Ben Horowitz: New Media Shifts Brands From Companies to Individuals

@a16z Our bet with @mamathemagazine is that everything will swing to this, and the craving for a branded media voice will rise in response.

@a16z This was great until I was forced into the public eye. Then unfortunately my autism took over and people thought I was weird so I skipped off into the background again. I can make great products but I most certainly don’t want to be at the front selling them.

@a16z I agree the person is becoming the brand. But the strongest businesses still outlive the personalities that started them.

@a16z It’s me, I am the new media, everything that manifests into tangible reality moves through me first, I am the solar phallus.

@a16z @lulumeservey pioneered this model of founder-led comms

@a16z This fucking ghoul is trying to buy elections and silence voters. Fuck @a16z

@a16z The upside is the person becomes the brand. The downside is every founder now has to be part CEO, part product manager, part media company, and part street performer.

@a16z Honest opinions were lost in traditional media focused on perfect brand image.

@a16z eventually the founder becomes the product

@a16z Is this conversation with Ben from 2006?

@a16z Honestly, feels like we’re all just content machines now, doesn't it?

@a16z It really boils down to authenticity, doesn't it? People connect with *people* first, then they absorb the company story. Companies just follow suit now.

@a16z He's not wrong. For me the problem starts when the founder replaces the product. Great for reach, sure. Much less great when every dumb take becomes a business risk.

@a16z this is why a founder posting from their own face out-converts the company account every time. People follow a person they can argue with. The company brand ends up downstream of whoever has real opinions in public

@a16z The brand becomes human, and that connection is everything.

@a16z Noted, thank you for sharing 🙏👀📝

@a16z Yes

@a16z And there can‘t be reliable new media personalities without @bycast_app in the future.

@a16z When formats become unlimited, authenticity becomes the distribution advantage. The person becomes the brand because trust can’t be outsourced anymore.