The a16z Show · Friday, July 17, 2026
Amjad Masad highlighted a shift towards authenticity in CEO communication, contrasting it with the traditionally polished PR image. He cited Mark Zuckerberg and Donald Trump as examples of individuals who have leveraged their authentic voices, suggesting that audiences now crave this directness.
“I think being yourself is kind of like a big radical thing that maybe started happening with Elon maybe 10 years ago, but CEOs were supposed to be this very polished thing, they had to kind of be filtered through this prism of PR and journalism.”
“And I think the story of Trump is also very illustrative. I think Trump had amazing bangers.”
“You see these people come up and people start associating with them, and obviously they're very authentic.”