The Audience Is the Platform Now

Hello friends,

We built Hallstone on a clear conviction: that the durable value in media and entertainment is being created at the infrastructure layer, in the systems that make new behavior safe, measurable, and economically real. That thesis is why we raised the fund, and it's the lens on everything we do.

Now we're putting it to work. Our newest portfolio company, which we're proud to introduce in this issue, is a direct expression of that thesis. Alongside it, we've been active across the portfolio, in the field, and on stage.

This issue is less about where Hallstone has been and more about what we're building. Here's the latest.

Earlier this year, we wrote twice about a company we were diligencing at the intersection of fandom, generative AI, and brand-safe participation. We can now share its name: Wide Worlds has joined the Hallstone portfolio.

Here's the shift it's built for, and the subject of the keynote I'm giving next month, Fandom Is the New Window. Audiences no longer just watch the stories they love. They expect to participate in them. That's a massive opportunity for rights holders, and a real risk: unchecked participation puts IP, brand safety, and consent on the line.

That gap is where the infrastructure gets built. The winners will be the systems that let rights holders invite participation without losing control of it, turning fandom into a safe, measurable, monetizable channel. That's the thesis behind Wide Worlds.

The audience isn't the endpoint anymore. It's the platform.

On June 4, we gathered our community at the Los Angeles Athletic Club for an evening we called "A Bright Future."

The best part of the night was watching the idea behind Hallstone come to life in the room: founders meeting advisers, customers, collaborators, and investors who understand the hard realities of building inside media and entertainment. Operators, founders, and capital, working together in person.

Here's a sixty-second recap:

Watch the full 3-minute recap VIDEO HERE

More on the Community page on our website: https://hallstoneventures.com/community

Last week I was invited to spend a few days at SpaceX's Starbase in Texas, hosted by the team that runs the live production, video, and streaming of their launches. I toured Starfactory, spent time in their control room, and stood on-site just ahead of a Starship launch later that day, which I was lucky enough to witness live.

The scale is hard to convey. Starship on its booster is as tall as a 40 story building, with thousands of people building at a pace that resets your sense of what's possible.

But the part that stayed with me was the control room. Think about what that team pulls off: capturing and streaming a launch to millions in real time, then live video from the vehicle once it's in space, and again from the water after it splashed down in the Indian Ocean. Three of the most demanding capture environments imaginable, stitched into one continuous broadcast. It's a genuine feat, and it's a reminder of what actually draws us to a frontier like this. Not just this revolutionary rocket science, but also the infrastructure that turns simply incredible moments into a shared experience for a global audience.

That's the layer we invest in, wherever it shows up.

On August 13, I'll be giving a keynote at DPP's Production Now event, on the theme of this issue: Fandom Is the New Window.

The short version: AI matters, but it's only one of several forces reshaping this industry alongside streaming economics, audience fragmentation, creator-led businesses, and the shift from passive audiences to active participants. The real question is where revenue is accumulating, and what that means for workflows, careers, and where industry growth will come from.

If you'll be there, come find me.

Two recent moves reinforce a theme we keep returning to: fandom and creator audiences are becoming an ownable asset class, and the durable value sits in the infrastructure and businesses beneath them.

If you know a founder building serious infrastructure at the intersection of AI and media, entertainment, or advertising, we'd welcome the introduction. And if you'd like to reconnect as we keep deploying, we'd be glad to talk.

You can see a fuller look at our thesis, our portfolio, and how we support the founders we back at hallstoneventures.com.

Disclaimer: This communication is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.