Robbie Farlow — Patch Your Body’s Firewall

We talk about disruption in tech so much that the word is overused and lacks the same kind of punch it used to. That being said, one area where disruption is happening in its purest form is in consumption - which is almost 70% of US GDP. The disruptor here isn’t China or some other low cost manufacturer but content creators. They are the biggest threat to an entire panoply of products and $100Bs of revenue and market cap (see below). The virtuous cycle of content creators is impossible for old line CPG to mimic: Make compelling content —> Acquire an Audience —> Retain and Build Trust —> Sell them a new version of something —> take profits and reinvest in making compelling content —> Repeat More generally, as platforms like X make it possible for all of us to become content creators, a million new products will eventually appear and collectively chip away at the revenues of established CPG brands over time. A few examples: Gatorade —> Prime L’Oreal —> Kylie Spanx —> Skims Hersheys —> Feastables These old line CPG companies are in a very difficult position that spending money with Madison Ave will not solve. While these old businesses won’t disappear overnight, they are melting icebergs. If there was a way to be “long content creators” and “short CPG”, it is likely a winning trade. So as content platforms catch on and help amplify content from creators - it will not only make their platforms stickier but it can slowly replace ad revenue from the dying companies below with rev share from the upstart thriving ones who replace them. This will only accelerate the virtuous cycle already emerging. Disruption comes slow until it comes fast…