What Makes a Consumer AI Product Stick? | Josh Elman
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Why is getting consumer attention easier but retaining them harder in the AI era?
It's never been easier to get consumers' attention. What's harder, I think, is getting me not just to try something, but to actually stick. It has to be such a good product doing that one thing really well out of the box that I either stop doing something else or I turn more behaviors over to it. And we have a lot that we already have in our digital life. So now as a product, you have to figure out some new wedge into somebody's digital life. And then becoming so good that it becomes a habit. And that you can pull other people in. Things that I look for in a product are where it has a really clear value that you can describe to somebody. If you want to become a very big company, you have to start by it's never been
Easier to get consumers' attention. The hard part is getting them to stick. In this episode, A16Z partner Josh Ellman joins Ali Forsyth on New Economies to discuss what it takes to build a lasting consumer product in the AI era. Josh explains why the best products start by doing one thing exceptionally well become a habit, and then earn the right to do more. They also discuss why trust could become increasingly important as AI moves deeper into our lives, from shopping and entertainment to personal agents that know our preferences and act on our behalf. They also look at what might come after today's social networks, how AI could bring people together rather than replace human connection. And the signals Josh looks for when deciding whether a new consumer product can actually last.
Hey Josh,
welcome to New Economies. Thank you so much for being here. Ollie, thanks so much for having me. I can't wait. I'm super excited to have you here today as you are our fifth partner from A16Z to join the show. We've had the likes of Justin Moore. Anisha Acharya, Ali Yaha, David Haber, and now you. So I'm super excited to have you here. So thank you so much for joining us. You know, when I was thinking about the title for today's episode, there is so much happening in consumer tech and can't wait to dive in more with you. But let's hold off with the basics. You've actually been on the investor side, you've been the founder side, the operator side. Now it's kind of like come full circle. Why are you Bag in investing mode.
You know, when I think about a lot of my career when I got started in the late nineties, it was the dawn of the internet. And this idea that we could make products that could change the world, that could get into hundreds of millions of people's hands and help them have a better life was so exciting to me. And I've kind of had this amazing career of doing it and I've always find it tried to find the right place. Sometimes it's been diving in and working on something that I was so passionate about that I wanted to help bring to the world. Sometimes it was, you know. In twenty eleven. I had already been worked at LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. And I thought, wow, maybe there's a great opportunity for me to help the next wave of companies.
And so I became a VC and got to invest in a lot of the next wave of the mobile internet and the social internet. About eight years ago, I was like, maybe my best times will be spent helping build companies again. And I went back and I joined Robinhood. And then I spent the last many years at Apple. And then starting this year, I was so excited for what we were doing at Apple, and we were kind of bringing out this new version of Siri, Siri AI. But at the same time, I was like, we're about at the beginning of a Cambrian explosion of new consumer experiences around AI. Now's the time I really believed it could happen. And I felt like in my career I have one more path. I want to get back on the side of founders.
I want to help founders create incredible companies. And I thought, you know, at this point, what better firm to do this in the consumer world than Andreys and Horowitz? And was lucky enough to have known people like Anish for a very, very long time. and brought me in to to help kind of i get excited about this next wave.
You know, the rules of consumer tech have changed so much now.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why is getting consumer attention easier but retaining them harder in the AI era?
0:00–7:18
2
How did Josh’s career path shape his view on building lasting consumer AI products?
7:18–15:31
3
What new consumer experiences have emerged since the COVID era and how do they affect AI adoption?
15:31–23:10
4
How can personal AI agents become trusted helpers for daily tasks and social coordination?
23:10–30:35
5
What role does trust play in scaling AI products from niche to mainstream?
30:35–37:15
6
Why haven’t we seen a breakthrough new social network in recent years?
37:15–44:54
7
How can AI‑driven live shopping and micro‑dramas create sustainable network effects?
44:54–51:34
8
What pricing and monetization strategies can make high‑cost AI inference sustainable for consumers?
51:34–1:00:07