Investor Overview - Confidential
An evergreen revolving credit fund deploying capital across three distinct paths in the podcast creator economy - receivables factoring, revenue advances, and IP participation - engineered for continuous capital recycling and compounding returns.
Investment Thesis
Podcast creators generate predictable, recurring advertising revenue - but they get paid on 60-90 day cycles. Meanwhile, production costs, talent fees, and growth investments are due immediately.
This structural timing mismatch creates an opportunity: deploy capital against verified revenue streams, earn fees on every cycle, and recycle capital continuously to compound returns.
"Every dollar deployed must earn its keep."
Receivables are Real
Capital is advanced against verified advertising invoices from Fortune 500 advertisers. The money is already owed.
Capital Recycles Continuously
Receivables return every 3 months. Revenue advances repay over 16 months. Every dollar works multiple times.
Perpetual IP Upside
IP participation stakes generate ongoing revenue shares indefinitely - creating terminal value beyond the projection window.
Operator-Led, Not Spreadsheet-Led
Managed by a fund manager with a decade inside the podcast industry - not an outsider guessing at deal structures.
Fund Structure
An evergreen revolving credit fund with a 36-month performance window. Capital is deployed across three paths, recycling continuously. No termination date - every dollar keeps earning.
Total LP capital committed
New capital deployed evenly
Minimum LP commitment
Capital recycles, no wind-down
Capital Allocation
Deployment Paths
Each path serves a different creator need, carries a different risk profile, and returns capital on a different timeline. Together, they create a blended portfolio that balances speed, yield, and long-term upside.
40% allocation - $4M
The fund advances cash against a creator's outstanding advertising invoices. When the advertiser pays (~75 days), the fund collects the full receivable amount. Fee is withheld upfront at deployment.
How it works for creators: On a $10K receivable at 80% approval, the creator gets ~$7,605 immediately. The fund withholds ~$395 as the fee. When the advertiser pays 75 days later, $8,000 returns to the fund and redeploys instantly.
40% allocation - $4M
The fund advances capital based on a creator's trailing 18-month average revenue. The creator receives a lump sum, then repays 30% of monthly revenue until the advance is fully repaid.
How it works for creators: A creator averaging $10K/mo revenue receives ~$31,360 upfront (after $16,640 fee on a $48K advance). They repay $3,000/mo (30% of revenue) until the advance is cleared, then the obligation drops to 0%.
20% allocation - $2M
The fund provides upfront production capital to launch or scale a podcast. After recoupment, the fund takes a 30% revenue share during the contract term, then retains a 10% perpetual participation in the IP.
The long-term play: The 10% perpetual IP stake across ~41 successful shows generates ~$483K/year indefinitely. At a 4x revenue multiple, this portfolio is valued at $1.93M - terminal value that accrues to the fund beyond the 36-month window.
36-Month Projected Returns
Cash returns only
Including IP portfolio value
On $10M invested
Perpetual, post-term
36-month fee & revenue share income across all three deployment paths
From gross profit to LP earnings in 36 months
$10M in, $63.6M deployed through continuous recycling
Receivable deal-months
(500 new + 4,750 recycled)
Revenue advance deals
IP shows funded (gross)
Total capital put to work
(including recycling)
Proprietary Data Advantage
Through our relationship with Kast Media - the 9th-largest independent podcast network - we have access to 8 years of complete financial records: every invoice, every payment, every agency, every show. This isn't theoretical underwriting. It's informed by one of the most comprehensive podcast advertising transaction datasets in existence.
Across 8 years of operations
Agencies, brands, platforms
Matched and analyzed
Across $50M+ in invoices
Actual invoice-to-payment timing from 11,046 matched transactions (2016-2024)
90% of payments take more than 30 days. 65% take more than 60 days. 22% take more than 90 days.
From ad airing to cash in a creator's bank account
4-5 months from when an ad airs to when a creator sees money. This is the gap the fund fills.
Median days from invoice to payment, by year (measured from QuickBooks data)
Invoice-to-payment median trending upward: 64 days in 2019 to 77 days in 2023. The cash flow problem is structural and worsening.
Payment behavior profiles for the top advertising agencies, based on actual transaction history
| Agency / Buyer | Total Volume | Median Days | Transactions | Risk Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veritone One | $9.85M | 70 days | 500+ | LOW |
| Ad Results Media | $8.43M | 79 days | 796+ | LOW |
| Oxford Road | $3.98M | 74 days | 129+ | LOW |
| BetterHelp (direct) | $2.37M | 23 days | 50+ | LOW |
| Havas Edge | $1.56M | ~60 days | 90+ | LOW |
| Adopter Media | $1.71M | ~65 days | 80+ | MED |
| Triton (programmatic) | $1.09M | ~75 days | 30+ | MED |
| Sonic Influencer Mktg | $1.68M | 108 days | 200+ | HIGH |
| PodSearch | $603K | 137 days | 60+ | HIGH |
Risk tier based on payment consistency, median days to payment, and historical non-payment rate. 60+ additional agencies profiled in the full dataset.
When a creator submits an invoice from Ad Results Media for factoring, we don't guess whether it'll be paid. We know from 796 historical transactions totaling $8.4M that Ad Results pays at a median of 79 days with near-zero default.
