The a16z Show · Monday, July 27, 2026
Sinofsky uses the early internet as a case study, questioning what might have happened if it had been heavily regulated from the start. He suggests that restrictive early regulation could have led to less innovative outcomes, like a continued reliance on services such as AOL Instant Messenger.
“And I think back to the internet. And what would have happened if we would have pre-cautiously regulated the internet?”
“Like, would we all just be using AOL instant messenger right now?”
“And it had all these attributes that regulators liked. Like, you know, it was one company. And it was in Virginia.”