Skip to content
Episode #88

You Don't Need a Website. You Need a Media Company.

Websites serve humans browsing. AI agents browse differently. What you need is a media company on your own domain.

9 min 38s
Listen on:SpotifyApple PodcastsYouTube

Key takeaways

  • Replace your website mindset with a media company mindset: your domain should publish, not just present.
  • Understand the AI counter concept: AI agents will shop your domain the way humans once browsed it, so build for that reality now.
  • Use AI to reform content you already create, not to generate content from scratch. The voice stays yours.
  • Recognize that media builds trust at a distance. It is the only mechanism that gets someone to the phone call without you being on it first.
  • Keep people for growth, not just for noise reduction. AI compresses operational overhead so humans can do more human work.

Timestamps

00:00Websites are dead: the opening claim
00:28The DJ record analogy: carrying 400 records to every gig
01:33From records to USB: the compression cycle reaches business
02:40AI and growth: why Paul always chooses people over reduction
03:29Identity First Media: building a media company on your domain
05:53The AI counter: when agents start shopping your domain
06:32Why media is the only trust mechanism that works at scale
07:43The media company conclusion: strip the noise, keep the human
Doe de gratis scorecard

Read the blog article

Why Don't You Need a Website Anymore in 2026?

Show notes

The core argument

You don't need a website anymore. You need a media company. Paul Veth makes this case by tracing the same compression cycle he lived through as a house DJ: records gave way to CDs, CDs gave way to a USB, and now AI is doing the same thing to every bloated business stack. The website was one piece of that stack. It no longer needs to be the centerpiece.

What changes when AI agents start shopping

Paul introduces the concept of the AI counter: a domain built not for humans browsing but for AI agents transacting. Humans found services by reading websites. AI agents will find services by querying structured media hubs. Identity First Media is built around this shift. The platform turns founder-recorded content into a full media company: courses, emails, social posts, podcasts, all reformatted by AI from a single source. The voice stays human. The reformatting is automated.

Why media is the only trust mechanism that scales

Media is the only thing that can connect you without calling, video calling, or handshaking another human being. Paul explains the trust chain: someone listens, then books a call, then meets in person. AI does not shortcut that chain. It accelerates arrival at the start of it. The human-to-human connection itself stays untouched.

What Identity First Media actually builds

  • A media company on your own domain, not a website
  • AI that reforms existing content, not generates new content from scratch
  • An AI counter ready for the agent-driven web
  • Founder-led output: the voice of the person who records the video

Key position

Paul is explicit: he does not believe in AI-generated content or AI-generated businesses. Every output starts from a human seed. AI handles the reformatting. That distinction is the foundation of the Identity First Media framework from Paul Veth.

Topics

website is deadmedia company on your domainIdentity First MediaAI counterAI agentsfounder led contentdecentralized mediaPaul VethAI content strategytrust through media

