Date: 2026-09-03 (2:30 PM EDT) Attendees: Blake Stewart (Megaphone/Founding Journey), Michelle Kwok (Draper Associates, michelle@draper.vc) Note captured by: Blake Stewart (Me = Blake, Them = Michelle)
Summary
Regular content sync between Blake and Michelle. Two main tracks: (1) strategy for the Draper Associates brand account and (2) content interview material from Michelle’s background and Draper culture.
DA account strategy: Goal is to make VC less opaque and more accessible. Tactic agreed: pull top-performing posts from Michelle’s and Tim’s personal LinkedIn, adapt them with a more conversational voice and distinct DA personality. Interactive format ideas to test: AMAs, hot takes, crowdsourcing audience questions. Starting with repurposing existing high-performers vs. net-new content.
Michelle’s Draper hiring story (content gold): Tim’s interview process led with deep personal questions (childhood, family, upbringing) for the first hour before any thesis discussion. Michelle came prepared with a full biotech/AI robotics thesis she never had to use. After establishing trust through personal conversation, Tim asked what she would change about Draper - she pitched seven things including brand cohesion, republishing investment theses, AI workflow infrastructure, and revamping the internship program. Tim’s response: “You should do all of those things,” and sent an offer that day.
Internship program: Year-round (not just summer), MBA interns throughout the year. High access: IC meetings weekly, speaking slots at events, deal sourcing and diligence. Capstone projects. Harmonic workflow case study exists. Patrick (current intern) flagged as a content interview source.
Cultural thread (Draper team): Small, tight team with high trust and high independence. Michelle joined as MBA intern, told there were no full-time roles, then James called her when she was about to take another offer. She has run the internship program since.
Decisions
- DA account: start by repurposing Michelle’s and Tim’s top LinkedIn posts with a DA-specific conversational voice
- Interactive formats (AMA, hot takes, crowdsourcing) to be tested once initial posts land
Action items
- Blake: draft DA account posts from Michelle’s and Tim’s top LinkedIn content
- Blake: send draft content to Michelle for both her personal account and DA (via Slack)
- Blake: interview Patrick (current Draper intern) for internship content, pull quotes
Notable excerpts
On DA account goals:
“My goal is basically, with that account, making VC less opaque. More clarity around VC.”
On content starting point:
“Maybe we can just repurpose the top posts on my account and the top posts on Tim’s account. That are revealing how we think about VC, how we make decisions. If there’s a way to change the voice a bit - make it super conversational, like give DA its own personality, but use that content.”
On Tim’s hiring approach:
“I swear the first hour, he just asked me about my childhood, like how I was raised, what my childhood was like, what I learned in my childhood. My relationship with my family, my parents, what my parents do, what my brother does. But he probably knows more about my background than a lot of my friends do.”
On the offer:
“He was just like, yeah. I trust you to do all those things. And he sent me an offer, like, that day.”
On internship philosophy:
“High trust, high velocity, and high independence. Like, they really put belief in you to do things and run with it.”
On her own work orientation:
“I am all or nothing. I will put my 150% if I really like something. And if I don’t, I will not show up… I dream about my job. I think about it all the time. I wake up and I’m like, what is something better that I can be doing today?”
Full transcript in Granola (id: 53dc5a92-ed40-4e57-8d9c-df63c9c0bdc1). Full raw transcript also archived at ~/.hermes/profiles/ryevalley/clients/draper/michelle-kwok/calls/2026-09-03-53dc5a92-ed40-4e57-8d9c-df63c9c0bdc1.md