Sindhya Valloppillil

Co-Founder @skindossier, @nextgenvp Venture Partner, Columnist @forbes, Contributing Writer @techcrunch & @beautymatter, @techstars mentor, Diversity Activist

[Sindhya Valloppillil @Sindhya]

Spirit Airlines is shutting down. Passengers are being notified via a $12.99 "Closure Notification Fee."

[Sindhya Valloppillil @Sindhya]

Skin longevity in a bottle with an OTC formulation. By Lancôme. 100% BS. Stay tuned for an article on this topic.

[Sindhya Valloppillil @Sindhya]

A retainer for a mid-size health tech startup typically runs $15,000 to $35,000 a month. That’s not a campaign budget — that’s the monthly fee to manage a company’s narrative. A single month of PR representation costs more than a year of Forbes contributor fees. The same expertise that publications won’t pay for, the companies being covered are paying for aggressively — to control what gets written about them, by whom, and when. https://t.co/RdSSuyQ15n

[Sindhya Valloppillil @Sindhya]

A journalist sees investor interest and assumes the company has been vetted.
An investor sees a flattering Times profile and assumes the journalism did the scrutiny.

Neither has.

Theranos. WeWork. AllBirds. Juicero.

The journalists and the VCs went to the same conferences, sat on the same panels, and validated each other's judgment — and when the companies collapsed, moved on to the next narrative together.

The market correction never travels as far as the original story. The damage does.

Part 3 of my series on vibe journalism is live: https://t.co/ckGaIFaKtA

[Sindhya Valloppillil @Sindhya]

Part 1 of "How Journalism Lost Its Soul" hit 1,600+ readers since Thursday. Organic. No paid promotion. No algorithm boost.
Not the numbers I had at Forbes. Yet.
But for the first time, I own my audience.
Part 2 is live. Part 3 — the most uncomfortable one yet — drops Wednesday. These are exactly the kinds of pieces legacy media would never publish about itself. So I did.

Subscribe for free: https://t.co/iZAHE7oRPV

#journalism #media #techjournalism #substack

[Sindhya Valloppillil @Sindhya]

https://t.co/LKvn2qI7A2

[Sindhya Valloppillil @Sindhya]

The gravitational pull is constant and invisible.

It shapes which pitches get approved, which companies get profiled warmly, and which investigations never quite get resourced.

Nobody makes a phone call. Nobody kills a story directly. It just works.

This one gets uncomfortable.

https://t.co/LvnSkqEbEn

[Sindhya Valloppillil @Sindhya]

Forbes BrandVoice campaigns start at $50,000.

@Forbes paid me $50 an article. Not $500. Fifty dollars. Never mind having a track record of viral articles.

The math is not complicated. And it is not accidental.

Part 2 of How Journalism Lost Its Soul is live — and this one gets uncomfortable.

https://t.co/LvnSkqEbEn

[Sindhya Valloppillil @Sindhya]

Journalism didn't lose its soul from budget cuts.

It lost it from something much harder to fix.

The business model is straightforward, if uncomfortable to name.

And this is exactly the kind of piece Forbes would never publish about itself.

So I did. #journalism #media

https://t.co/LvnSkqEbEn

[Sindhya Valloppillil @Sindhya]

Vibe journalism: the art of borrowing the authority of reporting without doing any of the reporting.
It’s everywhere. And it’s why trust in media just hit a 50-year low. https://t.co/ekTMX3Z4Bx

[Sindhya Valloppillil @Sindhya]

It cracks me up how influencers and makeup brands that bring them to Coachella don’t understand that it’s a MUSIC festival first. Most of the influencers share nothing about the music there which blows my mind.

[Sindhya Valloppillil @Sindhya]

Even X/Twitter is investing in media now with the launch of its long-forn publishing tools which are meant to collapse creation and distribution into a single interface. The goal is to own the content and distribution layer to contan attention.

[Sindhya Valloppillil @Sindhya]

Media lost control--and Why Firms Like a16z Are Building Media Arms. Here's An analysis of how the media value chain has shifted from institutions to creators, platforms, and commerce layers, and why firms like a16z are building media as a strategic advantage.

This is the first issue of The Signal—a new series on capital, culture, technology, and where power is shifting.

https://t.co/0LaxFT5GrY

[Sindhya Valloppillil @Sindhya]

Most Superbowl halftime performers sing and dance.

🔥🔥Bad Bunny did so much more for this year’s Superbowl. His performance was like a Broadway musical in terms of the acting, storytelling and symbolism. The Latin wedding scene was amazing! He showcased and educated us on Latin culture with Latin pride — and national pride. It was the best halftime show I have ever seen. https://t.co/RROVOW0lTO

[Sindhya Valloppillil @Sindhya]

Coinbase’s Superbowl commercial was a joke. It asked, “"Am i all you need? Am I so secure?" No and no. Everyone needs to acquaint themselves with @coinbase’s lack of accountability if your account gets hacked. Yet its CEO wants it to he a a "super app" that acts as a primary financial account, effectively replacing traditional consumer banks. 🤔😂 https://t.co/hpDATkrCso #crypto #coinbase

[Sindhya Valloppillil @Sindhya]

🔥 Bad Bunny’s halftime show wasn’t just a performance — it was a masterclass in Latin culture and storytelling. 🎶 Bad Bunny didn’t just perform… he showcased, educated, celebrated Latin pride, national pride, and spoke to unity over hate on the world’s biggest stage. 🌎🇵🇷 #SuperBowlLX #LatinPride #MásQueUnShow

[Sindhya Valloppillil @Sindhya]

@coinbase’s Superbowl commercial was a joke. It asks, “Am I everything you need? Am I so secure?" No and No!!! Coinbase is far from secure. Get acquainted with its lack of responsibility and liability if you get hacked. Get a physical passkey!
Meanwhile, its CEO wants it to be a "super app" that functions as a primary, bank-like financial account for users https://t.co/hpDATkrCso

[Sindhya Valloppillil @Sindhya]

@coinbase’s Superbowl commercial is such a joke. Everybody should not feel secure on it. “Am i everything you need?” No, you need a physical passkey. Become aware of how little responsibility and liability assumes if you get hacked. Yet its CEO wants it to be a "super app" that functions as a primary, bank-like financial account for users? 🤔😂https://t.co/hpDATksahW via @variety

[Sindhya Valloppillil @Sindhya]

By the time trend reporting agencies put together their expensive reports, they are behind the trend.

That’s not a knock on firms like Mintel or CB Insights. It’s the nature of retrospective analysis in markets that move in real time