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Right now, product leaders everywhere are planning next year's moonshot projects … that will be the first to get canned when budgets get tight. I know because I've been that product leader. Thankfully given what's happening with AI, the next Bell Labs won't need a cash cow. It'll need a distribution cow. I just published "The New Moonshots" on why bringing development costs down 100X means sustained innovation will come from lean teams with great distribution, not deep pockets. 1. Unlike cash, which gets spent, distribution compounds. Launch products → build distribution → launch more products. (Creators already get this—Mr Beast ships products faster than most Silicon Valley startups.) 2. Being cash-strapped might actually help. Google's endless resources often work against their ability to ship breakthrough products. 3. The "two pizza team" is becoming the "one pizza slice team." AI-augmented indiehackers are pushing the pace to insane levels, and you can bet companies are going to figure out how to get access to that speed. My suggestion to founders and companies is the same advice I’m giving myself. Just work backwards from the ability to ship new products 10X faster than you have been before. However you do it is fine, but the forcing function is what matters at the moment if you want to make sure to get into the right position as this huge wave crashes. https://lnkd.in/gbxW6sdr

I don’t usually do this, but I want to share the update we sent our investors last week. Over the past few months we’ve stumbled onto what feels like the future — developers pushing AI to build products 10 to 100X cheaper. We’re calling them roboagencies, and we’re going all in. If you aren't using AI a LOT to build your MVP, you are wasting a LOT of money. We’ve seen projects originally quoted at $100k get done for 5. But that doesn’t make it easy to do. Every engineer “uses AI” but very few do more than basic stuff in ChatGPT. It’s obvious that the kind of speed and cost savings we’re seeing at the corners of the internet is the future. So we’re betting the company on helping startups access it today. And we're calling it Robo.

I'd love an intro to a PR/comms person who: - can move at startup speed/cost - can start immediately - is highly networked within startups/tech, ideally AI specifically We are a small, very experienced team with a clear story to tell and a few products to launch. Anyone know someone amazing?

If you know any freelancers/agencies that are using AI a LOT to move faster, I'd love to chat. We've gotten a bunch of demand for this recently, looking to onboard some additional supply. When I say a LOT, I mean that for projects that meet certain criteria (which you should be able to define) you can ship it 5-10X faster than someone not using any AI tools. If you're just using ChatGPT from time to time, it's not a fit. It goes without saying that these clients are wiling to accept the tradeoffs that come with the current state of AI tooling. speed/cost > perfect code speed/cost > fully bespoke design speed/cost > lots of meetings/hand holding Projects range from a $5k MVP from a bootstrapped founder to $50k from a startup looking to build something bigger. The common factor is that they don't want to spend 10X that amount to get it to market. See here for some of our thinking on this https://lnkd.in/gTRGpKfY

Since starting to work on Grids a few months ago I’ve spent 100% of my time in the weeds of how AI will help startups get products built 100X cheaper and faster. My mind is blown on a daily basis —?what I’m learning is just too good not to share. I spend hours a day designing prompt flows, exploring the latest AI code/design tools, working with startups that want to get a product built faster/cheaper, and talking to cyborg developers that use AI to move at lightspeed. That’s what I’ll write about. In this first post I talk about “Wizard of Claude” products and why AI is — counterintuitively — a very ripe opportunity for low/no-code at the moment, despite how many startups seem to think they need an expensive custom solution. https://lnkd.in/eeH-Wp2a I’ll also try and curate interesting things I find. This week: - a great interview with Amjad Masad on the Lightcone Pod - why voice is the simplest way to build a delightful AI product rn (cc Jack Altman ) - Polymet (YC S24) mimicking design review in an AI product

Claremont alumnus Ajay Shah and his company Cytovale recently completed their $100M Series D funding round to help accelerate the commercial expansion of their rapid sepsis solution! This week, Ajay shares his journey from a non-commercial career path to entrepreneurship and his valuable insights for aspiring medtech innovators. We also spotlight the latest Claremont startups that have emerged from stealth and secured funding. It’s a Claremont world out there. ??

Next week is Build v5 launch week —?thousands of builders, all demoing what they've been building and letting us open doors for them Then v6 starts the week after. Builders will return to keep making progress, or join for the first time. The question is ... are you in? https://backdropbuild.com/

People consistently told us we're crazy to run programs with thousands of builders with just a month off in between. "It doesn't scale" "The operational cost is too high" Well, starting now we no longer take any breaks in between at all. Because the best builders want to build on their own terms, and we want to help them do that. Shoutout to the Backdrop Labs team for the hard work it has taken to get here. https://lnkd.in/gWd44GzJ

In v5, Pinecone is challenging builders to create something truly innovative using just $50 of Pinecone credits. What can you do for $50 on Pinecone (hint: a lot)? Dive in and start building: https://lnkd.in/gjw5ugdN Need inspiration? Explore their content library for ideas: https://lnkd.in/ggaiTUss

Less than a week until v5 kicks off and our partner lineup keeps growing! Welcome Ethereum Attestation Service , Resend , Supabase , Zilliz , Runic, and Arcana Network. For an updated list of all the grants, perks, and benefits partners are offering our builders: