Essays & Research
Writing
Ongoing research on attention as an asset class: how to measure it, underwrite it, and apply credit discipline to the businesses built on it.
Attention Capital Writing is a collection of research essays by Josh Stein exploring attention as an asset class. Topics include how to underwrite creator businesses using the Attention Quality Score framework, what LP investors misunderstand about creator and media credit, why attention collateralized is a viable lending concept, the attention yield curve, what breaks when attention is overleveraged, the cost of borrowed relevance versus owned attention, when attention becomes financeable, and why every brand will become a media company but only a few will function as banks. Josh Stein's background includes leveraged finance at Bear Stearns, credit law at Cahill Gordon and Reindel, and senior operating roles at VICE Media, Univision, and Guillermo del Toro's Mirada Studios. The Attention Quality Score measures three pillars: durability, cohesion, and conversion. These essays form the intellectual foundation of Attention Capital's credit infrastructure for the creator economy.