Full transcript

View full transcript
0:00
0Websites are dead. If you still think you need a new website, you are thinking like it's still 2010. I don't say you don't use your domain anymore, but you have to put something else on your domain, not a website. Let me tell you a story. I supposed to be a DJ and when I was a DJ and I was playing house music, did it with these things: records.
0:28
0This one is the first pressing of Tiesto's traffic. He played this everywhere, but you have to think this is one song. And when I was a DJ, a house DJ in the club, I played six hours. So I have to had at least 100 of these to bring it to bring the night to an end. And you have to think that I probably had like 400 or 500 of these records with me, with all kind of songs, of course.
1:05
0So it was a burden when I played at the residency, I can keep my records at that place. But when I went to the club somewhere else, have to bring all of it with me. And that's the old way, because after that, after the records, CDs came, it was much easier. I have just one record bag with CDs. That's it.
1:33
0And then digital came, USBs and SD cards later on. So just like a wallet, that's it, and a headphone, that's it. And the same thing is happening now with AI because AI makes something clear in our businesses. It's amazing because a lot of businesses. They have so much noise inside the business and all that noise was needed for delivery for.
2:07
0Making the product or service better, for sales, for maintaining everything. And all that noise had to be done with people and systems. And now there's AI. I believe AI can help your company grow faster and you keep the same amount of people. You also can do the opposite and use AI to get rid of all the people and let AI take care of it.
2:40
0It's your choice as an entrepreneur. I choose growth always because I like people and I like growth, so the choice is easy. But that's what's happening in our businesses as well, and that's what's happening for our websites as well, because a website was just one thing for our business. And besides a website you had the podcast hosting, you had the email automation, you had the course builder, etcetera. You had so many noise around your business and now you can change one thing and why I think it's a beautiful thing, it's because it helps you to create your own media company on your domain.
3:29
0That's what we do with Identity First Media. We build your own media company or your own domain. And why is that possible? AI takes care of all the processes. It's not making the input.
3:47
0It's not creating. It's just reforming what you already created. So that's amazing because. I don't believe in AI generated content. I don't believe in AI generated businesses.
4:10
0And what I mean with that is I believe they will start to exist, but they have to be started from one seed and that seed will for now be human. Later on, AI can think of businesses and they can get rid of a lot of noise around the world. I'm a really AI optimist and I believe that we are moving to a world of abundance thanks to AI. That's a different video, but because of that I believe in founder led companies where the vision and mission is still really alive from the core of the business. And if that's put into our system, then the media company is born and it's fed weekly and from that process AI is reforming all the content into courses, emails, social posts, podcasts, but it's still the voice of the one who records the video.
5:19
0It can be the founder and sometimes the Co founder or someone from the team. Everything is possible. But I believe now AI is there. We don't need just a website because a website was just for a human to find contacts or sometimes to look at a blog article or something like that, uh, and to find the services or products. And to be honest, in a few years, AI agents will find the services and products, so therefore you don't need a website anymore.
5:53
0You need an AI counter. That's what our platform beholds as well. We are an AI counter. It's not used yet because there are not AI agents doing grocery shopping yet, but it will change very fast. So AI agents can come to the websites of our clients and shop.
6:17
0That's amazing. But that's how the world will look like in a few months or years. And therefore you don't need a website anymore. You don't have to think about the website anymore. You have to think about, okay, this is my media company.
6:32
0Why media? Media is the only thing that can connect you without you calling or video calling or handshaking another human being. Just what I'm doing right now to reach out and say, hi, I'm Paul. And that's what we need because when there's a human on the other side of the camera in this case, there can be trust. We build trust you by listening to me, that's how trust is built and then we have the phone call and then we see each other and then we hug each other.
7:12
0And sometimes when you are single and you find someone, start kissing each other. That's how trust is built and relationships are built. And I believe that AI Gets rid of the robots out of us humans, so the robots are taking out robots out of us humans. So humans are left the pure raw humans we are. And from that point we can start to connect.
7:43
0And the rest is just noise and that noise. Is done, is taken care of by AI, and that's what I believe. That's what I see. You don't need a website, you need a media company. And that media company that makes sure that all the things you want to.
8:05
0You want your potential and your customers to engage with. That's what you bring together on your own domain, your media hub, your media company. And if you do that in a great way, you can start the movement. Then people will. They will want to do business.
8:30
0With you because then they find out who you are because you strip all the noise and you can help your customers directly as well, because the media company on your own domain is not the only thing you need. Of course, you still need the delivery of your service or product. And of course also the after sales and relationship building. And a lot of things can be done by AI in that process, but only to make sure the human to human connection is easier, it's faster, Not the connection itself, but it's. It's brought faster.
9:18
0You are brought faster to another human. You can connect more easy because. There's more time to connect. That's why you don't need a website anymore. You just need to have a media company on your own domain.

Frequently asked questions

Why does Paul Veth say websites are dead?

Websites were built for humans browsing for contact details, blog posts, and service pages. AI agents retrieve that information differently. The domain still matters, but what sits on it needs to function as a media company and an AI counter, not a static brochure.

What is an AI counter?

An AI counter is a domain structured so AI agents can query and transact with it directly, the way humans once browsed and clicked. Paul Veth describes it as the next layer Identity First Media is already building for, ahead of widespread AI agent adoption.

Does Identity First Media use AI to generate content?

No. Paul is explicit: he does not believe in AI-generated content or AI-generated businesses. The platform takes content a founder already recorded and reforms it into courses, emails, social posts and podcasts. The input is always human. AI handles the reformatting.

Why is media the right trust mechanism for scaling a business?

Media connects you to another person without a call, a meeting, or a handshake. Someone listens, builds trust, then books a call. AI accelerates how fast someone reaches that first step. The human-to-human connection itself stays intact and unchanged.

Who should be creating the content inside Identity First Media?

Paul says it should be the founder, a co-founder, or someone from the team whose voice carries the vision. The platform is built around founder-led output because the mission and identity of the business need to stay alive at the core of everything published.

Clips from this episode

AI Gets the Robot Out of Humans33s

AI Gets the Robot Out of Humans

when you are single and you find someone, start kissing each other. That's how trust is built and re

Trust Is Built Before the Phone Call49s

Trust Is Built Before the Phone Call

You have to think about, okay, this is my media company. Why media? Media is the only thing that can

AI Is Doing to Business What USB Did to DJing44s

AI Is Doing to Business What USB Did to DJing

I have to had at least 100 of these to bring it to bring the night to an end. And you have to think

Why You Don't Need a Website Anymore44s

Why You Don't Need a Website Anymore

when you are single and you find someone, start kissing each other. That's how trust is built and re

Websites Are Dead. Here's What Replaced Them.33s

Websites Are Dead. Here's What Replaced Them.

Websites are dead. If you still think you need a new website, you are thinking like it's still 2010.

Related episodes

AI Will Cite You But Not Recommend You
#71

AI Will Cite You But Not Recommend You

7 min 2s
Why You're Using AI Wrong (And What Actually Works)
#483

Why You're Using AI Wrong (And What Actually Works)

16 min
Why AI Makes Your Personal Brand Stronger
#59

Why AI Makes Your Personal Brand Stronger

12 min

Get in touch

Want to learn more or collaborate? Feel free to reach out.

Get in touch

Discussion

The content argues that a website built for human visitors is the wrong foundation in an AI-driven world, and that what you actually need is a media company on your own domain. Has anyone here already started making that shift, and what does it look like in practice for your business?

1 replies0 participants
Join the discussion →