What’s Next for Consumer AI? | Josh Elman Joins a16z
Anish Acharya sits down with Josh Elman to discuss the future of consumer technology and Josh's decision to join a16z.
Over the past two decades, Elman has helped shape some of the most important consumer technology products and companies, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Robinhood, Discord, Musical.ly, TikTok, and Apple. Drawing on those experiences, he reflects on how technology has evolved from a niche industry into a central force in everyday life.
The conversation explores consumer AI, product design, distribution, social networks, creator ecosystems, and the changing relationship between technology and human behavior. They discuss why AI may unlock an entirely new generation of consumer products, how discovery and distribution are changing, and what founders can learn from previous platform shifts.
Along the way, Elman shares his views on retention, network effects, product-market fit, and the opportunities he believes remain underexplored in consumer technology.
Resources:
Follow Josh Elman on X: https://x.com/joshelman
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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#119 with Josh Elman - How To Get The Benefits of Entrepreneurship Without Starting a Company
Sam Parr (@theSamParr) and Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) are joined by Josh Elman (@joshelman) on the pod today. Elman is a veteran of LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Robinhood to name a few. This guy knows Silicon Valley and growth better than anyone else. In today’s episode you’ll hear: Shaan asks Josh to give his background (1:00), Sam asks if it’s better to start your own thing or climb your way up in a tech startup (8:25), Elman answers the question “what technology or company has that 10x or 100x potential in the next few years (9:15), Josh explains the “meta-verse” or “the third place” and how AI will lead the way there (18:15), how the TV show Black Mirror has influenced tech (24:55), Elman unpacks his time at Stanford and the power of being around intelligent people and gives some stories on his early days at Unicorn companies (31:00), Sam puts Josh on the spot and asks him how he can 10x his own business (47:35), This episode we are partnering with Square! Square makes it easy for your business to accept payment, and so much more! Check out this week's sponsor at square.com/go/hustle! Joined our private FB group yet? It's a page where people share each others million dollar ideas or what they're already working on: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion.
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Episode 87: Josh Elman
Josh is one of the most respected product managers in the game, having built products at Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin. Now he has made an name for himself at Greylock as a top vc We talk about his journey working at those companies, what it was like to work with some of the best founders of all time, his transition to investing, advice for people starting a company, and much more. Josh has been a friend and supporter and If you ever get a chance to work with Josh I highly recommend it. One of the best at what he does and he’s one of the good guys.
20VC: Greylock's Josh Elman on Why We Are Not In A Consumer Downturn, The Next Wave Of Social and What Twitter Should Do Next
Josh Elman is a Partner at Greylock Partners, which he joined the team in 2011 and invests in entrepreneurs building new consumer products and services. Josh specializes in designing, building, and scaling consumer products, having been part of multiple companies that have grown to more than 100 million users. Before joining Greylock, Josh was the product lead for growth and relevance at Twitter, growing Twitter’s active user base by nearly 10x. Prior to Twitter, Josh worked on the platform at Facebook and was an early employee at LinkedIn helping establish models for user growth and launched v1 of LinkedIn Jobs. Josh currently serves on the boards of Medium, Meerkat, Operator, Discord, and Jelly. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Josh made his move into the VC world from Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook?
2.) What were the biggest takeaways of watching fb, Linkedin and Twitter to hyper growth mode?
3.) Question from Jeff Seibert: What would Josh do with the Twitter product today??
4.) How would Josh apply his principles of the on boarding process to Twitter? What does he mean when he refers to the ladder of engagement?
5.) How does Josh respond to Fred Wilson's out on the consumer downturn? Is consumer really as hard as Fred makes it out to be? What sort of metrics really get Josh excited when viewing consumer startups?
6.) How has Josh's own investment decision making process been honed and refined since joining Greylock?
Items Mentioned In Today's Episode:
Josh's Fave Book:
Built To Last: Successful Habits Of Visionary Companies
Josh's Most Recent Investment:
Discord: Free Voice and Text Chat For Gamers
As always you can follow The Twenty Minute VC, Harry and Josh on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow him on Instagram here!
Product Hunt Radio: Episode 39 w/ Josh Elman & John Lilly
Today Josh Elman and John Lilly from Greylock join us to talk about their recent investment in Meerkat, Facebook’s new Message platform, and the future of micropayment economy thanks to Square’s $Cashtags and others. Listen in.
Product Hunt Radio: Episode 37 w/ Ben Rubin & Josh Elman
This week Ben Rubin(CEO, Meerkat) and Josh Elman (Partner, Greylock) join us to discuss the backstory of Meerkat and the future of livestreaming. Of course, we broadcasted the episode live on Meerkat, sporting lovely yellow swag: https://twitter.com/joewardpr/status/575809780322811904. Listen in. P.S. Want a Meerkat shirt? There are a few more days left to buy one on Teespring: http://teespring.com/meerkatapp