Ed Zitron

Big Tech seems to announce earth-shaking new innovations with every news cycle, and shareholders are clamoring for more growth than ever before. But is this path sustainable? What if innovation and growth was the result of working to create products and services that people deeply desired, instead of an unreachable, unspecific goal?

“We have created conditions where we celebrate people for making ‘big’ companies but not ‘good’ companies,” explains Ed Zitron, an influential, no-holds-barred tech industry analyst and founder and CEO of EZPR, a national tech and business public relations agency. “The markets no longer prioritize innovation, or sustainable growth, or stable, profitable enterprises. As a result, ‘success’ as defined by capital has been reframed to mean ‘number go up.’”

Host of the highly influential and fast-growing podcast Better Offline, which won a 2025 Webby Award for Best Business Podcast Episode and was named one of the best podcasts of 2024 by Esquire and Vulture, Zitron has quickly proven to be one of the few voices cutting through the noise of hype cycles with clarity, context and practical takeaways.

With a following of over 67,000 newsletter subscribers and podcast listeners, Zitron has become one of the most trusted analysts calling out the unsustainable mindset that’s eroding real innovation. He makes a compelling and accessible case that the current AI and startup ecosystem is overheated and unsustainable, which he explores in his upcoming book, “Why Everything Stopped Working” (Portfolio, 2026). Importantly, he lays out a blueprint for what companies should build next: real products with sustainable, lasting value that teams like to create and customers want to use.

“To get back to what matters, businesses need to find their product,” Zitron continues. “Find the actual thing that genuinely changes lives, improves lives, and helps people. Also, on a very simple level, what’s cool about this? What is the thing that really matters here? That’s the path to sustainable, steady growth that improves companies and lives.”

A New Lens for Choosing Success Over Scale

Energetic and insightful, Zitron urges companies to return to foundational principles: make products people love, solve real problems people experience, and respect your users. In compelling keynotes, presentations and advisory sessions, he outlines the corrosive effects of today’s venture-backed, growth-at-all-costs mentality that is especially prevalent in enterprise software and consumer tech. He then offers a powerful alternative rooted in human connection, product excellence and business models that reward loyalty over short-term numbers. This must-hear message equips product teams, brand leaders and executives with new guidance for getting back to sustainable growth that leads to company success.

Unforgettable as a speaker and top-rated as an advisor, Zitron’s bold approach challenges the status quo to explain why companies obsessed with hypergrowth are falling into a cycle of layoffs, customer resentment and product decay. Using vivid examples drawn from the tech industry and beyond, he then reveals what it looks like to build a company that can thrive for the long term. With deep insight and unapologetic clarity, Zitron ultimately leads audiences through tactical steps for reorienting their organizations around sustainability, stability and customer value, driving lasting market impact.

“The lens through which we evaluate businesses is cracked,” Zitron concludes. “Until we fix it and get back to creating products and services people want to use, we will continue to experience punishing cycles of binging and purging on human capital.”

The AI Bubble Is About to Burst: What Comes Next and How to Prepare

The hype around AI is at a fever pitch, but behind the scenes, the numbers aren’t adding up. Is today’s AI gold rush is built on unsustainable foundations, and what must organizations do now to avoid getting swept away when the bubble pops?  Zitron helps investors, founders and leaders see the signals of the coming tech reckoning.

“I hypothesize a kind of subprime AI crisis is brewing where almost the entire tech industry has bought in on a technology sold at a vastly-discounted rate, heavily-centralized and subsidized by big tech,” Zitron reveals. “What happens when the entire tech industry relies on the success of a kind of software that only loses money, and doesn’t create much value to begin with?”

Bold and sobering, he unpacks the real financial and technical fragilities behind the current wave of AI startups and goes beyond diagnosing problems to offer actionable insights on how to avoid falling for fictional narratives. Bringing a clear-eyed explanation of the cognitive dissonance of the AI boom, Zitron provides a road map for navigating the coming bubble burst and explores everything from consumer trust and data center infrastructure to software sales models and the venture capital correction. His highly knowledgeable and down-to-earth style and valuable tools and guidance help leadership teams and organizations stay ahead by refocusing their efforts on fruitful innovation, smart investment and product-market fit.

Emphasizing stability, resilience and generating real value, Zitron’s message ultimately resonates across sectors and industries: the unlimited growth bubble is breaking, and the time to build smarter is now.

Ed Zitron is an influential, no-holds-barred tech industry analyst and host of the fast-growing podcast Better Offline, winner of a 2025 Webby Award for Best Business Podcast Episode and named one of the best podcasts of 2024 by Esquire and Vulture. With over 67,000 newsletter subscribers and podcast listeners, Zitron has quickly become known for his incisive and entertaining approach to giving leaders and organizations what they need to hear – and not necessarily what they want to hear.

Founder and CEO of EZPR, a national tech and business public relations agency, and author of the forthcoming book “Why Everything Stopped Working” (Portfolio, 2026) Zitron is leading the charge against the tech industry’s broken growth-at-all-costs mindset. Drawing on years of experience in tech, media and PR, he explains why the current venture capital-driven AI and startup ecosystem is unsustainable and reveals steps for getting back to being a company that creates products people love and are happy to use.

Zitron holds a BA Hons. in Media and Communications from Aberystwyth University.

Ed Zitron is available to advise your organization via virtual and in-person consulting meetings, interactive workshops and customized keynotes through the exclusive representation of Stern Speakers & Advisors, a division of Stern Strategy Group®.