Like many business ideas, Thought Liters started in the shower.
Founder Adam Conner, a “relative newbie” to Pittsburgh back in 2023, was trying to break into the startup scene, and was frustrated by the fact that real conversations in the business world are often stuck behind layers of PR and marketing.
“All of their PR teams are working day and night and getting paid to make [startup founders] thought leaders,” Conner, who’s also a founder of the media production company Authentic Avenue, told Technical.ly, “and I thought, ‘God, that makes things so dry, so prepared, so defended. I wish I could just sit back and have a drink with some of these people.’”
That’s when it clicked: The Pittsburgh startup scene needs its own Hot Ones. He rushed out of the shower with the idea for Thought Liters, an interview video series where Conner would connect the top minds of the city with the bottom of a glass.
“There’s a great deal of psychology in disarming and charming guests and forcing them into real moments,” he said. “In my opinion, that’s how you stand out.”
The show is a place for Pittsburgh startup founders to share their thoughtful insights over a beer – or non-alcoholic drink if they prefer, similar to the celebrity interview series over a plate of increasingly spicy wings. Several months into posting videos, the show is gaining momentum in the city’s startup ecosystem, with a new partnership with a leading early-stage startup investor on the horizon.
Conner is offering guests a trade. Bring your authentic, candid self to the interview, and possibly be rewarded with a real connection to the audience that could open the door to new opportunities.
A new take on ‘authentic’ business content
Entertaining business content is still in its infancy, according to Conner, but even more popular shows are extremely formal, bogged down by PR speak and lacking real connection. It’s often just talking heads, side by side, he said.
So much of early-stage investment decisions come down to a founder’s personal brand, Conner said, so content creation is a powerful, low-cost tool entrepreneurs need to take advantage of to convert those high-stakes relationships into opportunity.
“I came to learn that the word authentic is now just as corporate as any other word,” Conner said. Instead, he prefers the phrase “disarm and charm,” or the technique of creating an environment that helps people relax, let their guard down and show their true selves rather than sticking to PR-approved answers.
That’s the approach Conner is aiming to bring to Thought Liters — business content that feels less scripted and more human. One day, he hopes to expand the series beyond Pittsburgh to feature thought leaders from other cities and industries. For now, though, he’s focused on showcasing the innovation happening here.
The next chapter of the show will be a mini-series in partnership with Innovation Works, a leading early-stage investment org in Pittsburgh.
“Pittsburgh has an extraordinary amount of talent and industry prowess relative to the attention that the city gets,” Conner said, “I come into contact all the time with these incredible stories that deserve to be told…it gives me the sort of entrepreneurial fire and spirit I had when I first got into this content game.”
Conner’s playbook for founder content creation
Even for founders who never appear on his show, Conner has clear advice: make content creation a priority.
“Despite the time and energy it takes to create that compelling content,” Conner said, “it is a worthwhile venture, because, especially at the beginning, that is the only thing you have complete, utter control of.”
Prioritize LinkedIn, Conner said. It’s still the most important platform for anyone in the business world, whether they’re a startup founder or a big-time exec. In the last 18 months, LinkedIn has rolled out updates that make content creation even easier, like the vertical video swipe feed, which Conner was an initial private beta tester for.
Also, all founders should have a newsletter, whether that be on LinkedIn or another platform, he added. Newsletters allow a founder to directly reach and retain their audience, provide updates on their startup, and document their progress as a thought leader in their industry or niche.
“That is the only first-party audience that you own,” Conner said, “and so you avoid any platform risk by owning your platform and owning your audience.”
Then comes YouTube. Conner still considers it the “gold standard” for building authority in a founder’s niche.
“If you can nail medium- to long-form video in your niche, you’ll develop thought leadership, brand authority and industry authority at an astonishing rate,” he said. “That’s an area I’m still trying to figure out — most people are — but I think it has the longest tail of value.”
Other platforms, like X, can be used for testing ideas, Conner said, allowing founders to throw out a quick thought and see what resonates before investing more effort into longer-form content.
And for bonus points, he added, co-create whenever possible. Collaborating with others allows founders to tap into multiple audiences at the same time.
“The advice that I would give to founders,” Conner said, “is basically create content any way you can.”
