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It is insane I have to say this, but this quite literally is the best time ever to start a startup. The sheer leverage that AI provides founders today is simpl

It is insane I have to say this, but this quite literally is the best time ever to start a startup. The sheer leverage that AI provides founders today is simply astounding. I have leveraged AI tools to build things I would never have been able to build just several years ago. The case in point would be it is now extremely easy to create Chrome plugins that automate aspects of my business simply by asking Claude to do so. Another example I can point to is the use of GPT to create documentation for government tenders. Many of these tenders need supporting documents that, quite frankly, I would not have been able to create on my own. Everything from how to create documentation around modern slavery and supply chain audits, to indigenous inclusion. This is stuff they simply don't teach you at university. We are living in a golden age where a solo founder can create so much value on their own. This is not to say I'm not worried for the future, I very much am. I'm worried about an economic routing of the middle class caused by AI taking white-collar jobs...

chrisrickard 2y ago
10% agree Marcus!
- schappim 2y ago
  Only 10%?
  - kevindamm 2y ago
    Maybe the other 90% is already spoken for, by investors and shareholders?
mezod 2y ago
great take, do you mind to elaborate on the last point? :)
- schappim 2y ago
  By way of background, we sell STEM electronics hardware that has really low margin because it's designed to be excessively priced for education. This need to be extremely efficient has caused us to do all sorts of things, like create shipping and fulfillment robots that pick products from the shelf and help our pickers and packers out[1]. I found that it's a lot harder to do things with atoms than just software. As a company, we have been able to automate a bunch of work that would have been previously done by an office admin. I believe this style of white-collar jobs is particularly vulnerable to automation. I have two main concerns. One is that the folks with white-collar jobs that would buy our products will no longer have the economic means to do so. The second is, well, a lot of our products are STEM-based, and I'm worried that educators will no longer feel the need to teach coding and electronics, because in the future there may be the view that such work will simply be done by machines, and all what a student really needs to be able to learn to do is learn how to communicate in a clear manner using english... 1. https://raspberry.piaustralia.com.au/pages/the-raspberry-pi-that-ships-other-raspberry-pis https://raspberry.piaustralia.com.au/pages/the-raspberry-pi-...
  - fuzzfactor 2y ago
    >designed to be excessively priced for education. Do you mean accessibly priced?
    - schappim 2y ago
      A price low enough to be within reach of edu customers, without sacrificing value or quality. This is achieved by reducing margins, and when you reduce margins, as a business you have to do more with less.
      - fuzzfactor 2y ago
        >A price low enough to be within reach of edu customers, That's what I thought, so do not say excessively since that would mean overpriced because it is excessive. Accessively sounds like almost the same word but means something can be easily accessed, is more within reach or "not high priced". Perhaps the best wording might be "affordable" for edu customers.

chrisrickard 2y ago

10% agree Marcus!

schappim 2y ago
Only 10%?
- kevindamm 2y ago
  Maybe the other 90% is already spoken for, by investors and shareholders?

mezod 2y ago

great take, do you mind to elaborate on the last point? :)

schappim 2y ago
By way of background, we sell STEM electronics hardware that has really low margin because it's designed to be excessively priced for education. This need to be extremely efficient has caused us to do all sorts of things, like create shipping and fulfillment robots that pick products from the shelf and help our pickers and packers out[1]. I found that it's a lot harder to do things with atoms than just software. As a company, we have been able to automate a bunch of work that would have been previously done by an office admin. I believe this style of white-collar jobs is particularly vulnerable to automation. I have two main concerns. One is that the folks with white-collar jobs that would buy our products will no longer have the economic means to do so. The second is, well, a lot of our products are STEM-based, and I'm worried that educators will no longer feel the need to teach coding and electronics, because in the future there may be the view that such work will simply be done by machines, and all what a student really needs to be able to learn to do is learn how to communicate in a clear manner using english... 1. https://raspberry.piaustralia.com.au/pages/the-raspberry-pi-that-ships-other-raspberry-pis https://raspberry.piaustralia.com.au/pages/the-raspberry-pi-...
- fuzzfactor 2y ago
  >designed to be excessively priced for education. Do you mean accessibly priced?
  - schappim 2y ago
    A price low enough to be within reach of edu customers, without sacrificing value or quality. This is achieved by reducing margins, and when you reduce margins, as a business you have to do more with less.
    - fuzzfactor 2y ago
      >A price low enough to be within reach of edu customers, That's what I thought, so do not say excessively since that would mean overpriced because it is excessive. Accessively sounds like almost the same word but means something can be easily accessed, is more within reach or "not high priced". Perhaps the best wording might be "affordable" for edu customers.