Translating the Technical for Skeleton Key

Challenge: Translate frontier AI / science investing into a newsletter that educates and engages a smart-but-mixed room (VCs and curious non-specialists). The goal was to get them to read to the end and come back to reference the work later. 

Owned vs. Directed: For this six month project, I was an executive ghostwriter for Skeleton Key’s founder, Ann Lai, owning the translation of her voice notes, conversations, and fundraising deck into engaging and educational newsletter content that anyone could read but that spoke to our target audience. To do this, I worked closely with Ann to define and evolve her brand voice, and then executed the newsletter based on that work. 

Approach to Voice: I had to calibrate the work to fulfill a dual need: speak to the stakeholder in their own terms, but keep everything relatable enough to ensure the science or tech enthusiasts stay in the room.

Outcome: 76% open rate for six months