AI Is Changing the Internet. What Does It Mean for Creators? (with Justin and Michael Blau)

a16z crypto show

Andreessen Horowitz

Distributed Computing, Blockchain, Art, Innovation, Web 3, Technology, Culture, Internet, Public Goods, Business, Decentralization, Open Source, Creator Economy, Music, Gaming, Cypherpunk, Visual Arts, Crypto, Arts, Web 3.0, Entertainment, Computing, Computer Science, Blockchains, Entrepreneurship, Ownership, Web3, Cryptography

4.4 • 66 Ratings

🗓️ 17 March 2026

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Justin (CEO, Bond) and Michael Blau(Head of Product, Bond) break down why the creator economy is broken — and how crypto might fix it. They discuss Bond, a new model where fans stake money to support creators, eliminating subscriptions while preserving direct relationships. We cover the gap between creators and fans, why past crypto models failed (speculation vs. true support), how stablecoins enable global products, and what happens to creativity when AI makes content abundant. Plus: why copyright might disappear, what magic teaches about originality, and why NFTs represent true digital ownership despite the hype cycles.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You don't get any data. There's no CRM for any creative. You don't know who the top 1% of your Spotify listeners are. You don't know who the top watchers of your YouTube videos are. And you can't directly communicate with those people.
0:09.7	creator platforms you might pay somebody like five dollars a month to get access to their exclusive content but with bond what you're doing is you're actually only paying or bonding five dollars one time
0:13.7	you can withdraw and get your five dollars back at any moment in time but while you're bonded to them
0:18.6	they earn interest on your bonding $5 one time, you can withdraw and get your $5 back at any moment in time, but while you're
0:23.8	bonded to them, they earn interest on your $5.
0:23.1	Bond is some middle ground where the fan and the creator have that direct connection, and it
0:25.7	costs $0.
0:30.6	We think that relationship should 1,000% be on chain because you can't take your audience with
0:32.0	you if a platform like TikTok goes down.
0:36.4	Justin Michael, thank you guys both so much for coming on the show.
0:43.2	Thanks for having us. What is the biggest misconception that people have about the problem that you're
0:46.2	solving? I think we both have an answer, so you can go first.
0:51.7	You want me to go first?
0:54.3	You want me to go first.
0:55.2	My spicy take is that people assume all creativity should be valued
0:56.0	and that creators should be paid, which I definitely believe to be true.
1:01.0	But the prerequisite to any of these themes of creator monetization is actually knowing
1:04.2	who your audience is. Biggest problem in Web 2, you don't get any data. There's no CRM for any creative.
1:09.8	You don't know who the top 1% of your Spotify listeners are. You don't know who the top
1:14.6	watchers of your YouTube videos are. And you can't directly communicate with those people.
1:18.6	And so I guess my take is, before you start thinking about crater monetization, just knowing
1:22.6	who cares about you as a creator is one of the biggest unlocks that blockchain provides.
	...

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