Written by: JiaYi

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 are directly sent to a16z's portfolio companies to help founders with product launches and content dissemination.

The world's leading VC began systematically teaching founders to become KOLs.

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

The math of customer acquisition can no longer be ignored

First, let's discuss a discomforting 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 was **$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 to acquire a customer exceeds **$4,000**.

It's not that your advertising is not targeted enough; the entire market is raising prices. Privacy regulations have tightened precise targeting, platform ad spaces are inflating, and competitors are vying for the same set of users' attention.

What's more critical is that when advertising stops, the traffic drops to zero. You may invest millions in marketing, and the effective cost of customer acquisition could exceed that of the product itself. Once the budget is cut, there will be no trace left of the previously bought traffic.

Meanwhile, there is a completely different set of data:

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

Posts from founders generate 33% more leads compared to the company’s official account.

Deals driven by founders are larger by 3.7 times.

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

In the same market, there are two completely different growth logics. One is paying for traffic, getting increasingly expensive; the other is exchanging personality for trust, becoming more valuable with use.

AI is accelerating product homogenization at a speed that leaves you unprepared

By 2024, the number of AI startups worldwide exploded from 14,000 to 22,000. Every day, 10-15 new AI products emerge. Venture capital is pouring in at double the rate.

It sounds prosperous. But on the flip side, in the same year, 966 startups in the U.S. closed (data from Carta), many of which are AI wrappers—essentially dressed-up versions 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 commoditized, and upper-layer applications are becoming more homogenized. A feature you develop today can be copied by competitors tomorrow.

This is not a unique phenomenon in the AI industry. AI has accelerated the homogenization of all consumer products—because AI speeds up development, design, and iteration.

When everyone can create a product scoring 80 within 3 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 the authenticity of a brand is crucial for building trust.

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

• 52% of individuals see a direct decrease in engagement once they detect AI-generated content.

• 67% of consumers are willing to pay more for brands with founders whose values align with theirs.

The more AI content proliferates, the scarcer "human touch" becomes. Human-centered operations are the survival rule for businesses in the AI era.

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

This is the underlying value of founder IP—not just "founders becoming influencers," but in an era where AI has made everything homogeneous, the founders themselves have become the brand's greatest differentiating asset.

Let me share a few names you must have heard of

1. Sam Altman – A single individual carrying the entire AI narrative

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

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

2. Aravind Srinivas – A researcher turned CEO achieving $21 billion with no marketing budget

Perplexity's CEO Aravind Srinivas may be the most exemplary case to study in 2025. He wasn't an internet celebrity, but a machine learning researcher—previously working at OpenAI, Google Brain, and DeepMind. After starting his business, he did one thing: he personally handled all product communication, never delegating to the marketing team. He writes research breakdowns on Twitter, explains product logic, and directly responds to user feedback.

The result? Perplexity's valuation surged from **$150 million to $21.2 billion in 2026—a 133 times increase. Monthly query volume reached 780 million, averaging 30 million daily. Indian user growth hit 640%—largely because Aravind, as an Indian founder, has significant personal influence locally.

No traditional marketing. It's the founder's credibility + product story + transparent communication. Now, let me ask you, how much time do you spend weekly and daily in your user community?

3. David Holz – Zero advertising, 20 people, $500 million revenue

Midjourney's founder David Holz is even more extreme. This is zero marketing budget with only 10-15 people. A revenue of $500 million in 2025 with over 20 million users.

What was his strategy? Regularly hosting "Office Hours" live streams on Discord—personally answering user questions, discussing product directions, handling copyright disputes. He doesn't do public releases, all updates are announced solely in the Discord community. Users feel as though they are part of a "dreamer’s independent research lab" rather than using a company's product. This sense of trust led Midjourney users to spontaneously share their works on Twitter and Reddit—each user became a free marketing channel.

4. 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: transforming the brand into a "personality." A green owl went "viral" on TikTok—tracking algorithms, pretending to die, and bickering with other brands. In 4 years, its monthly active users jumped from 37 million to 117 million. Whether it’s the founder doing 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 connections. This "living thing" could be the founder or a crazy owl.

5. Lastly, the classic: Elon Musk – A double-edged sword of an extreme case

You can’t speak about Musk without mentioning his downsides.

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

But on the other hand, Tesla's brand value fell from **$58.3 billion in 2024 to $27.6 billion in 2026—**a 53% decrease**. Sales declined by 9% in 2025. Why? Musk's political statements sparked massive consumer boycotts. Of course, Elon is a deity in my eyes, so he has also successfully solved this issue already. I bring him up only to provide a clearer example for everyone to understand.

Founder IP is an amplifier, amplifying everything—both good and bad.

This is an era betting on founders understanding how to create IP

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

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

When VCs begin systematically investing in the personal brands of founders, this matter shifts from "nice to have" to infrastructure.

But remember: product power is 1, and IP is the zeros following it

After discussing these cases, one crucial point must be made clear.

Many people say that they have a lot of traffic, yet their product is unused. So, we return to whether your product is resilient and has a moat. Is your traffic aimed at building brand user engagement or merely hopping on needless trends, often termed noise?

Founder IP has one prerequisite: product power is 1, and IP is the zeros following it. Without the 1, more zeros still equal zero.

IP amplifies product value; it cannot create value from nothing. Only with solid products can IP have a basis for amplification. Conversely, having good products without IP is like having a 1 without any zeros—winning is possible, but it will take much longer.

The new mandatory course for founders in the AI era

To summarize the core logical chain:

Customer acquisition cost is out of control → Traditional advertising ROI continues to deteriorate → There is a need for more efficient growth methods.

AI accelerates product homogenization → Features are no longer barriers → There is a need for new sources of differentiation.

Consumers want "human touch" → The more AI content proliferates, the scarcer authenticity becomes → Brands with real humans behind them will win.

These three lines converge at the same conclusion: the founder's IP is the most efficient growth lever for to C products in the AI era and the most difficult barrier to replicate.

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

From now on, DO IT NOW.

This is one of the biggest pathways to improve your company's success efficiency.

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