Meta CMO: How Advertising Works Under the Hood

781 snips

Sep 29, 2025

Guest

Alex Schultz

Guest

Antonio García-Martinez

In this engaging conversation, Antonio García Martínez, a former ad director at Coinbase, and Alex Schultz, Meta's CMO, explore the intricate world of advertising. They tackle how AI is revolutionizing ad personalization, debunk common privacy fears, and discuss the shift from connected to unconnected content. The duo also delves into what could have been, pondering the future of Instagram and the fate of Libra. With insights on retail media and the evolving metaverse, they paint a vivid picture of the advertising landscape.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Ads Pay For The Internet

Online advertising funds the internet and democratizes access to services and startups.
Alex argues ads are the core business that enable free, scalable products people use daily.

ANECDOTE

Book Praised For Practical Detail

Antonio praises Alex's book for bridging high-level marketing theory and messy implementation details.
He highlights how small technical failures can wreck analytics and campaign outcomes.

INSIGHT

Surveillance Critiques Often Misunderstand Data

Major critiques portray online ads as surveillance capitalism and manipulation.
Alex and Antonio argue many fears stem from misunderstanding how data and targeting actually work.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Ads pay for the internet—and they’re about to change again. a16z General Partner Erik Torenberg, entrepreneur and author Antonio García Martínez, and Meta CMO Alex Schultz dive into growth and performance marketing, privacy myths, retail media, and the AI future of “audience-of-one” advertising—plus Instagram what-ifs, WhatsApp as a super-app, and how Meta’s feed shifted from social graphs to AI-ranked content.

Timecodes:

0:00 Introduction
0:38 Book Inspiration & Positive Perspective on Advertising
4:43 Critiques of Online Advertising & Data Privacy
7:34 The Evolution of Media Business Models
10:12 Content Moderation and Platform Shifts
11:43 Connected vs. Unconnected Content & The Rise of AI
13:34 The Future of AI, Personalization, and Advertising
28:18 Retail Media Networks & First-Party Data
38:18 Alternative Histories: Instagram, Libra, and Industry What-Ifs
46:31 The Impact of AI on Jobs and Company Structure
55:00 The Metaverse, VR, and Future Platforms

Resources:

Make sure to get Alex’s book here!

Follow Alex on X: https://x.com/alexschultz

Follow Alex on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexschultz

Follow Alex on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@alexorig

Follow Antonio on X: https://x.com/antoniogm

Stay Updated:

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends!

Find a16z on X: https://x.com/a16z

Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Stay Updated:

Find a16z on X

Find a16z on LinkedIn

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts

Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.