Sarah Drinkwater / Common Magic

Sarah Drinkwater is the Founder and General Partner of Common Magic, a £10M early-stage fund backing founders whose ecosystems or communities serve as their moat.

Sarah’s career started in tech journalism at The Guardian and The Independent. She moved into startups, led community at a few European companies (one sold to Yelp), then joined Google. But she missed the early-stage world. That led her to Atomico’s Angel Program, where she made her first angel investments.

Our conversation gets into Sarah’s philosophy on community. “What we came to call community was really about finding and keeping customers close, whether they’re consumers, developers, or businesses. Building communities firsthand showed me it’s a powerful mechanism for retaining customers.”

The best communities bring people together around shared identity, practice, or belief. Broadcast channels aren’t communities. You don’t own a community, and instead you influence, co-create, and curate it.

Full episode below, or on Spotify / Apple Podcasts