Jack Burlinson retweeted
obstructionist bureaucracy is the number one barrier to American progress and prosperity
California hasn't built its bullet train because the state has required 130,000 pages of environmental reports, making absurd demands like:
• counting bumblebees one by one
• rebuilding woodrat stick huts
• hiring specialized dogs to sniff lizard scat
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I think that the biggest opportunity that most people are missing in the AI world is just how sexy AI can make certain businesses, even before AI has reached full-automation of tasks.
The obvious insight is that AI usage can replace indivudal labor units -- reducing COGS / OpEx. We've seen this manifest in accounting roll-ups, property management, BPOs -- GC nailed this, and I think they're going to make a killing leaning into this strategy.
But the much less obvious overlooked implication is even if AI is not able to dramatically improve margins of many businesses -- it can still dramatically change the *scalability* of a business, by reducing the complexity required to scale it. This is much harder to immediately see in the P&L.
There are many services businesses that you can't currently (for legal reasons + AI just not being good enough yet reasons) automate away their entire operations with AI, and the actual labor required to execute the work is already fairly low cost.
The core constraint of these businesses is not their margins, but the operating complexity required to scale it.
Think about fast food franchises. The biggest constraint there is being able to staff and fulfill the work at a consistently high quality.
Insurance brokerages, until recently, had their main constraint being how easily they can screen and manage.
Healthcare services, same thing.
Basically any "sweaty startup" from Nick Huber's website -- the challenge is not the margins, but the challenge of managing humans, well.
My firm belief is that AI will entirely eliminate many of the largest *coordination* challenges that exist via tools for managing employees.
Things that look like Cluely, hilariously, where you manage / assist the lower-wage employees in their tasks, will completely transform many legacy businesses, much more in the medium term than full scale automation.
The automation / democratization of incredible management, more than the automation of individual labor units, is the next wave.
The obvious insight is that AI usage can replace indivudal labor units -- reducing COGS / OpEx. We've seen this manifest in accounting roll-ups, property management, BPOs -- GC nailed this, and I think they're going to make a killing leaning into this strategy.
But the much less obvious overlooked implication is even if AI is not able to dramatically improve margins of many businesses -- it can still dramatically change the *scalability* of a business, by reducing the complexity required to scale it. This is much harder to immediately see in the P&L.
There are many services businesses that you can't currently (for legal reasons + AI just not being good enough yet reasons) automate away their entire operations with AI, and the actual labor required to execute the work is already fairly low cost.
The core constraint of these businesses is not their margins, but the operating complexity required to scale it.
Think about fast food franchises. The biggest constraint there is being able to staff and fulfill the work at a consistently high quality.
Insurance brokerages, until recently, had their main constraint being how easily they can screen and manage.
Healthcare services, same thing.
Basically any "sweaty startup" from Nick Huber's website -- the challenge is not the margins, but the challenge of managing humans, well.
My firm belief is that AI will entirely eliminate many of the largest *coordination* challenges that exist via tools for managing employees.
Things that look like Cluely, hilariously, where you manage / assist the lower-wage employees in their tasks, will completely transform many legacy businesses, much more in the medium term than full scale automation.
The automation / democratization of incredible management, more than the automation of individual labor units, is the next wave.
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What a ride.
Few things have brought me as much joy as watching Ali soar.
Few things have brought me as much joy as watching Ali soar.
about 3 years ago, micro1 lost 60% of its revenue overnight and almost went bankrupt.
today, i'm proud to share we've surpassed $1B annual run rate while remaining historically profitable.
it’s been a special journey. we’re grateful for every struggle, moment, and person who e've taken a very untraditional path to get here. our core team is only ~180 people, spanning 14+ countries, and fully remote.
many of our decisions sacrifice hundreds of millions of revenue and slow us down short term. but we believe they compound into advantages that are impossible to replicate long term.
the long term is now.
these are the 8 principles that made micro1 a leader in the data industry and will soon make us number one:
1.) human 1st AI: treat the tens of thousands of experts helping train models with absolute best-in-class care. our goal is to make AI training one of the largest, highest paying, and most enjoyable job sectors in the world.
