In this episode of ‘This Week in Consumer’, a16z General Partners Anish Acharya and Erik Torenberg are joined by Steven Sinofsky - Board Partner at a16z and former President of Microsoft’s Windows division - for a deep dive on how today’s AI moment mirrors (and diverges from) past computing transitions.

They explore whether we’re at the “Windows 3.1” stage of AI or still in the earliest innings, why consumer adoption is outpacing developer readiness, and how frameworks like partial autonomy, jagged intelligence, and “vibe coding” are shaping what gets built next. They also dig into where the real bottlenecks lie, not in the tech, but in how companies, products, and people work.

Resources:

Find Anish on X: https://x.com/illscience

Find Steven on X: https://x.com/stevesi

Watch Andrej Karpathy’s talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCEmiRjPEtQ

Stay Updated:

Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z

Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z

Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

What if virality wasn’t a tactic — but the entire product?

In this episode, a16z General Partners Erik Torenberg and Bryan Kim sit down with Roy Lee, cofounder and CEO of Cluely, one of the most talked-about consumer AI startups of 2025. Cluely didn’t raise a mega round or drop a feature suite to get traction - it broke through by turning distribution into design: launching viral short-form videos, pushing polarizing product drops, and building in public with speed and spectacle.

We cover:

– Why virality is Cluely’s moat

– Building a brand-native AI interface

– The Gen Z founder mindset

– What most startups get wrong about attention

– Why creators are the new product managers

– Cluely’s long-term vision for ambient AI

Cluely is a glimpse at the next generation of startups, where the line between product and performance is disappearing.

Timecodes:

00:00 Introduction

01:07 Early Success

02:02 Roy's Journey: From College Kid to Tech Universe

04:37 The Turning Point: Harvard and Beyond

06:57 Building Cluey: The Early Days

08:27 The Viral Strategy: Mastering Algorithms

13:56 The 50 Interns Experiment

15:30 The Investment Journey: Roy and Bryan's Partnership

19:20 Momentum as a Moat: The Future of AI Companies

20:32 The Evolution of Product Strategy in the AI Era

21:19 The Importance of Speed and Adaptability

22:48 The Role of Distribution in Modern Startups

24:26 Roy's Journey and Product Development

25:25 The Power of User Data and Feedback

26:58 Innovative Marketing and Distribution Tactics

28:25 The Future of AI Integration and Translucent Overlays

32:15 Controversial Marketing and Authenticity

34:01 The Impact of Radical Transparency

36:42 The Changing Landscape of Professionalism

38:26 Concluding Thoughts and Future Vision

Resources:

Find Roy on X: https://x.com/im_roy_lee

Find Bryan on X: https://x.com/kirbyman01

Learn more about Cluely: http://cluely.com/

Stay Updated:

Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z

Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z

Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

In this episode, general partner Chris Dixon joins economist and author Tyler Cowen to explore the themes behind Chris’s book, Read, Write, Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet.

They trace the internet’s evolution from open, decentralized beginnings to today’s consolidated platforms—and ask: how can we build something better? From stablecoins, tokenized payments, and open blockchains to AI's impact on coding, media, and politics, this wide-ranging conversation dives deep into how technologies like crypto and AI could help redistribute power online and reshape the future of ownership and innovation.

The two also debate:

• Whether banks and legacy institutions will adopt stablecoins
• The long-term role of NFTs and digital property rights
• How AI might rewrite venture capital, education, and economic planning
• Whether we're heading toward a creative renaissance—or a world of AI-generated monoculture

Listen to similar conversations, listen to web3 with a16z: https://web3-with-a16z.simplecast.com/

Resources:
Listen to Conversations with Tyler: https://conversationswithtyler.com/

Find Chris on X: https://x.com/cdixon

Find Tyler on X: https://x.com/tylercowen

Join a16z’s Crypto Substack:https://a16zcrypto.substack.com/

Stay Updated:

Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z

Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z

Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.