a16z's Andrew Chen Asks: Do AI Agents Have Network Effects?
andrewchen · x · 2026-10-06
Andrew Chen, partner at a16z, published a long-form essay "Do Agents Have Network Effects?" on his Substack. The context: a new wave of general-purpose consumer agents — Muse, Town, Instinct, Grokbot and others — is causing thousands of AI startups to re-evaluate their market position.
The essay tackles core questions: will these horizontal players take over completely, is the agent market winner-take-all, and can vertically-focused products survive?
Related event: a16z's Andrew Chen: Agents Are Tools, Not Networks—No Winner-Take-All(3 posts)→
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