It’s clear that the attention span for most people on the internet is decreasing. The algorithmic feed has become the product. Discovery and search are getting even more powerful as LLMs understand parameters of our behaviour in granular detail. Social media is increasingly morphing into a marketplace for your behaviour. As compute gets cheaper, agents will run ads that are more targeted and personalised to what you might like.
On the other side, for new products and brands—finding the right users and emotionally connecting with them has never been more important as attention shifts quickly to the next interesting thing. I think this is the big challenge for startups in the future.
In the world of bits, building any kind of software product is becoming cheaper and faster. Startup teams are getting smaller and substantially productive with AI. Anyone can build what you built. Anything and everything will become a commodity. One of the big differentiators is having attention and user loyalty to your brand. This is why I firmly believe that building strong communities is critical to any startup. They’re your true believers despite competition.
Building communities requires an emotional connection to people. This comes from being authentic. Standing up for something, showing courage. Capturing user-attention on marketplaces like X or Instagram is a lot like constantly signalling what you stand for, the problem your product solves or speaking to current narratives. It’s still quite unpredictable but what you’re looking for is the true believers. They’re your community.
As we move into this age of abundance, whether that’s influence or information—attention will constantly keep shifting, faster than before. Power and fame will keep shifting, faster than before. Dopamine thresholds will soar high and attention spans remain shockingly short. Constantly reinventing and experimentation will remain critical for anyone building things on the internet.