What is the point of technology? Does it exist solely for its own sake? Of course not. It’s to make our customers’ lives better. It’s really that simple. Which, happily, also plays a key role in building a brand. More importantly, it’s exactly how we build a human brand: By focusing on our customers. Internet innovator and technology legend Marc Andreessen seems to have forgotten that fact in his latest piece of writing, "The Techno-Optimism Manifesto." Oh, there’s a lot of great ideas in the piece, and a lot we can learn from. There also are a few concepts that Andreessen gets terribly wrong. And each of those concepts is wrong for the same reason: Total disregard for the needs of people, for the needs of human beings. How can you balance the potential of technology with the needs of human beings? How can you use technology, especially digital technology, to help customers meet their needs? And how can you align techno-optimism with building a human brand? That’s what this episode of Thinks Out Loud sets out to answer. Want to learn more? Here are the show notes for you… Techno-Optimism and Building a Human Brand (Thinks Out Loud Episode 399) Headlines and Show Notes Show Notes and Links * The Techno-Optimist Manifesto | Andreessen Horowitz * Noah Smith on Marc Andreessen’s Techno-Optimism essay in "At least five interesting things for the middle of your week (#17)" * Dave Karpf: Why can’t our tech billionaires learn anything new? * (Daniel Drezner Regarding "The Techno-Optimist Manifesto" * Building a Human Brand in the Age of AI (Thinks Out Loud Episode 398) * Elon Musk’s Main Tool for Fighting Disinformation on X Is Making the Problem Worse, Insiders Claim | WIRED * X/Twitter Hides Legitimate News While Misinformation Flourishes * A guide to the EU probe of Israel-Hamas disinformation on Elon Musk’s X – Vox * a href="https://www.timpeter.com/?feed-stats-url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYXhpb3MuY29tL25ld3NsZXR0ZXJzL2F4aW9zLW1lZGlhLXRyZW5kcz91dG1fc291cmNlPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXImYW1wO3V0bV9tZWRpdW09ZW1haWwmYW1wO3V0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1uZXdzbGV0dGVyX2F4aW9...