The New Rules of Media | Marc Andreessen & Ben Horowitz

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4.2 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 19 June 2026

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Recorded live at the New Media Summit, Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, Erik Torenberg, and Gaby Goldberg discuss how media, communication, and influence are changing in the internet era. The conversation explores the shift from legacy media to creator-led platforms, why authenticity has become a competitive advantage, and how founders can build audiences by communicating directly with customers, employees, and the public. They discuss podcasts, social media, storytelling, corporate communications, and the changing relationship between companies, journalists, and audiences. Along the way, they examine how founders can develop a public voice, why some leaders become influential communicators, and what it means to build a brand in a world where distribution is increasingly decentralized.

Transcript

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0:00.0	One rule of old media is don't be interested.
0:03.0	Like, that's the worst thing you can do.
0:05.0	There is no way to get to anything resembling a story that you're going to like through the traditional media anymore.
0:10.0	Like, it's just basically not possible.
0:12.0	Old media, you have very restricted channels with very restricted formats.
0:18.0	New media is unlimited formats, unlimited channels, and the brand is now the person.
0:24.5	The grand wizard of this is Alex Karp. If you watch his interviews, he never talks about Palantir.
0:31.4	Everybody just naturally thinks inside out, me and my company and my product out into the world. Don't think that way.
0:35.6	Think in terms of like what are the most interesting things happening in the world and then how do those things relate to us? Old media is defense-oriented, new media is offense. Talk more about why that is. There's still this anxiety that people have, which is the legacy somehow is like where the respectability is that prestige is. I don't believe that anymore. And I think it's very important for people to kind of get that out of their assisting. For decades, most public communication
0:56.4	flowed through a small number of institutions. I don't believe that anymore, and I think it's very important for people to kind of get that out of their system.
0:58.6	For decades, most public communication flowed through a small number of institutions.
1:03.3	Television networks, newspapers, magazines, and a handful of gatekeepers determined which stories were told and who got to tell them.
1:06.9	That world is changing.
1:09.0	Today, founders, creators, investors, and operators can communicate directly with audiences through social media platforms, newsletters, podcasts, and video.
1:19.0	The result is a new set of rules for how ideas spread, how brands are built, and how influence works.
1:25.5	Recorded live at the New Media Summit,
1:30.4	this conversation explores the rise of direct communication,
1:32.3	the decline of traditional gatekeepers,
1:34.7	and what founders can learn from the people who have successfully built audiences in the internet era.
1:39.9	So first I just want to say it's Gabby's birthday today.
1:42.9	Welcome to that.
1:45.7	I'm so excited the next one in five for many reasons.
	...

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