Is AI the Sole Future of Consumer Tech, What's Missing in Social & Will Glasses Be The Consumer Platform with Bryan Kim, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz

In this episode of The Consumer VC, Bryan Kim, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, shares his career journey from investment banking to the tech world. He reflects on his time at Snap during its explosive growth and offers valuable insights into the future of consumer tech and AI. Kim stresses the need to pinpoint a product's core emotional appeal to enhance user retention and monetization, rather than merely focusing on superficial growth metrics. He categorizes today's AI landscape into companies providing "magical" solutions that genuinely address user needs and those creating defensible positions through network effects. Kim also discusses the rise of new social platforms centered on close friendships and predicts that while glasses may evolve as a computing platform, mobile will remain the dominant force for the next decade. He concludes with his unconventional view that retention should take precedence over growth and explores innovative AI-driven monetization strategies that emphasize value delivery rather than traditional models.