Startup Soothsayers

Given the pace we are working at, we look foremost for flexibility and initiative. The ability to build constructively in a limited-resource environment (potentially having to wear several hats) is the most important to us.

The borders of being ‘technical’ are expanding by the day

There used to be a well-defined line between who could build things and who couldn’t. Building was reserved for people who could code—people who were “technical.”

Sure, there’ve been waves of milquetoast no-code tools that purported to turn you into a developer for the past decade. But those ... See more

If 2022 was the year of quiet quitting, and 2023 brought quiet firing, 2024 will restore the time-honored tradition of “Quiet Performing.”

After four years of macro shocks, punctuated by 2023’s epidemic of white-collar layoffs, many companies are looking to rebuild confidence and focus among employees. While an emphasis on performance management wil... See more

Artificial intelligence will spur two fundamental changes in our relationship with technology. The first is that voice—already the most natural interface for human interaction—will become a dominant interface. Imagine latency reduced to less than half a second, a stark contrast to the sluggishness of touch-based devices. Even silent voice is on the... See more

A less cynical way to think about the postmodern tech revolution is that it hasn’t completely subsumed the real, brilliant, chaotic world, but merely emphasized it as vital and precious. Artificial intelligence, in my view, continues this tradition. The only singularity it can truly achieve is one that understands humanity at its most inhuman (and ... See more

We are in an age of noise.

The frameworks that got us here, of jobs-to-be-done or product-market fit, will be insufficient going forward. For founders to have extraordinary outcomes, they will have to find alpha in markets that aren’t easily understood.

Which is to say, technology alone won’t be enough. The other essential ingredient will be taste.... See more

It means that many startups have to justify their existence not by explaining why they’ll make the world better, but by actively showing they won’t make the world worse.

Human curation might reemerge...

The internet is overflowing with content, making the search for specific topics (especially niche or less popular ones) a daunting task.

This challenge isn't new—it dates back decades. Initially, we turned to trusted human curators for guidance, with platforms like fark.com serving as go-to sources for discovering wo... See more

An AI organization is an entity that primarily uses AI to manage information flow within the organization and decide on team composition and function.