2.) U.S. first: we refuse to work with adversarial nations, or export data that improves models against the interests of Americans.
3.) long-term research over short-term ARR: invest in deep research, products, and infrastructure for years from now, not just the next customer pipeline.
4.) proper incentives for intensely hard work: no arbitrary requirements like 996. inspire people to work extremely hard with outlier incentive structures instead of forcing weekend work. we’ve maintained close to 100% core team retention as a result.
5.) stay lean and global: we’ve reached $1B run rate with ~180 people, and intend to slow team growth significantly from here. exceptional talent is found around the world, and pedigree is the wrong thing to over-index on.
6.) execution alignment: company to retain a streamlined board so we can optimize for the next several decades, remain light-weight and dynamic, and take bold & calculated risks.
7.) abundant intelligence improvement: invest in building data generation models to make high-quality datasets and RL environments dramatically less expensive and more abundant.
8.) scale data on realism and horizon: realism brings the complexity of the real world into training models, while horizon extends how long models can work and how much complexity they can handle. both have enormous room to scale, and we’re pushing the limits of both.
additionally: after surpassing $500M run rate this summer, we priced our Series B at a $4B valuation, alongside a ~$25M tender to give our early employees liquidity as we build for the long term. the round was led by Dream Ventures, a longtime supporter and one of our earliest investors, alongside Microsoft, Javelin, Flybridge, G Squared, Up Partners, and LG.
we’re also grateful to be backed by incredible industry leaders, including Guodong Zhang (co-founder of xAI), Andy Fang (CTO of DoorDash), Igor Babuschkin (co-founder of xAI), Behnam Neyshabur (founder of Mirendil), Jerry Tworek (ex-VP of Research at OpenAI), and many more.
data is on its way to becoming the largest industry humanity has ever seen, and we're certain this is just the beginning.
best,
Ali
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Opus 5.5 in Fast Mode is the most insane model experience.
I am surprised that the timeline is not mentioning this.
It is *faster* than OAI’s 6.1 Sol Ultra-Fast mode, roughly the same price, and everything just… works.
I am surprised that the timeline is not mentioning this.
It is *faster* than OAI’s 6.1 Sol Ultra-Fast mode, roughly the same price, and everything just… works.
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One of the highest ROI purchases I’ve ever made
How much would you pay for another 45 mins/night worth of sleep?
How much would you pay for another 45 mins/night worth of sleep?
Sleeping on the Orion is like flipping your pillow to find “the cool side,” except that your whole entire bed is the cool side.
spr.ly/6012BGnvoK
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Let’s not get it twisted: This was a stupid thing to say but it is WAY dumber to use this singular clip to materially color your view of Doug.
He is a Michael Jordan level performer who helped forge the single greatest institution in the entire asset class.
He is a Michael Jordan level performer who helped forge the single greatest institution in the entire asset class.
Sequoia partner Doug Leone reveals he got a root canal with no Novocaine to see if he was really a badass
"I had to get a root canal. And I had to go to a meeting right after that. I told the dentist, drill without any Novocaine.”
“My whole life, I wanted to see if I was a ake badass that has this envelope nobody could tell, or am I really a badass on the inside?"
"He drilled and I jumped. And I told the dentist, I won't move again. And I didn't move again. I used the trick of thinking what it must be like to go to war and lose an arm or two legs. That's pain with consequences. Mine was pain with no consequences."
“It’s just nerve endings from there to my brain to my spine, f*ck it I’m not moving.”
"I had to go home and change my shirt because I was a puddle of sweat. But I didn't move. And so I love fear. It does wonders for me."
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The most interesting insight lurking on bootstrapped agency-bro twitter back in 2022-2023 was that you can build an exceptional business even if have a commodity product in a fairly aware market
... if you just do a phenomenal job documenting your case studies
... if you just do a phenomenal job documenting your case studies
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I still think the biggest businesses are when you introduced an unaware market to a genuinely better product, nail documenting your case studies, and use the excess cash to innovate on:
distribution channels,
COGS,
AOV,
and fulfillment on value prop (Product + CS)
distribution channels,
COGS,
AOV,
and fulfillment on value prop (Product + CS)
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Another completely overlooked is:
I completely underestimated how dramatically going "multi-product", with a paid lead magnet, even if the smaller product is an e-book or an affiliate code -- can completely change the maximum growth velocity of a subscription business / usage business.
