Substack Cofounder on AI Slop Content & the Decline of Social Media

What if the future of media isn’t controlled by algorithms or legacy institutions—but by independent voices building directly with their audiences?

In this episode, Erik Torenberg is joined by Chris Best, cofounder and CEO of Substack, along with a16z general partners Katherine Boyle and Andrew Chen.

We trace the origin story of Substack and its cultural impact, including how it reinvented the business model for independent media. We also explore the evolution of blogging, the rebundling of media, and what the future holds as attention becomes the scarcest resource.

Timecodes:
0:00 The Future of Media & Substack’s Role
0:48 The 2020 Media Landscape and Free Speech
3:19 Substack’s Founding Philosophy
6:10 The Evolution of Blogging and Business Models
8:27 Building Direct Connections with Audiences
11:41 The Vision and Growth of Substack
17:57 Algorithms, Networks, and Creator Incentives
22:00 High Value Audiences and Advertising
23:48 AI, Content Creation, and the Value of Attention
29:17 Unbundling, Rebundling, and the New Media Economy
33:01 The Future of Media
38:10 Academia, and Long-Form Writing
43:53 Substack’s Ambitions and Recent Fundraising

Resources:
Find Chris on Substack: https://cb.substack.com/
Find Chris on X: https://x.com/cjgbest
Find Andrew Chen on Substack: https://andrewchen.substack.com/
Find Andrew on X: https://x.com/andrewchen
Find Katherine on X: https://x.com/KTmBoyle
Find Katherine on Substack: https://boyle.substack.com/

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