Noah Shin sees personal agents shifting a hypothetical app from ad revenue toward product sales

Noah Shin, founder of Instinct, thinks agents could wipe out the 70% of a hypothetical app’s revenue that comes from ads, while making its 30% from product sales much bigger because people may buy more when purchasing takes no effort. This is a possibility, not a measured outcome; whether higher sales would offset lost ad revenue is unclear.

The potential benefit may depend on the shopping task: buying through a Shopify store can already take little effort when shoppers know what they want, while agent help could be more useful for tedious purchases where brand matters less, such as finding a well-reviewed set of cable-management accessories.