In 2026, a16z did something strange

They launched an 8-week fellowship program ------ training not engineers, not product managers, but storytellers and content creators. After training, these individuals were directly assigned to a16z's portfolio companies to assist founders with product launches and content dissemination.

The world's top VCs began systematically teaching founders how to become KOLs.

If you still think "creating IP" is optional, this signal is worth reconsidering.

The customer acquisition cost equation no longer adds up

First, let’s discuss an uncomfortable number: In the past 10 years, the customer acquisition cost (CAC) for consumer products has risen by 222%.

• In 2025, the cost of a paid lead on Google Ads is $70+, and it continues to rise year-on-year.
• The median in the SaaS industry is even more outrageous ------ spending $2 to earn back $1 in annual revenue.
• In the financial industry, the cost of acquiring a customer exceeds $4,000.

It's not that your targeting isn't precise enough; the entire market is inflating. Privacy regulations have tightened precise targeting, platform ad spaces are inflating, and competitors are vying for the same pool of user attention.

What’s worse is that when the ads stop, traffic drops to zero. You spend millions on advertising, and the customer acquisition cost may end up being more expensive than the product itself. Once the budget is cut, the traffic you bought leaves no trace.

Meanwhile, there’s a completely different set of data:

The organic reach ROI of personal content from founders is 388% ------ and compounds over time.

Posts from founders generate 33% more leads than those from the company's official account.

Founder-driven transactions are 3.7 times larger.

Engagement with content from founders and employees is 8 times that of the company page.

The same market, two completely different growth logics. One is spending money to buy volume, getting more expensive; the other is exchanging personality for trust, becoming more valuable over time.

AI is accelerating product homogenization at a pace that leaves you no time to react

In 2024, the number of global AI startups surged from 14,000 to 22,000. Every day, 10-15 new AI products are launched. Venture capital is flooding in.

It sounds prosperous. But the flip side is that in the same year, 966 startups in the U.S. went bankrupt (according to Carta data), many of which were AI wrappers ------ just a layer of ChatGPT.

The first-mover advantage window for product features has shrunk from "years" to "3-12 months."

In August 2024, Google reduced the input price of Gemini 1.5 Flash by 78%, and OpenAI cut GPT-4o by 50%. The underlying models are being commoditized, and upper-layer applications are becoming more homogeneous. The features you develop today can be replicated by competitors tomorrow.

This is not a unique phenomenon in the AI industry. AI has accelerated the homogenization of all consumer products ------ because AI makes development faster, design quicker, and iteration swifter.

When everyone can produce an 80-point product in three months, where does the final 20-point difference lie?

Consumers are voting with their wallets: they choose "people," not just "products"

98% of consumers believe that brand authenticity is crucial for building trust.

71% of people express distrust towards brands that heavily rely on AI for communication.

52% of people see a direct drop in engagement once they detect AI-generated content.

67% of consumers are willing to pay more for brands led by founders who share their values.

As AI content becomes more prevalent, "human touch" becomes increasingly rare. Human-centric operations are the survival rule for businesses in the AI era.

Consumers are not avoiding products from the AI era, but they are increasingly inclined to choose brands that have "a real person behind them."

This is the underlying value of founder IP ------ it’s not as simple as "founders becoming internet celebrities," but in an era where AI makes everything homogeneous, the founder themselves becomes the brand's greatest differentiating asset.

Let me share a few names you must have heard of.

First, Sam Altman --- one person supports the entire AI narrative

Sam Altman has 4.5 million Twitter followers, more than OpenAI's official account with 3.3 million. When Sora was released, Altman tweeted asking followers what they wanted to use it for ------ 1,500 comments, 7 million impressions. This was not a marketing department-planned campaign; it was just a tweet from the founder. In January 2025, he tweeted, "We are very confident we know how to build AGI" ------ no product launch, no technical paper, just one sentence changed the global AI narrative.

OpenAI's valuation rose from $29 billion in 2023 to $300 billion in 2025. Altman's personal IP is the biggest free accelerator in this growth curve.

Second, Aravind Srinivas --- a researcher with zero marketing budget achieving $21 billion

Perplexity's CEO Aravind Srinivas may be the most noteworthy case in 2025. He is not a celebrity; he is just an ML researcher ------ previously working at OpenAI, Google Brain, and DeepMind. After starting his company, he did one thing: personally handled all product communications, never delegating to the marketing team. He wrote research breakdowns on Twitter, explained product logic, and directly responded to user feedback.

