I really like the viewpoint and focus on consumers. Something I've been doing lately is making up for gaps in products with things that I make myself (i.e., a Facebook marketplace poster, a meta-knowledge app that handles things a little better than Notion, Evernote, etc.). The goal isn't to monetize these things, it's to fill needs that existing solutions skip. Because the cost of a vibe coding stack (Lovable + Cursor + Supabase in my case) is so affordable, it's actually cheaper than paying subscription fees to the more generic apps (Evernote, Notion, etc.) and it's built around my workflow by design.
Great insight, Jordan. I’m curious. In a pre-ChatGPT world, wouldn’t some of those gaps have led to a standstill? Your FB Marketplace project is fascinating because metaphorically “cleaning out the closet” isn’t something we would say is priority #1, it’s an easy one to procrastinate on. Yet, ChatGPT helped you get started. Sometimes I like to go to ChatGPT and say “Here is a project that I know I need to get started but I just can’t seem to find the motivation to do it. Let’s make a plan.” Feels like in this way, AI is a productivity boost because I sure wasn’t cleaning out the closet previously.
Absolutely! I think it's yet another parallel with electricity and the way it matriculated through everyday life. As an example, the easy transmission and relative precision of electricity (vs steam power) allowed electricity to be used exactly where and when it was needed. This directly led to consumer appliances that dramatically reduced the "cost" of things that weren't necessarily "priority #1". I put cost into quotes because these were largely unpaid jobs (i.e., someone at home would wash clothes and even though it was labor intensive and took a considerable amount of time, it wasn't an actual expense for the home ... other than the person's time). Today, that household calculus of paying for a four figure appliance doesn't even cross anyone's mind--it's viewed as a necessity. I think the same thing is happening with the "unpaid" jobs to be done that AI is now doing ... great conveniences that allow us to cross things off a little further down our daily to-do lists.
I really like the viewpoint and focus on consumers. Something I've been doing lately is making up for gaps in products with things that I make myself (i.e., a Facebook marketplace poster, a meta-knowledge app that handles things a little better than Notion, Evernote, etc.). The goal isn't to monetize these things, it's to fill needs that existing solutions skip. Because the cost of a vibe coding stack (Lovable + Cursor + Supabase in my case) is so affordable, it's actually cheaper than paying subscription fees to the more generic apps (Evernote, Notion, etc.) and it's built around my workflow by design.
Great insight, Jordan. I’m curious. In a pre-ChatGPT world, wouldn’t some of those gaps have led to a standstill? Your FB Marketplace project is fascinating because metaphorically “cleaning out the closet” isn’t something we would say is priority #1, it’s an easy one to procrastinate on. Yet, ChatGPT helped you get started. Sometimes I like to go to ChatGPT and say “Here is a project that I know I need to get started but I just can’t seem to find the motivation to do it. Let’s make a plan.” Feels like in this way, AI is a productivity boost because I sure wasn’t cleaning out the closet previously.
Absolutely! I think it's yet another parallel with electricity and the way it matriculated through everyday life. As an example, the easy transmission and relative precision of electricity (vs steam power) allowed electricity to be used exactly where and when it was needed. This directly led to consumer appliances that dramatically reduced the "cost" of things that weren't necessarily "priority #1". I put cost into quotes because these were largely unpaid jobs (i.e., someone at home would wash clothes and even though it was labor intensive and took a considerable amount of time, it wasn't an actual expense for the home ... other than the person's time). Today, that household calculus of paying for a four figure appliance doesn't even cross anyone's mind--it's viewed as a necessity. I think the same thing is happening with the "unpaid" jobs to be done that AI is now doing ... great conveniences that allow us to cross things off a little further down our daily to-do lists.