So product is merit and distribution is connections. And so for example, a great blog post that nobody sees is a great product with terrible distribution. Conversely, a really dumb article, or whatever, that is a piece of content that is in a feed that is seen by millions is a terrible product with great distribution, right?
From an interview of Balaji Srinivasan by Tim Ferriss. Pointer from Tyler Cowen. Balaji, Tim, and Tyler were all picked early in the version 1.0 FITs draft.
Set aside time to read the transcript. Balaji certainly scores a Thinking in Bets point, but it is hard for any scoring system to do justice to this piece.
Here’s another Balaji line:
it’s futile to try to argue with someone who has way more distribution and is hostile, you just need to build your own distribution, which is much more possible in the internet age.
And another:
I think we’ve just begun the global internet Cold War, where all of the social networks, currency networks compete for ideological and economic dominance around the world, because it can just spread virally back and forth like this. And everyone will be trying to cancel each other and whatnot, it’s going to be this crazy, crazy thing.
…pseudonymity stops both discrimination and cancellation. So it’s not ideal, but it is accepted and widely used by people of all political persuasions. And so it’s sort of like a mutual disarmament where you can’t cancel somebody.
and another:
when the internet disruptor comes in, variance increases, there’s more downside and more upside, more amazing outcomes and more really bad outcomes in all kinds of ways.
Yes. Balaji has some great insights. I’ve watched nearly every talk or interview I’ve found. It’s hard to picture how all this plays out and what the coming decentralization might look like. He also makes good points about the general mood of countries like India that are excited about the tech future compared to the US that seems to look at the future with dread.