Building a brand in 2025: interest media, live shopping, and attention as an asset

Executive overview

Social media has shifted from follower-count advantage to merit-based reach. A brand-new account can now outperform a 15-year-old one if the content is better. Live shopping is arriving in Western markets the way Amazon and social media did — and companies that dismiss it will pay the same price.

Attention is the ultimate asset; the only question is where it is cheapest to buy right now.

The shift from social media to interest media

• Algorithms now distribute content based on quality and relevance, not follower count.
• A day-one account with great content can beat an established creator with a mediocre post.
• LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube Shorts all operate this way today.
• The playing field is more equal than it has ever been — new entrants have a structural advantage if the work is good.

Live shopping: the next distribution wave

• Live shopping has been a decade-long reality in China; it is now hitting Western markets.
• TikTok Shop and Whatnot are early leaders; Walmart, Amazon and eBay already have live platforms.
• Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube are expected to make aggressive moves imminently.
• Consumer packaged goods, apparel and retail face existential risk if they ignore it — the same risk they took dismissing Amazon.
• QVC still does enormous revenue; there is something inherently human about buying in a live environment.
• Even B2B companies should experiment: a branded hoodie sold on live shopping builds awareness, not just revenue.
• A 15-year window exists where this could threaten Amazon's dominance if Amazon misplays it.

Day trading attention: the core framework

• Attention is the prerequisite for everything — without it, nothing else works.
• Legacy marketing (print, TV ads) was like buying mutual funds: slow, long-horizon, set-and-forget.
• Modern marketing requires the speed and responsiveness of a day trader, not a long-term investor.
• Platforms are either overvalued (too expensive for the reach you get) or undervalued (reach is cheap relative to attention captured).
• Identifying undervalued platforms early — as GaryVee did with Facebook, YouTube and TikTok — is the skill.
• Non-romantic attachment to current platforms is required: fall in love with your brand, not your medium.
• Sports Illustrated became obsessed with its format; that is why it lost to Barstool and House of Highlights.

Platform strategy by use case

• Direct-to-consumer (2025): Facebook/Instagram and TikTok/YouTube Shorts are non-negotiable. X/LinkedIn/Snapchat Spotlight are second tier.
• B2B and professional services: Heavy focus on LinkedIn and YouTube Shorts. AI algorithms now surface content to the right professional audience without requiring a large following.
• Personal brand vs. company page: Run both. Humans over-index on personal accounts, but collab posts let you bridge audiences. Either alone will work; both is better.

Investment criteria: jockey and horse

• Early in his career: pure jockey — bet on the founder's ability to execute.
• Mid-career: overcorrected to pure horse — liked the idea, overlooked the person.
• Current approach: both must be present. The founder must demonstrate they can see the idea through across multiple iterations.
• At early stage there are no results to rely on — conviction comes from intuition about the person.

Brand guidelines in a social-first world

• Guidelines are useful for onboarding new employees; they are not a marketing strategy.
• Rigid color schemes and taglines restrict creativity and were designed for television, not social.
• The goal is relevance across as many consumer segments as possible — guidelines that limit that are a liability.

How much you make vs. how you make it

• The "impact business" framing has matured; the era of using social good as a facade for premium pricing has largely passed.
• The argument for purpose-driven business is personal, not altruistic: it produces more sustained happiness than a bank balance.
• The market is now in a healthy equilibrium where ethics is a conscious or subconscious factor for most founders at founding stage.