Jan 2, 2019 · 30m · a16z
a16z Podcast | I Reject the Term Viral Video
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of the a16z podcast, YouTube creator Casey Neistat joins host Michael Copeland and early Instagram team member Bailey Richardson to discuss digital content creation, community engagement, and brand partnerships. Neistat rejects the concept of virality, emphasizing that consistent, high-quality storytelling and authentic audience connections are the true drivers of online success.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. How this is scored →
The host as informed peer 3.6 Guest teaching 3.7 Guest disagreement 1.6 The host pushing back 0.7
speaking balance: gold is the host, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 1:41 Rejection of the viral framing
Casey flatly rejects the premise of setting out to make a viral video, dismissing the framing by comparing it to a musician foolishly sitting down just to write a hit song.
Hardest push from the host ▶ 13:57 Challenging guest on community seeding strategyBailey pushes back on Casey's reliance on anecdotal audience stories by explaining Instagram's structured strategy of targeting initial core groups and asking if Casey had a similar intentional core group.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 9:00 Traditional film vs YouTube dynamicCasey educates the host on why traditional film accolades mean less than internet distribution, favoring a student secretly watching his vlog over film snobs at a festival.
The host holds their own ▶ 29:17 Demonstrating Instagram's core value frameworkBailey demonstrates high authority and platform expertise by explaining how qualitative user research validated Instagram's core values of community, creativity, and simplicity.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | The host as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | The host pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rejecting the Viral Label in Favor of Content Quality | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | Bailey sets up a contrast between Instagram's curated early growth and YouTube's egalitarian nature. Casey rejects the premise of aiming for 'viral videos', comparing it to a musician trying to write a 'hit song' rather than focusing on quality. | |
| Capturing the Zeitgeist: The Bike Lanes Video Case Study | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | Bailey highlights Casey's strategy of seeking out implicit audience frustrations using his Bike Lanes video. Casey explains why ranting fails while combining physical humor, music, and social commentary succeeds, though he notes such alignment is near-impossible to prescribe. | |
| The Power of Consistency: Transitioning to Daily Vlogging | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | Bailey prompts Casey on his transition from traditional filmmaking to daily vlogging. Casey details his explosive audience growth and defends the YouTuber title over traditional cinema, contrasting one-way media with YouTube's symbiotic relationship. | |
| Audience Interaction, Social Tools, and Demystifying Gear | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | Bailey asks about online versus in-person audience interaction. Casey explains using Twitter to address recurring audience questions and dismisses gear obsession by noting classic films were edited with scissors and tape. | |
| Demographic Evolution and Community-Building Principles | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | Bailey shares how Instagram deliberately seeded early growth through photographers and designers, pressing Casey on whether he had an intentional core audience. Casey acknowledges unexpected demographic reach while admitting his YouTube origins were less structured. | |
| Brand Collaborations and the Story of Make It Count | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | Bailey asks how Casey evaluates brand partnerships. Casey recounts blowing Nike's budget to travel the world for the Make It Count campaign, which accidentally set off a wave of inspirational advertising. | |
| Audience Bullshit Sensors and Authentic Sponsorships | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | Casey explains that modern audiences have hyper-sensitive 'bullshit sensors' that reject traditional marketing. He illustrates this with his pitch to the Mercedes Benz CEO, insisting he would not make a standard car commercial. | |
| Platform Compartmentalization, Beme, and Creator Work Ethic | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | Bailey asks about publishing across multiple video platforms. Casey describes the strict content compartmentalization required for Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube, alongside his grueling nocturnal editing routine. | |
| Exploring New Frontiers: Live Video, VR, and Core Values | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | After Casey discusses live video and VR, Bailey takes command of the closing segment. She draws on Instagram's market research to detail their three core product values: community first, inspire creativity, and simplicity matters. |
Statements from this episode (20)
Early Instagram relied on suggested users for creator discovery, says Bailey Richardson
“Working at Instagram really early on, one of the things that we did was we put people on suggested users, we wrote about them, and if you weren't already famous, if you weren't Kim Kardashian or Justin Bieber, that was sort of the only way for you to get expos…”
Neistat: Focus on content quality rather than aiming for virality
“To say I want to make a viral movie is like a musician sitting down and saying I want to make a hit song. It's just not a good place to start. I think the best place to start is I want to make a really good movie.”
