You’ve probably heard of Lil Miquela. The 19 year-old Brazilian-American influencer has millions of followers and has partnered with the likes of Samsung and Prada. But despite capturing the hearts of many, she’s not real. But you probably haven’t heard her origin story. In this episode we take a trip back to 2016, to a world that looked much different to today, together with two of Miquela’s creators – Trevor McFedries and Isaac Bratzel – cofounder and Chief Design and Innovation Officer of Brud at the time. We learn what inspired the experiment and what early signs indicated that Miquela was not just a novel idea. In a world where spinning up an influencer, we learn what it took to capture mindshare, the pushback they’ve received, what a “scalable influencer” means, and what they think is to come. Topics Covered: 00:00 - Introduction 02:11 - The key insight 04:09 - A new breed of influencers 06:45 - Miquela’s aesthetic 10:11 - Early signs of success 13:47 - Narrative and fan engagement 17:36 - The technology 1:13 - Expanding past Miquela 23:52 - Traction and generative AI 27:22 - A new reality 33:39 - Early pushback 36:40 - Misunderstanding reality 38:16 - Fear of new technologies 39:40 - New technological unlocks 43:17 - Scalable influencers Resources: * Lil Miquela on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilmiquela/ * Lil Miquela on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWeHb_SrtJbrT8VD-_QQpRA * Find Trevor on Twitter: https://twitter.com/whatdotcd?lang=en * Find Isaac on Twitter: https://twitter.com/izykbenjamin * Find Brud on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brud.fyi * Isaac’s new avatar company: https://www.avataros.com/ Stay Updated: * Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z * Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z * Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/ * Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.