The a16z Show · Thursday, October 1, 2026
Barrett Lyon has launched DocsNet, a new infrastructure aimed at rebuilding the internet with a focus on privacy and peer-to-peer communication. The platform is designed to protect users from advertisers, trackers, malware, and foreign adversaries by eliminating central servers and enabling encrypted, direct connections.
“The internet was designed to connect people directly. Today, much of what we do online passes through someone else's server, along with an enormous amount of data about us.”
“Well, I mean, the original promise of the internet was this incredible marketplace of ideas, unrestricted, no censorship, right?”
“So, you know, for example, China's a good example, China.com, China.com, and those things, Or is it China Network? Yeah. Anyway, either way, it's a pretty good chokehold of the entire population using that network as an opportunity to force people into different decision-making processes.”