Abhishek Sunil

contentmaxxing for tech startups & VCs

[Abhishek Sunil @abh1shh]

@subahwadhwani now try drinking monster when chewing some nuerogum

[Abhishek Sunil @abh1shh]

a16z just published data showing people are scrolling less than ever

Social media time peaked in 2022 and has dropped ~10% since

half of americans actively cut their usage last year gen z is leading the exodus.

most brands see this and panic "reach is dying" "organic is dead" "time to spend more on ads" wrong conclusion.

people aren't leaving social media.
they're leaving bad content.

they're scrolling less because 90% of what they see is AI slop, recycled templates, and engagement bait the 10% that stops them?

original voices. real stories.
content that earns the pause.
this is the best thing that could've happened for brands that actually invest in content

less time scrolling = higher bar for attention = massive advantage for anyone making stuff worth stopping for

the platforms that win won't capture the most hours. they'll deliver the most value per minute.

same goes for brands.

the question isn't "how do we get more reach" it's "are we worth the scroll-stop"

[Abhishek Sunil @abh1shh]

Someone please build an AI that helps you poach talent.

- finds x and linkedin profiles of people that are the best fit
- checks if they're showing intent of wanting to switch jobs , liking other hiring posts etc
- reach out

[Abhishek Sunil @abh1shh]

@brenden_delarua - AI CFO which shoots down all the AI CMO's ideas

[Abhishek Sunil @abh1shh]

been thinking about this too. @ItsKieranDrew made a similar point recently about how templates and algorithms are a trap. everyone follows the same playbook and ends up sounding identical.

most people skip the listening part entirely. they never figure out what their audience actually cares about before hitting publish.

[Abhishek Sunil @abh1shh]

@DeRonin_ this tracks. @ericdjav was talking about a similar pattern.
he built an app with zero audience, partnered with someone who had 1.5M followers but no product, investors and no ad spend. distribution before product. audience is the new funding round.

[Abhishek Sunil @abh1shh]

@chrisgirbu CLIP

[Brownie Media @brownie_media]

@tankots went from a kid Google tried to shut down to building one of the most promising AI companies in the world.

@findingnimo_ saw the wave early, made her move, and became a key force behind @WisprFlow's India growth.

This is what happens when builders move before everyone else.

[Abhishek Sunil @abh1shh]

i think the problem isn't outsourced vs in-house.

in-house fixes the targeting problem. but it doesn't fix the thinking problem.

if the original content wasn't made with a specific audience in mind, no amount of clipping precision saves it.the fix starts upstream. not at distribution.

[Abhishek Sunil @abh1shh]

attention has a price.
most tech companies are buying it at the wrong place.

where attention is EXPENSIVE right now:
- google ads (CPCs up 40% in 2 years)
- linkedin ads (still charging 2019 prices for 2026 attention)
- meta ads (CPMs up 30% YoY)

where attention is CHEAP right now:
- short form video (reels/shorts, organic reach is still free)
- X threads (one good thread = 500K impressions for $0)
- my personal favorite , Newsletter partnerships
- podcast guesting (other people's audiences, zero cost)

the smartest founders aren't asking
"where should we advertise?"

they're asking
"where is attention underpriced right now?"

and then they go all in
before everyone else catches up.

the arbitrage window closes.
it always does

[Abhishek Sunil @abh1shh]

@KoruthuSteve Usually after they notice CAC rising

[Abhishek Sunil @abh1shh]

there's a concept in engineering called technical debt.

there's no name for the content version.
so i'm naming it: content debt.

every month a tech company exists without publishing content,

the debt compounds.

your competitor posted 200 reels while you
were "perfecting the product."

now they own the narrative.
now they rank for your keywords.
now customers think THEY invented the category.

and you're starting from zero with a better product
that nobody's heard of.

content debt is harder to pay off than technical debt.

at least with tech debt you can refactor.

with content debt, the audience already belongs
to someone else.

[Abhishek Sunil @abh1shh]

simplest way to start paying it off:

pick one platform, one format, one person responsible. that's it.

for newly funded companies the mistake is hiring an agency or a "content team" before anyone in the company can articulate what makes them different in one sentence.

start with the founder recording 60 second loom style videos answering the questions customers actually ask. no scripts. no production. just answers.

do that for 30 days before you hire anyone. by then you'll know what content actually resonates and you'll have something real to hand off.

content debt isn't repaid by volume. it's repaid by specificity.

[Abhishek Sunil @abh1shh]

@romanasb93 thank you

[Abhishek Sunil @abh1shh]

"brand doesn't convert"
- every performance marketer until their CAC tripled

the math was always there. they just couldn't see past last week's dashboard.

[Abhishek Sunil @abh1shh]

@paolo_scales what if this isn't services becoming software. what if software was always just a worse version of services that people settled for because humans couldn't scale

[Abhishek Sunil @abh1shh]

@brownie_media @tankots @findingnimo_ @WisprFlow insane edit

[Abhishek Sunil @abh1shh]

What's the best method to get the first 1000 users for your startup?

[Abhishek Sunil @abh1shh]

@brian_blum1 what's the best way to go about building the network of creators ? building the distribution infra

[Abhishek Sunil @abh1shh]

@KaiXCreator vlc ?