AI Co‑Founder Disrupts Roadmaps, Makes M&A Obsolete
Are nine-figure acquisitions dead now that five engineers can build an AI co-founder in nine weeks? Gusto CTO Eddie Kim reveals how AI completely destroys traditional product roadmaps. (0:00) Is Gusto Co-Founder their biggest launch? (3:10) Why are CTOs forced back to coding? (5:39) Should founders stop managing and just code? (11:07) What is the "Ralph Wiggum Loop"? (14:19) How do you prevent AI code "slop"? (15:46) How was Gusto Co-Founder born? (17:04) Why did Kim air-gap a Mac Mini for AI? (19:22) How do you solve AI's blank canvas problem? (21:25) Automating the "work before the work" (25:53) Should an AI assistant be unconstrained? (30:49) Does AI kill the product roadmap? (33:15) How do you monetize AI features? (36:30) Build vs Buy: Is M&A dead in the AI era? (41:59) Why is Gusto canceling internal SaaS tools? (44:19) Are AI models actually sticky?
Stripe Bought Privy to Make Stablecoins Solve Real Business Problems
Stablecoins are useless unless they solve actual business problems. Privy CEO Henri Stern reveals why Stripe acquired his company to build dominant global money rails. (0:00) Why are we even building with stablecoins? (0:36) What are Stripe's digital asset accounts? (2:04)...
Bay Area Prices Converge; SF Hot Spots Mislead Scarcity
Narrative violation -- SF real estate is not hot. at least not uniformly. Zillow data shows hot SF neighborhoods are up nearly 10% YoY. But lot of SF neighborhoods are not hot and therefore not experiencing a price surge (yet?). And...
Texas Solar Costs 1/8 of California’s Electricity Price
texas is passing california on solar. and LCOE for new utility-scale solar in Texas is ~$0.04 per kwh. in CA we pay $0.30+ per kwh...
Gusto Hits $1B, Over Half ARR From Non‑Payroll Products
Gusto just crossed $1 billion in revenue. Most interesting data point: 50%+ of ARR now comes from products beyond payroll Got there via product expansion + acquisitions (Mosey, Guideline). The aspiration increasingly looks like an SMB super app. https://t.co/r6Kxw8LpF3
Robinhood Offers Seniors Early Dividend Payouts via Gold
Robinhood's version of "get your paycheck early" for seniors. if you're a retiree and rely on dividends for your income, well, robinhood now gives them to you 1 month early... gated behind gold subscription.
Chime’s AI Agents Redefine Banking and Commerce
What happens when your bank runs on synthetic users and autonomous agents? Dennis Yang reveals how Chime's massive AI deployment is about to fundamentally rewrite consumer commerce. (1:13) Are AI Minions Writing Chime's Code? (3:31) How Is AI Scaling User Research?...
4% Cash Back Beats Banks, US Bank Loses Money
4% cash back is the best. US Bank is losing money on me 🫶 https://t.co/IloFodyJyi
Figure Weighs SPAC Revival for Triple‑dip Gains
Should Figure run a SPAC? “The goal here is to triple dip. We can make money for Figure shareholders on the SPAC economics, we drive more usage on the Figure ecosystem and we get another listing on OPEN.” 🤔 maybe they should...
Stripe’s $1.1B Crypto Deal Wasn’t Too Early
Last week I sat down with Zach Abrams, co-founder of Bridge, which was acquire by Stripe for $1.1 billion in October 2024. At the time, it was the largest crypto acquisition ever, and plenty of people thought they overpaid. But...
USDC Overtakes Tether in Transaction Volume
ICYMI, USDC has blown past tether on transaction volume. don't think most folks realize this...b/c market cap tether is still ahead ($180 vs $80 billion). https://t.co/vrGFM6lnj9
Interest Tax Deduction Undermines Equity, Economists Warn
Interest as tax deductible. So dumb. 98% of economists agree (why subsidize debt over equity?). But everyone else hears this and thinks it’s crazy.
AI Could Automate $13T Mortgage Market, Ditch Advisors
Wealthfront runs 45% EBITDA margins without a single advisor. Now David Fortunato wants to automate the $13 trillion mortgage market. (0:00) Can AI Replace Your Financial Advisor? (1:47) How Close Is Self-Driving Money? (3:59) What Happens to 400K Financial Advisors? (4:43) Is the 1%...
Apple’s Voice Transcription Frustrates Users, Prompting Device Switch
@apple pls fix voice transcription. Your built in stuff sucks. Do better. I spend all day talking to my computer. Then I pick up my phone and I am immediately frustrated. The iPhone does not feel magical. It’s this...
Mexico's Banco Plata: $550M Revenue, 200% YoY Growth
Banco Plata (@bancoplatamx) is Mexico's answer to Nubank. They are crushing it and no one is talking about them. - $550+ million annualized revenue growing >200% YoY - 4 year old company - core product is a credit card (same place Nubank...