The result? Perplexity's valuation soared from $150 million in 2023 to $21.2 billion in 2026 ------ a 133-fold increase. Monthly queries reached 780 million, averaging 30 million daily. User growth in India surged 640% ------ largely due to Aravind's personal influence as an Indian founder in the local market.

No traditional marketing. Just the founder's credibility + product story + transparent communication. Looking back, let me ask you, how much time do you spend in your user community every week, every day?

Third, David Holz --- zero advertising, 20 people, $500 million in revenue

Midjourney's founder David Holz is even more extreme. This is zero marketing budget. The team consists of only 10-15 people. Revenue in 2025 is $500 million. User base exceeds 20 million.

What’s his strategy? Regularly hosting "Office Hours" live streams on Discord ------ personally answering user questions, discussing product direction, handling copyright disputes. No public releases; all updates are announced only in the Discord community. Users feel like they are participating in something with "an idealist from an independent research lab," rather than using a company's product. This sense of trust has led Midjourney users to spontaneously share their work on Twitter and Reddit ------ each user becomes a free marketing channel.

Fourth, an alternative case Duolingo --- not founder IP, but essentially the same

Duolingo did not follow the founder IP route; its virtual IP is also project IP: it turned the brand into a "personality." A green owl "going crazy" on TikTok ------ tracking algorithms, pretending to die, and sparring with other brands. In four years, it increased monthly active users from 37 million to 117 million. Whether it's the founder themselves creating IP or brand personification ------ the underlying logic is the same: in an era where AI makes all products look similar, consumers need a "living thing" to establish a connection. This "living thing" can be the founder or a crazy owl.

Fifth, and the final classic, Elon Musk --- the ultimate double-edged sword case

Talking about Musk cannot be all positive.

With 160 million followers, he is the most influential founder KOL globally. Grok's market share increased from 1.9% at the beginning of 2025 to 17.8% in 2026, thanks to his personal promotion and integration with the X platform.

But on the flip side: Tesla's brand value dropped from $58.3 billion in 2024 to $27.6 billion in 2026 ------ a 53% decline. Sales fell by 9% in 2025. The reason? Musk's political statements triggered a massive consumer boycott. Of course, Elon is a god in my heart, so he has successfully tackled this issue. I included this only to provide a better case for everyone to understand.

Founder IP is an amplifier, amplifying everything ------ the good and the bad.

This is an era that bets on founders knowing how to create IP

The logic of VCs is straightforward: the founder's IP capability determines the speed of market penetration and financing efficiency of the product.

A study by Weber Shandwick quantified this relationship: executives estimate that 44% of their company's market value is directly attributable to the CEO's reputation. 44% ------ nearly half.

When VCs start systematically investing in founders' personal brands, this matter has shifted from "nice to have" to infrastructure.

But remember: product strength is 1, and IP is the zeros that follow

After discussing these cases, one thing must be clarified.

Many people say they have a lot of traffic but no one uses the product, so it goes back to whether your product is resilient and has a moat. Is your traffic built for the brand to create user NDA, or is it just to ride trends that your project doesn't need, or what you call noise?

Founder IP has one prerequisite: product strength is 1, and IP is the zeros that follow. Without the 1, no matter how many zeros you have, it’s still 0.

IP amplifies product value; it cannot create value out of thin air. A solid product must come first for IP to have a basis for amplification. Conversely, having a good product without IP is like having a 1 without zeros ------ you can win, but it will be slow.

The new essential course for founders in the AI era

To summarize the core logic chain:

Customer acquisition costs are out of control → Traditional advertising ROI continues to deteriorate → A more efficient growth method is needed.

AI accelerates product homogenization → Features are no longer barriers → New sources of differentiation are needed.

Consumers want "human touch" → As AI content becomes more prevalent, authenticity becomes scarcer → Brands with real people behind them win.

The intersection of these three lines leads to the same conclusion: the founder's IP is the most efficient growth lever for consumer products in the AI era and the hardest barrier to replicate.

If you haven't started building your own IP yet, and if you're still struggling with "there are so many things to handle in the company, creating IP takes too much time" ------ then please reassess after reading this article.

From now on, DO IT NOW.

This is one of the greatest paths to enhance your company's success efficiency.