Selling trinkets to cover your upfront CAC so you have no payback period is just something I don't think I've heard anybody in Silicon Valley ever consider (and why would they when venture funding is abundant)
(kudos to my good friend @thecopyroad)
I completely underestimated how dramatically going "multi-product", with a paid lead magnet, even if the smaller product is an e-book or an affiliate code -- can completely change the maximum growth velocity of a subscription business / usage business.
Selling trinkets to cover your upfront CAC so you have no payback period is just something I don't think I've heard anybody in Silicon Valley ever consider (and why would they when venture funding is abundant)
(kudos to my good friend @thecopyroad)
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Nate + Crownlands put together an absolutely remarkable achievement that will materially speed up the pace in which we can solve brain diseases.
I cannot articulate enough how big I believe this will be.
(This is not paid, I fucking love and believe in Nate so much)
I cannot articulate enough how big I believe this will be.
(This is not paid, I fucking love and believe in Nate so much)
Human biology matters. Scientists and AI need human data to understand health and disease.
Crownlands is open sourcing Gateway 4M, the largest single-cell tissue dataset ever released from living humans, to advance research on brain aging and neurodegeneration.
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1/ We’ve raised over $1B at a $26B valuation, led by @Lux_Capital, @generalcatalyst, and @8vc.
Our enterprise usage has grown >10x since the start of this year, and our run-rate revenue grew to $492 M.
We launched Devin two years ago as the first AI software engineer. Since thene from niche to mainstream, and today they are the fastest growing way to create software.
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Being serious:
Does this immigration policy mean that if I want to marry my Canadian girlfriend, she will have to leave the country for up to two years in order for her to become a citizen?
Am I missing something?
Does this immigration policy mean that if I want to marry my Canadian girlfriend, she will have to leave the country for up to two years in order for her to become a citizen?
Am I missing something?
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What’s remarkable about Adam and Dean is they not only have built a remarkable business and product…
But they did so in *the absolute hardest customer cohort imaginable*
Absolute killers.
But they did so in *the absolute hardest customer cohort imaginable*
Absolute killers.
Introducing Grader: the world's first AI CMO for restaurants.
It’s helped us drive over $1 BILLION in sales for our customers.
Grader outperforms human marketing teams. See how:
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I've spent an enormous amount of time turning my entire business into something I can type into the command line and my business life has basically become a video game.
Do not compete with an ADHDer who has found a way to make the work fun. You will lose.
While you are relying on finite resources like "discipline" and "willpower," they are running on raw, renewable dopamine.
It is not "productivity" anymore. It is a compulsion. They will work for 14 hours straight simply because they forgot how to stop.
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My buddy Josh is 31 with a biological age of 16.
People IRL constantly assume he is 21-22 years old.
@bryan_johnson he's coming for your crown.
People IRL constantly assume he is 21-22 years old.
@bryan_johnson he's coming for your crown.
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Any time my agent uses an MCP instead of an API it messes it up 60+% of the time
MCP is the dumbest most unnecessary invention of all time why do people not use APIs
I do not understand
MCP is the dumbest most unnecessary invention of all time why do people not use APIs
I do not understand
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Set up a digital ocean droplet, install coding agent (Droid/CC/Codex) on it, then connect to it via Termius on your phone.
Install GitHub CLI, AWS/GCP CLI, add Postgres credentials to the agents md file and the CLI tool you use to deploy sites (Netlify/Vercel).
Install GitHub CLI, AWS/GCP CLI, add Postgres credentials to the agents md file and the CLI tool you use to deploy sites (Netlify/Vercel).
Wish I could vibe code in bed with Claude Code instead of doom scrolling - what’s the best option to do this?
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