When we see an invoice from PodSearch, we know from 60+ transactions that their median is 137 days - so we price accordingly or decline.
This is the difference between theoretical underwriting and underwriting backed by 8 years of actual payment behavior from every major agency in the ecosystem.
The Kast data reveals that podcast networks are already using invoice factoring and revenue-based lending to bridge the cash flow gap - and paying heavily for it:
The demand is proven. Creators and networks are already factoring receivables and taking revenue advances through expensive, fragmented providers. This fund consolidates that demand with better terms for creators and superior returns for investors.
Actual annual talent payouts by show (implying 2-3x in gross show revenue). Multi-year consistency supports the trailing-average underwriting used in Path 2.
What this proves: These payouts represent the talent's share (typically 50-70% of gross ad revenue), implying $1.5M-$3M+ in gross show revenue per year. Revenue was sustained over multiple years for each show - exactly the kind of predictable, recurring income that supports the trailing 18-month revenue average used in Path 2 underwriting.
8 years of transaction data reveals the complete podcast advertising money flow
BetterHelp, Athletic Greens, Manscaped, Netflix, Amazon, DoorDash, SquareSpace, Helix Sleep, Brooklinen, SimpliSafe, Credit Karma, Stitch Fix, Calm, DraftKings, HelloFresh, Allbirds, Stamps.com, Headspace, and dozens more.
Veritone One, Ad Results Media, Oxford Road, Havas Edge, Adopter Media, Strategic Media, Sonic Influencer, The Radio Agency, PodSearch, Digitas, MullenLowe, Mindshare, Universal McCann, Wieden+Kennedy, Horizon Media, and more.
Triton/SXM, AdsWizz, Art19, Megaphone, SoundStack, AdvertiseCast, Podcorn, PodcastOne, Wondery, Castbox, and others. Programmatic and direct IO relationships mapped.
"No outside investor can replicate this dataset. It took a decade inside the industry to build, and it's the foundation every underwriting decision in this fund is built on."
Fund Structure
Capital recycles continuously - receivables every 3 months, advances over 16 months, IP generates perpetual income. A wind-down period would idle capital and drag returns. Evergreen keeps every dollar earning.
24-month lock-up + 6-month notice ensures orderly operations. Quarterly redemption windows after month 30. At redemption, the fund stops recycling the LP's share and returns capital as positions mature.
This is standard for credit/lending funds (Fundrise, Pipe, Clearco). Not a novel structure.
Risk Management
Lowest risk. Advanced against verified invoices from known advertisers.
Moderate risk. Based on trailing revenue with 30% monthly repayment.
Highest risk, highest upside. 30% show failure rate assumed. Perpetual stakes on successes.
Fund Manager
Founder & Principal, VO2 Strategy
Colin Thomson spent over a decade engineering, launching, and scaling top-performing podcasts across narrative storytelling, culture, health, comedy, and business. He built Kast Media from a bootstrapped production company into the 9th-largest independent podcast network in the United States - ahead of ESPN, WarnerMedia, Daily Wire, Fox News, and Slate.
Starting with a simple fee-for-service model in 2016, Thomson scaled Kast through strategic shifts into advertising revenue-sharing, minimum guarantees, and celebrity-driven content. At its peak, Kast managed a portfolio of top-100 shows across every major genre, secured premium placements with Joe Rogan, and navigated the wave of $1.5 billion in tech-giant investment that reshaped the podcasting landscape.
When the Great Podcasting Market Correction hit in 2022-2023, Thomson experienced firsthand the structural vulnerabilities of the creator economy's cash flow waterfall - the 3-6 month payment cycles, the mismatch between fixed obligations and variable revenue, and the absence of financial infrastructure purpose-built for creators. That experience is the direct origin of this fund.
"I've seen this industry from every angle - building shows, selling ads, negotiating rates, managing cash flow, scaling networks. I know exactly where the money moves, where it stalls, and where the opportunity lives. This fund exists because I built, broke, and rebuilt the systems it's designed to finance."
NETWORK BUILDING
Built Kast Media to 9th-largest indie podcast network
CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT
Executive produced top-100 shows across all genres
MEDIA PERFORMANCE
4x lift in average ROAS for brand clients
RATE NEGOTIATION
Joe Rogan premium baked-ins under $10 eCPMs
BRAND ADVISORY
VO2 Strategy - turning creator-economy expertise into brand performance
Origination advantage - Deep relationships across the podcast creator ecosystem. Direct access to deal flow that outside capital cannot source.
Underwriting precision - Knows which shows generate real revenue, which creators are bankable, and which receivables are collectible.
Creative IP selection - One of the top executive producers in podcasting. Can identify which IP bets will succeed at rates far above market average.
Structural knowledge - Built and operated the exact revenue systems this fund is designed to finance.
Portfolio Experience
Colin Thomson oversaw the creative development, production, launch, and monetization of all shows below, and many more.
The Portal
Impaulsive
Sarah Silverman
Vigilante
The Viall Files
On Purpose
The Opportunist
King & the Sting
"VO2 means maximum output per dollar deployed. That's our standard."
Get in Touch
colin@vo2strategy.com
vo2strategy.com