the rise of influencer-driven product development

james clear, ali abdaal, mr beast, trump, mkbhd — what do they have in common?

they are all pioneers of influencer-driven product development.

the formula here is:

1) build an audience on youtube or twitter →

2) create a product to parlay your influence and monetize

the advantages are clear: lower cost structures, low risk, branding tied to a personal authentic trusted brand, and built-in go-to-market…

these are the davids beating goliaths with just media and code as leverage (alluding to a famous naval quote here)

with ai we will probably see more of this. the barrier to entry to build has gone way down. code is no longer a gatekeeper.

the ongoing memecoin crypto craze takes this trend to its logical extreme, where mimetic influence and vibes become the product, and the actual product is just a sideshow.

in a noisy world, your ability to gain attention and monetize it matters more than anything else. pretty interesting new model to see. this is just the beginning.