision sparked from a chance meeting with a fund manager over coffee. Throughout his career, Cruz has chosen to embrace the roadblocks in his path as stepping stones on his journey.
Today, Cruz runs Poderoso Media, which is currently undergoing a rebrand as ACVC Media (Alan Cruz Venture Capital Media), where he serves as a ghostwriter and content strategist for venture capital funds. Cruz is redefining how the VC space uses storytelling and media in an industry and era where trust and mission are the ultimate currency.
This week, Michael Carfrae of Alter New Media met with Alan Cruz to discuss his career path and where VC is headed.
Hi Alan, thank you for doing this interview. What is it about the venture capital space that’s inspired you to focus your storytelling craft on it?
It’s a funny story because I stumbled into venture capital by accident. I moved to San Francisco a little over three months ago, but before that, I had gone through several eye surgeries where I almost lost my vision permanently in both eyes. After going through that experience—four surgeries, more than half a year recovery—I came into 2025 with a renewed sense of clarity on how I want to live my life.
When I finally recovered and was given the green light by my retina surgeon to start traveling, I took a trip to San Francisco in January. There was just something about being in San Francisco that told me, You should be here. I don’t know what my gut was trying to tell me, but I was going to find a way to be here.
Then, in February, I had a virtual coffee chat with Ben Stokes, who ran the only LGBT VC fund that invests exclusively in LGBT founders. If not for him, I probably wouldn’t have moved to San Francisco or be where I am today. That one conversation was a transformative shift for my career and life.
Ben saw potential in me and invited me to help with his VC fund, where I worked primarily as a ghostwriter for his personal brand on LinkedIn, increasing his exposure and showcasing his leadership style.
I had already been working as a storyteller for my own projects and freelancing for small businesses and clients, but from there, I realized I loved using storytelling to help investors working with mission- and purpose-driven companies, especially underrepresented founders who often don’t have access to capital.
I had no intentions to enter VC, but the opportunity stumbled onto me. I’ve learned to take leaps of faith. I could have said no because I didn’t know anything about VC, but I thought, I’ll give myself a chance to try. I’ve grown so much from that experience, and I’ve learned that by doing things I don’t feel ready for, I prepare myself for future opportunities.
Your story is so inspiring. Can you share a little bit about your career path up to now and how it’s informed your current work in VC?
I’ve reflected on this recently. I’ve had all these different careers and odd jobs that didn’t follow a linear path, but at the heart of everything I did was always impact: how can I make an impact in someone’s life, in my community, and in the world?
My first career started in advocacy. When I was 15 years old, I introduced a bill in Nevada to lower the voting age for school board elections from 18 to 16. Not knowing a thing about politics, I just had a feeling that it was the right thing to do.
In high school, I lobbied with organizations and gave a TEDx talk when I was 16 on youth empowerment. In college, I worked in the social impact space, organizing events and community meetups. I would describe myself as a disruptor—I want to radically change things for the better, I’m going to take action and do the thing.
After graduating from undergrad in 2022, I thought I wanted to be a lawyer and work in politics, so I moved to Washington, D.C., and worked in Congress on the policy side. But I quickly realized this wasn’t something I wanted to do.
Now, in venture capital, the question becomes how do I use my natural gifts in writing and connecting with people to tell their stories, put what they’re doing out there, and reach more people to make the world a better place by expanding access through increased capital investment.
I’ve been a natural storyteller since I was young, so it feels right to be on this career path right now. One of my goals is to run my own venture capital fund, invest in founders and deploy capital for innovative companies. But who knows where I’ll be in five or 10 years—that might change, too. Life is non-linear.
What is a challenge you’ve faced while carving out your niche as a ghostwriter and content creator for investors, and how have you overcome them?
The biggest challenge was that I came into venture capital with no knowledge of venture capital.
However, the strength in that is that VC has operated with the same traditional model for decades now, and, here I am, somebody who has no prior experience, no business in VC, disrupting it by saying–Hey, we need to center mission, we need to center story, because that’s how we can make the most meaningful impact.
