only connect
- Susan Fisher
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Remember the Renaissance Man ? The sort of person who knew a lot about everything. iI found Tyler Cowan a few years ago but did not realise just how many people admire him until The Economist did a piece and podcast interview. How interesting that a guy who carries vast amounts of information in his head should interest anyone right now where AI is so top of mind.
Cowan is a unique and unforgettable character. He is so unusual that he does not have to think too much about his personal branding. And yet he does.
Check out his response in the Economist Money Talks Podcast.
Question: “You have spent a lot of your life amassing a vast sort of the sum of human knowledge or as close as you can possibly get to it. What do you think about when you're attempting to safeguard your own skills and income and livelihood against sort of a potentially super intelligent AI that may be right around the corner?
Answer: "I give more talks. I do more visits. I do more mentoring.
I do more networking. I do more podcasts. I do more interviews.
People don't want to hear GPT doing an interview. You could have done this interview with GPT. It would have done great.. But there's no audience for that for whatever irrational reason. So I write somewhat less and do more in person. And that's where it's great for me.”
More talks, visits, networking, podcasts and interviews are part of a new business must-do called Founder Led Branding/Marketing. The practice is old enough: entrepreneurs have long been the face and voice of their companies. Think Walt Disney, Richard Branson and Steve Jobs and Jeff, Elon & even Zuck.
The idea has gained attention in the past few years due to social media and recently LinkedIn has got on the bandwagon. The idea is that people explicitly crave authenticity and connection with the people behind the product and want to know what only they can tell them.
You can understand the reluctance of founders and leaders to be out there though. Particularly in the Israel tech scene you often have to twist the founders' arms to get them to do an interview. But it's important to build trust and cut through the noise. - apart from the fact that you and your company are more likely to rank higher in AI search results.
My approach is that is it about genuinely connecting with your customers, employees and investors and showing your authentic style of leadership. a 30 second chat at an even does that better than the best blog post ( although you need both).
As a tech founder, your personal brand isn’t a vanity project. It’s your reputation engine — the story investors, customers, and talent tell about you when you’re not in the room.
From Money Talks from The Economist: Human ChatGPT: putting Tyler Cowen to the test, 11 Sep 2025
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