TL;DR

• Timeline beats press: Whoever dominates distribution sets the narrative.
• Bundle execution + distribution: The old split between agencies making content and media companies distributing it is dead; the winners package creation and reach.‍
• Every company becomes a media engine: One moment can fuel a whole content ecosystem, but it only works if the content is genuinely good.

Two weeks ago, media-company-cum-investor a16z launched its New Media team. (And recently set up a film studio run by the improbably named Wolfgang Hammer, previously head of film at Miramax.)

Its aim, ‘to help you dominate the timeline, on demand.’ And then teach you how to do it yourself.

The timeline, not “The News”. Legacy media is increasingly irrelevant, so the dominant narrative and who controls it is far more freewheeling.

And whoever dominates the timeline on X, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram not only sets what’s talked about for the next 15 minutes, but also frames the Overton window – everyone now has to talk about the thing within the parameters you define.

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What this shift means for tech comms

It validates the importance of comms and marketing for tech businesses, and also cuts through a lot of the bullshit around it. It’s about executing well at speed and distribution.

It’s precisely why we have a video studio at HSG; why our sister fund, Basis, has launched Basis Points. And why we hunt for clients who know distribution is a game of dogged consistency – and let us do it for them. 

Execution and distribution used to be split in two. Agencies executed, slowly, and big media brands distributed to an undifferentiated audience.

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The new model: execution and distribution as one

a16z proves this can, and must, be bundled into one. This is what we’re doing with video: turning one conversation with a company’s key brand spokesperson into a feature-length video conversation, shorts, social posts, written pieces. One moment fuels the entire engine, and the distribution that follows, at the turnaround speed that tech companies need.

(All of that only works, of course, if the content is actually good. You can have all the tooling in the world, you can build a distribution machine, but you still need to be able to create stuff that engages and interests people.)

This fits a broader pattern: direct everything. Substack making it easier for writers and journalists to build and monetise their own audience. Stripe and Shopify making it easier for anyone to sell to their customers. Eli Lilly selling GLP-1s direct to patients for ~$500 a month, rather than running it as a deductible or co-pay through insurers. a16z is now doing the same thing for media and PR, kind of.

a16z is doing what needs to be done: repackaging PR, and then teaching portcos how to do it themselves. Give them the fish, then teach them how to fish. If you build enough distribution – as a VC, a founder, or an individual – you can run your own media engine.

This is a shot across the bow of legacy content and PR agencies. Many have already had to move away from the billable hour, charging for outputs not presence. And they’re now competing on tooling and selling it on a subscription model to clients, like new-age consultancies. But it’s a validation to anyone who has been helping businesses become media companies.