subj
harsh vibes!
AI coding tools traffic collapsed 76% in 12 weeks.
10,000 startups got prototypes working, then 57% hit the complexity wall. That's a $400M-$4B rebuild market nobody's talking about.
Base44 spiked 950% in May, then crashed to 95% by October.
Lovable went from +207% to -37%.
Cursor dropped from +62% to -19%.
The pattern was identical across every AI coding platform.
Massive adoption surge, then 60-80% user decay within three months.
These tools made it easy to build prototypes fast.
But integration, governance, security, and reliability stayed hard.
The average user tried for 12 weeks, hit the wall, and churned.
Most founders who went all-in on "vibe coding" is now paying the rebuild tax.
They got an MVP up.
Found traction, raised a pre-seed, or onboarded early customers.
Then everything broke when real users showed up.
Now they're spending $200-300K hiring senior engineers
to re-architect everything.
Multiply that across thousands of teams.
Hundreds of millions in wasted spend.
Everyone could suddenly build something.
Now everyone's learning what it costs to make it actually work.
This is a market correction.
You can't outsource architecture to autocomplete.
System design
Error handling
Deployment, compliance.
All the unsexy stuff that keeps products alive
multiplies the need for engineers.
The gold rush now is rescuing companies that got stuck
with working demos they can't scale.
If 10,000 startups experimented
say 8,000 will need help getting unstuck.
With budgets between $50K and $500K each.
That's the real market AI coding created
The money's in the valley of this chart.
10,000 startups got prototypes working, then 57% hit the complexity wall. That's a $400M-$4B rebuild market nobody's talking about.
Base44 spiked 950% in May, then crashed to 95% by October.
Lovable went from +207% to -37%.
Cursor dropped from +62% to -19%.
The pattern was identical across every AI coding platform.
Massive adoption surge, then 60-80% user decay within three months.
These tools made it easy to build prototypes fast.
But integration, governance, security, and reliability stayed hard.
The average user tried for 12 weeks, hit the wall, and churned.
Most founders who went all-in on "vibe coding" is now paying the rebuild tax.
They got an MVP up.
Found traction, raised a pre-seed, or onboarded early customers.
Then everything broke when real users showed up.
Now they're spending $200-300K hiring senior engineers
to re-architect everything.
Multiply that across thousands of teams.
Hundreds of millions in wasted spend.
Everyone could suddenly build something.
Now everyone's learning what it costs to make it actually work.
This is a market correction.
You can't outsource architecture to autocomplete.
System design
Error handling
Deployment, compliance.
All the unsexy stuff that keeps products alive
multiplies the need for engineers.
The gold rush now is rescuing companies that got stuck
with working demos they can't scale.
If 10,000 startups experimented
say 8,000 will need help getting unstuck.
With budgets between $50K and $500K each.
That's the real market AI coding created
The money's in the valley of this chart.
More Emails to the World
subj
Harvard Business Review revealed what drives promotions
It's *not* just about who you know.
It's about 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶.
Public speaking builds that visibility fast.
9 tactics to own any room:
< WHAT YOU SAY >
1. 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 3
Our brains love triads.
Problem, solution, result.
Setup, conflict, resolution.
Three points stick.
2. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐡*𝐭 𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭
Drop something unexpected early.
"We almost lost our biggest client.
Here's what saved us."
Now they're listening.
3. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 2-𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
Start with something personal.
That project that went sideways.
The lesson that changed everything.
Stories beat slides every time.
4. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤
End where you began.
Circle back to your opening.
Creates satisfying closure.
People remember the loop.
5. 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞
After your biggest point?
Stop. Count to three.
Let it land.
Silence creates power.
< HOW YOU SAY IT >
6. 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐭
Shoulder-width. Balanced.
No swaying. No shifting.
Stillness projects confidence
when your mind races.
7. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 5-5-5 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞
Lock eyes with 5 people.
Hold for 5 seconds each.
In your first 5 minutes.
You're conversing, not presenting.
8. 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠
Don't stare at the back wall.
Sweep the room systematically.
Left to right. Back again.
Everyone feels included.
9. 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐬
Open hands when explaining.
Hidden hands trigger distrust.
Biology is weird like that.
Doing great work isn't enough.
Recognition requires visibility.
Next opportunity to speak?
Raise your hand. Your career will thank you.
It's about 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶.
Public speaking builds that visibility fast.
9 tactics to own any room:
< WHAT YOU SAY >
1. 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 3
Our brains love triads.
Problem, solution, result.
Setup, conflict, resolution.
