a16z Podcast

Chris Best of Substack on the Future of Media

Episode Summary

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.

Episode Notes

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: 

00:00 Introduction
03:50 Origins of Substack
06:29 The Evolution of Blogging & Media Models
09:15 Direct Audience Connection & Platform Independence
10:57 Vision for Substack & The Role of Algorithms
21:06 Business Models: Ads, Subscriptions, and AI
26:10 The Scarcity of Attention & Value of Good Content
27:45 Unbundling, Rebundling, and the Future of Media Companies
37:12 Academia, Books, and Changing Content Formats
44:31 Substack’s Next Phase & Closing Thoughts

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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