Alan Zhu

Do a kickflip!

Moats! Does anyone have one anymore? Yes. Yes, they do. But only a small subset of what people call moats create real long-term value and defensibility. Not actually a moat: 1. Distribution: This does matter more than ever. Building products has gotten easier, but getting them to customers has not. Distribution, however, does not create durable defensibility. It helps create the raw ingredients for one, but it is not itself a moat. 2. Execution: Yes, speed is critical for startups. But a company that has to sprint forever is not a good business. Ultimately, it will misstep, slow down, and competition will catch up. Speed gives a company more shots on goal as it tries to build a great product and a great business, but it must eventually find something more durable. 3. Brand: The idea is that when everyone is building the same thing, the most resonant brand will win. But for startups, brand works more like customer acquisition spend: Put money in, get growth out. It’s not something that will effectively keep others from competing long-term. Brand can become a true moat over time (as with Coke or Nike or Apple), but it just takes too long to really matter for most startups. What you're looking for is compounding advantages: a self-reinforcing flywheel that gets stronger and stronger over time, ultimately making a company very hard to compete with long-term. There are only four compounding advantages that really matter. Every major tech company has at least one: 1. Switching costs: The more deeply embedded a product is in the way a customer works, the harder it is for that customer to switch. This increases retention and revenue per customer, which can be reinvested into the product. 2. Network effects: The more users a product has, the better it gets for everyone. This increases engagement and attracts more users. 3. Scale economies: The more volume a company has, the larger and more efficient its operations can be. This lowers unit costs, funding lower prices or a better product at the same price, further driving up volume. 4. Data effects: The more usage a product has, the more data it generates. This data can be used to improve the product and increase usage. If you can’t see the potential for any in the startup you’re considering joining, that’s a red flag. In today’s incredible post, @danhockenmaier shares a simple framework you can run in about an hour after getting an offer: 1. Identify a startup’s compounding advantage 2. Gauge how strong it could get 3. Measure whether it’s working Inside: dozens of real company examples, the specific metrics to track, and benchmarks for what good and great look like. Read it here: lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-t…

Qualcomm CEO reveals AI companies want phones running 100-billion-parameter models continuously by 2028--and confirms some are building phones Cristiano Amon: “I have to be careful not to disclose names, but some AI companies—some of the companies at the forefront of AI—are telling Qualcomm, ‘By 2028, I need to make sure that I have the ability to run at least a 100-billion-parameter model in a phone, and I need to have this thing running kind of all the time.’” Alex Heath: “So you’re saying there are AI companies that are talking about—” Cristiano Amon: “Well, AI companies are starting to do phones.”

You should be able to use smarter models in your agent. You should be able to use cheaper models in your agent. You should be able to use local models in your agent. You should be able to use a different model for every job. You should be able to switch models in the middle of a conversation. You should be able to choose what data your agent has. You should be able to choose what it remembers and what it forgets. You should be able to choose what computer your agent runs on. You should be able to run it on a machine that never touches the internet. You should be able to run it while your laptop is closed. You should be able to reach it from the apps you already use. You should be able to choose how your agent thinks. You should be able to read the prompt it runs on. You should be able to see every tool it has, and turn off the ones you don't want. You should be able to teach it something once and never explain it again. You should be able to know what it did, and when, and why. You should be able to export your agent. You should be able to read the code. You should be able to change the code. Your agent should be yours.

98% of US households aren't paying for AI yet More charts in State of Markets II: a16z.news/p/state-of-markets…

Opus 5.5 with Openclaw is strangely smarter and better at completing tasks than with GPT-6 Astra Surprising

Muse and Grok Bot proved you don't need the absolute best model to win at AI.

1/ I'm joining @OpenAI to lead Creator Product after over 13 years since starting @Patreon. Coming with me are my favorite crew Drew Rowny and Shannon Ma, Patreon's (now former) Head of Product and Head of Engineering. We're going to build together with Creators at OpenAI and share early access to a new set of tools that I think will be critically valuable to Creators and their communities.