00:00 Speaker A
Many of these middle managers can get away with it. But it’s similar to what’s happening to small businesses up and down this boardwalk that don’t have the capital to invest in AI. To me, they would be absolutely devastated. What will the next five years look like for them?
00:13 Speaker B
You know, when I was at Can last year, I talked about how the future of media is really at risk. We really had to reinvent our business model. What makes me optimistic is what happened last year. In fact, there are some good ideas and traction and we’re seeing big media companies like Condé Nast and People Inc. making very good deals that are creating new revenue streams. And we’re proud to have helped facilitate that.
00:36 Speaker B
What I’m talking about this year is how dangerous AI will be for small businesses. Think of it this way. In the future, agents will be where more business transactions take place. And if you think about why you’re doing business with small businesses now, it’s usually because it’s time efficient and convenient for you. So maybe you stop by a local bodega when you’re in New York or because you have some sort of emotional attachment to the place.
01:07 Speaker B
Your agent doesn’t care about any of that. You literally just say, “Hey, I’ll find you the best deal on the best product anywhere in the world.” And even if you need to search thousands of web pages, you can do it in less than a second.
01:22 Speaker A
He’s like a ruthless murderer. It’s just like disconnecting the internet.
01:24 Speaker B
absolutely. So what I’m very concerned about is in that world where I think big brands are okay because they have an established relationship with consumers and they have an online reputation. But what about new entrants? What do you think of people who say, “Hey, I just hung shingles for the first time”? How do they earn their reputation? How do you build a brand that actually stands out?
01:47 Speaker B
And if we don’t establish a way to do that, if we don’t have new entry points into the market, we’re going to see massive consolidation over time. And that’s bad for everyone. We want everyone to be able to survive. So I spend a lot of time meeting with leaders from Visa, American Express, Shopify, Salesforce and saying things like, we have to do something to make sure that all small businesses have the tools to succeed in the future of business.
02:11 Speaker A
The alternative is that there are no small businesses.
02:13 Speaker B
That’s correct. And then again, I was meeting a guy who until recently ran PayPal and ran a small business. And he said, “I’m worried that there will be five companies left in the future.” People who own real estate, people who own money, people who build things, people who ship things in AI companies. I don’t think that’s going to happen right now, but given the natural tendency of AI, I think it’s going to be this huge unifying force.
02:44 Speaker B
So what we’re aiming for is not, you know, a world where there are two to five AI companies. We should have 500,000 AI companies. Rather than a world where just a few media content creators and publishers are massively consolidated, a world where anyone with a good idea and a story they want to tell can actually reach a global audience. And instead of a world with a few giant corporations, we should live in a world where anyone with a small business anywhere in the world can do what the Internet has given us. do. We can’t lose that, and that’s the world we’re playing in.
