The end of platform internet
episode
Series A Blueprint – The playbook for founders scaling to Series A
1h 1m
1 speaker
8 chapters
transcribed 10 days ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is Kyle DeSana’s vision for a different, decentralized internet?
This is Alexander Kareem Howard and welcome to the series A Blueprint. I'm very excited about today's episode. It's a little different than usual. I speak to Kyle, who is the co-founder of Citrun. Based in Chicago, we've actually never met like most of the guests on this podcast. Um, but we have a conversation about the future of social media and kind of a broader lens on the social internet and the future of platform dynamics. What opportunities there are. Around, you know, breaking some of the monopolies for the entrepreneurs and and VCs out there, I think you guys should really stay in and listen in 'cause this guy is really thoughtful. He's thought really deeply about this. I actually found his videos on on TikTok and I found it extremely inspiring.
Um
Because It shows that the monopolistic dynamics of platforms always ends up breaking in cycles. And I personally believe, and he seems to believe as well, that we might be approaching the end of one of those monopolistic cycles around social media that platforms have managed to sort of gatekeep the internet and that that might not last longer. So if you're interested in that, if you're interested in How to Dethrone the Silicon Valley kings. and build an alternative and a better web, I highly encourage you to listen on and you will certainly learn a lot. I know I did. Uh so enjoy the episode. Cheers. Hi Kyle. Uh pleasure to have you here today. And I wanted to start with a first question, which is kind of the reason I initially
reached out to you is that you you sort of laid out a different vision of the internet, you know, specifically when it comes to kind of counteract counteracting. platforms and and social media you kind of were depicting That another internet was possible. Um and I remember I kinda clicked through and I contacted you from there. Uh do you do you want to sort of share with our listeners what that alternative may look like in your eyes.
Yeah. I mean essentially like what I think is really important is just separating the data layer from the application layer. So really what that means is that, you know, the the ability to broadcast your thoughts or uh message somebody or communicate is entirely separate from your account or whatever the company is. So for example, I mean if you're on Twitter Uh you you know, create an account. In Twitter essentially owns the ability for you to broadcast those thoughts or communicate with anybody. Essentially what I want to do, um, and this is not my idea by the way, but what I'm interested in is kind of separating those two things to where Twitter is more just the application. The interface that you choose to use.
And then there is a shared communications layer, shared communication protocol uh that's actually being used underneath the hood. Um, so that's that's really what I'm interested in. That's uh really what I'm passionate about and kinda how we kinda how we met.
Can I can I just start by asking where where did you or the source who are the people that inspired you the most around around this?
Yeah. Yeah. I have a very roundabout way of of getting here. So A lot of the people in this space are really into like cryptography or they're, you know, very libertarian. Um, you know, they're involved in a community called like Freedom Tech. And which is not the
same as cryptocurrencies, right? Let's just clarify that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, not
not cryptocurrency, crypto cryptography. They're like, you know, the people that are interested in how signal, for example, like the signal protocol works. Yeah. And very different. These communities are somewhat more like hacker groups, you know, small, tight knit developer groups. I got into this space through B to B software, which is definitely not how most people arrive into this world. You know, we were doing a lot of social media analytics for consumer insights and market research. And then I eventually, you know, had to work with these platforms and understand how their APIs work or if they even offer an API. I had to then navigate the world of, you know, scraping.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is Kyle DeSana’s vision for a different, decentralized internet?
0:05–7:23
2
How does separating the data layer from the application layer give users control over their identity and content?
7:23–14:40
3
What role could large language models play in shaping more intentional online spaces?
14:40–23:16
4
How did the transition from AOL’s walled‑garden to HTTP open the web for open protocols?
23:16–31:58
5
Why are decoupling and technological sovereignty becoming critical in the platform debate?
31:58–40:33
6
What new business models and revenue streams might emerge from a protocol‑first internet?
40:33–49:19
7
How is the read‑versus‑write dynamic evolving with decentralized social protocols?
49:19–57:14
8
What practical steps can creators take today to build on the emerging open‑protocol ecosystem?
57:14–1:00:59