Three points stick.
2. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐡*𝐭 𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭
Drop something unexpected early.
"We almost lost our biggest client.
Here's what saved us."
Now they're listening.
3. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 2-𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
Start with something personal.
That project that went sideways.
The lesson that changed everything.
Stories beat slides every time.
4. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤
End where you began.
Circle back to your opening.
Creates satisfying closure.
People remember the loop.
5. 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞
After your biggest point?
Stop. Count to three.
Let it land.
Silence creates power.
< HOW YOU SAY IT >
6. 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐭
Shoulder-width. Balanced.
No swaying. No shifting.
Stillness projects confidence
when your mind races.
7. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 5-5-5 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞
Lock eyes with 5 people.
Hold for 5 seconds each.
In your first 5 minutes.
You're conversing, not presenting.
8. 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠
Don't stare at the back wall.
Sweep the room systematically.
Left to right. Back again.
Everyone feels included.
9. 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐬
Open hands when explaining.
Hidden hands trigger distrust.
Biology is weird like that.
Doing great work isn't enough.
Recognition requires visibility.
Next opportunity to speak?
Raise your hand. Your career will thank you.
subj
What would happen if we began building our groups like wild forests again?
We’ve been telling ourselves the wrong story. Modern society has fed us a myth of the individual - independent, rational, competitive. We are raised to see ourselves as autonomous units, responsible for our own success, our own happiness, our own burnout.
But biologically, evolutionarily, existentially - we are not built to stand alone. We are group beings. Flock beings.
"Neurodivergence” today - ADHD, autism, dyslexia - may not be disorders in a functioning system, but functions in a system that has forgotten what it is for. Now I wanted to explore the group itself.
In original communities, there were no diagnoses. There were roles. Someone needed to see what was hidden. Someone needed to sense what was coming. Someone needed to break patterns. Evolutionary processes shaped flocks with different nervous systems - a sensory ecosystem where survival depended on difference, not sameness.
Many of us carry a feeling that cannot be reasoned away: something is missing. Perhaps it’s the flock. In the forest, mycorrhizal fungi form underground networks connecting trees. Without central control, without a “chief fungus.” Just collective intelligence, where the whole optimizes for survival.
What would happen if we began building our groups like wild forests again?
Read the full essay on the group that disappeared:
https://thestartingpoints.substack.com/p/we-were-never-individuals-on-the
But biologically, evolutionarily, existentially - we are not built to stand alone. We are group beings. Flock beings.
"Neurodivergence” today - ADHD, autism, dyslexia - may not be disorders in a functioning system, but functions in a system that has forgotten what it is for. Now I wanted to explore the group itself.
In original communities, there were no diagnoses. There were roles. Someone needed to see what was hidden. Someone needed to sense what was coming. Someone needed to break patterns. Evolutionary processes shaped flocks with different nervous systems - a sensory ecosystem where survival depended on difference, not sameness.
Many of us carry a feeling that cannot be reasoned away: something is missing. Perhaps it’s the flock. In the forest, mycorrhizal fungi form underground networks connecting trees. Without central control, without a “chief fungus.” Just collective intelligence, where the whole optimizes for survival.
What would happen if we began building our groups like wild forests again?
Read the full essay on the group that disappeared:
https://thestartingpoints.substack.com/p/we-were-never-individuals-on-the
subj
I read the book "Hit Makers" and now I feel dumb 🤦♂️
My entire career, I believed that going viral was a chain reaction - one person shares to two, two share to four, and so on.
Nope.
Derek Thompson reverse-engineered viral stuff. Almost every time, one huge account made it "go viral".
❌ Your post doesn't go from 10 → 100 → 1,000 → 100,000 shares.
✅ It actually goes from 10 → MrBeast shares it → 100,000.
That's it.
What we call "viral" is just "broadcast"
This is why your amazing post gets 47 likes while mediocre stuff explodes. It's not about quality. It's about who shares it.
One repost from the right person > everything else 💯
Nope.
Derek Thompson reverse-engineered viral stuff. Almost every time, one huge account made it "go viral".
❌ Your post doesn't go from 10 → 100 → 1,000 → 100,000 shares.
✅ It actually goes from 10 → MrBeast shares it → 100,000.
That's it.
What we call "viral" is just "broadcast"
This is why your amazing post gets 47 likes while mediocre stuff explodes. It's not about quality. It's about who shares it.
One repost from the right person > everything else 💯
subj
test post: Steve Jobs
He'd like EmailtheWorld for sure. It'd be his "One more thing..."
express, not stress