Because younger generations value impact and mission so much, we are starting to require that from companies. We care about companies that are sustainable, that care about racial justice, immigration, and what they’re doing to make this world a better place. We’re shifting away from thinking only about profits, but also about people.
Coming in with an outside perspective, I’m not tied down by whatever the norm is. It has been a challenge, but also an opportunity to shake things up in a new way.
You were recently a part of the Transformative CEO’s Mastermind with Alter New Media. What is one strategy or insight that you’ve applied since then?
Just show up and just do it. Why are you waiting?
It was during that same time that I attended the Transformative CEO’s Mastermind, an event hosted by Alter New Media for a group of entrepreneurs, that I realized I was waiting for permission to put myself out there. Being in a room and talking to other like-minded business owners and entrepreneurs, I realized that there’s no need to wait. Why am I waiting for someone to give me permission when I should extend that to myself to just do it?
I went to the Transformative CEO’s Mastermind a week after my final fourth surgery. I didn’t know what the event would be like, nor who would be in attendance, but I felt compelled to be there. I’m so glad I did because it was where I met one of my first clients, and that was a domino effect that got me to where I am today. But I think it was definitely the mindset shift and having the community behind you who are advocating and championing you. That was the most meaningful thing that I still have with me, despite living in a new city and working in a new industry now.
How do you see the role of content evolving in venture capital, and how is Poderoso Media positioning itself?
Content is absolutely redefining VC. The usual model of VC is behind-the-scenes, closed-door meetings. It’s an industry that’s very gatekept. But with content and media, the paradigm is shifting to where we are seeing a rise in transparency. A big concept in the startup space is building in public, meaning that founders are sharing their journey from the day they start to ideate and build a company—sharing the highs, the lows—all the way through the process. We’re no longer withholding knowledge; we’re championing accessibility and transparency because we want everyone to grow and contribute to making the world a better place.
In terms of Poderoso Media, it started as a project to use my creativity because I was still going through my surgeries, and I didn’t want to just sit around. So, I made an entire website and did some marketing to empower the 5 million-plus Latino entrepreneurs in the United States. We’re actually now rebranding into ACVC Media (Alan Cruz Venture Capital Media) to focus specifically on elevating investors in the VC world who are mission-driven, who are disruptors, and who are doing amazing things that people need to hear more about.
In five to 10 years, content and media are going to be the new distribution channel–and if you’re not in it, you’re going to fall behind. There aren’t many companies doing content or media for VC funds specifically, so I’m excited to help shape what that looks like for the industry as a whole. It’s definitely going to be a big breakthrough, and I’m grateful that I can do that in Silicon Valley.
How is content and storytelling transforming the ways VCs build trust and authority today?
I like to use an analogy of running for office. When you are a candidate, you don’t announce on election day, Hey guys, by the way, I’m running for office!
Normally, candidates will announce that they’re running a year or two beforehand. They’ll tell you what they value, what they stand for, what they don’t stand for. And, they do that through in-person events, through marketing, through media, through advertising, so that by the time you get to election day, and depending on who you are as a person and your party, you will feel a trust and rapport because you know who they are. You don’t know the candidate personally, but you have a feeling that you know who they are because they’ve consistently shown you in different ways.
I like to use this analogy for venture capital, where again, it’s a behind-closed-doors kind of world where investors do not talk about who they are and what they do. I’m seeing such a big rise in investors sharing who they are, their values, their stories, and what they are investing in and how that’s impacting profits and the world. They build trust because trust is the ultimate currency in venture capital. If you don’t have trust, you have nothing at all.
Being consistent, showing up, and being transparent and showing that to the world is incredibly important. It can be through LinkedIn, it can be through industry—it can be whatever medium channel. We’re seeing such a shift toward more people doing that. It’s been super great to see, and I’m interested to see how far that can go in venture capital.
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Much like Alan Cruz is shaking up the world of venture capital, Alter New Media is a media-tech ecosystem for purpose-driven brands at the intersection of public relations, content production, influencer marketing, and AI-driven business development for the next generation. To join us for the Transformative CEO’s 2025 Mastermind, click here: Transformative CEO’s Mastermind
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