Neistat's early YouTube videos got 500 views despite his active HBO show
“When I started my YouTube channel that I have now, I had a show on HBO that was premiering a new episode every single week with a multi-million dollar marketing budget behind it. But I was putting new videos up on YouTube as often as I could, and I was getting…”
Neistat's viral bike lane video forced a same-day response from Mayor Bloomberg
“That video's done, I think, close to twenty million views, but that video was put online and Michael Bloomberg had to answer to that video in a press conference the same day.”
Neistat: Engineering Viral Videos Is Completely Beyond Anyone's Control
“Those things, by the way, are like fucking moons aligning with Pluto, like they are the greatest anomaly, and if I knew how to prescribe them, that's all I'd do, but they are way outside of anyone's person's control, and that's why I reject sort of the term of…”
Neistat matched five years of YouTube subscriber growth in five months
“In five years, I accrued 500,000 subscribers and a hundred million views, which made me a runaway success. I switched to daily content, and in the next five months, I accrued another 500,000 subscribers. So it took me five years, I duplicated in five months. I…”
Casey Neistat: I only want to be identified as a YouTuber
“And it wasn't until really this year that I started to reject this term of being a filmmaker, and now I only want to be known as a YouTuber. That's all I want to be identified as.”
Casey Neistat: YouTube is a symbiotic conversation unlike one-way traditional media
“Television and feature films. It is a one way street. It is a one way conversation. It's me talking to you and that's where it ends. And YouTube. YouTube is, is a symbiotic relationship between the creator and the audience.”
Casey Neistat: Succeeding on YouTube is the highest watermark in filmmaking
“So for me, like, there is no higher watermark In the world of filmmaking, then what it means to succeed on, on the internet, what it means to succeed on YouTube, and that's why I embrace that title.”
Neistat: VidCon fan meetup required 24 security guards who were overrun
“I did one meetup in my entire career, and it was last year at VidCon. And we had 18 security people, like 18 bodyguards, and then they had to call in six more. And they were all overrun.”
Instagram intentionally targeted photographers and designers at launch, says Bailey Richardson
“From my perspective of at least how we grew Instagram, we started out with this core audience of people that were photographers and designers, and that's actually who we went and spoke to when we released the app, and who we promoted right away, because we fel…”
Neistat: Brand deals must elevate the creator's brand as much as sponsor's
“The value exchange has to be at least equal. I mean, it has to elevate my brand as much as it elevates yours.”
Neistat: 'Make It Count' was Nike's top or second-most watched online video
“I do believe that my Nike video is still, it was the most, it might now be second most watched video that Nike's ever put online.”
Neistat: Nike 'Make It Count' video launched the obnoxious 'inspirational' ad trend
“If you bring it all back, there was none of that before that video. That video was the inflection point.”
Neistat: Mercedes-Benz four-video campaign was pitched on a one-page brief
“I remember it was a one-page brief that I sent them for a four-video campaign that lasted five months long that was, like, really, really well received by my audience, and I think they were very happy with the impact that the videos had because it was really h…”
Mercedes prohibited Casey Neistat from showing his car crashes in sponsored videos
“They wouldn't let me put, when I wrecked the Mercedes, either time, any of the times in the video. And one night when I wrecked one, I had to cover it in a tarp before I could get it towed away.”
Neistat outlines the rigid content expectations across major social media platforms
“If it's on Snapchat, it needs to be funny or cool or make me look cool. If it's on Instagram, it's gotta be beautiful. If it's on YouTube, it's gotta be meaningful. If it's on Facebook, it has to be something that my friends and peers really want to engage wit…”
Neistat raised venture capital for Beme to solve platform content compartmentalization
“I raised a bunch of money and built a whole company that's doing just that. We're still really far from success, but like, I believe in this compartmentalization of content so, so strongly that I built an entire company because I needed another box to put cont…”