41) Distribution

Behind-the-scenes building Vambrace AI, a company on a mission to figure out its mission. Please pardon the stream-of-consciousness style. Subscribe to follow along or visit the site here:

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Introductory Remarks

Dear Vambracers —

In last week’s post, Making Bets (or Burning Tokens?), we explored the tension associated with the near-term financial certainty of consulting work vs the long-term potential upside associated with more speculative incubations—and the difficulties of time and capital allocation that arise from this tension. It helped me reflect on the current state of the business and where I might want to take things in the coming months (and years). Moving on!

Distribution

Today is going to be a short one. As a VC-turned-founder, one of the most exciting aspects of the experience is actually realizing why I said the things I said as a VC. I feel like I always had pretty solid intellectual grasp on general business principles, and I believed every single thing I ever said or advocated for as a VC. But I’m continuing to realize how big the gap is between “I intellectually believe this to be true” and “I existentially believe this to be true and have experienced it first-hand and I know exactly how it feels.”

One specific example of this experience has been my understanding of distribution. I define “distribution” as “the ability to identify, communicate with, and capture the interest and attention of relevant users.” There are definitely fancier definitions, but I think that’s the gist of it.

The common adage is: “distribution is more important than product” (or something like “distribution is everything”). And the more products I create and the more I work on GTM motions, the more I’m struck by how intensely true this is—especially in an environment of AI-induced product abundance.

I do think there are still opportunities for novel distribution strategies—but I also think it’s as crowded an environment as it’s ever been. And the traditional structures of top-down distribution (i.e., retailers, record labels, movie studios) are at risk of being upended by perfectly personalized time-of-consumption content creation, and so who knows what distribution will even really mean in the future.

The only point I’m trying to make here is that, whatever distribution does look like in an AI-first world, it will continue to be more important than ever. And I’m excited by the challenge of figuring out how to build real GTM motions and distribution funnels in the age of AI.

Looking Forward

Short and sweet today. Have a wonderful week!

Sincerely,

Luke