TLDR FoundersJanuary 27, 2025

TLDR FOUNDERS 2025-01-27

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01HEADLINES & TRENDS

LESSONS OF FIN FOR AI ASSISTANTS

In 2015, Fin's team tried to build an AI assistant service and found problems that even today's better AI can't fix. While they built good systems for remembering user preferences and checking service quality, they found a basic issue: when you stand between users and real-world services, users blame you for every problem. Even with better AI today, assistant services still face the same basic challenges that made Fin change its business model.

docs.google.com6 min read

IT'S 2025 AND SALESFORCE'S SALES TEAM IS PHONING IT IN

The author shares a poor sales email from Salesforce that shows basic mistakes: it doesn't know they're already customers, uses unprofessional formatting, and offers limited meeting times. This matters because even the biggest software company is sending low-quality sales emails in 2025. The author suggests this happened because Salesforce is using old contact lists, possibly outsourced work, and junior sales staff with little training.

saastr.com4 min read

MORRIS CHANG AND THE ORIGINS OF TSMC

Morris Chang's autobiography details the founding of TSMC, now a leading semiconductor manufacturer. Despite setbacks at Texas Instruments and General Instrument, Chang's vision for a dedicated semiconductor foundry helped create the first major "fabless" company model. Initially dismissed by industry peers, TSMC's success highlights the foresight in Chang's strategies and his pivotal role in shaping the semiconductor landscape.

construction-physics.com29 min read

02STRATEGIES & TACTICS

THE $1M ARR GROWTH PLAYBOOK

In 2013, Ankur Nagpal was just another 24-year-old in New York trying to figure out his startup path. A weekend project to help sell online courses turned into Teachable, but growth was painfully slow - after 18 months, it barely made enough to pay one engineer's salary. Then everything changed. Teachable grew 7x in six months by shifting its message from "course software" to "build your dream business" and leveraging successful creators as evangelists. The piece shares specific tactics that worked, from live workshops that converted 30% of attendees to online summits that brought in thousands of new customers at once.

sillymoney.com5 min read

DISNEY'S $4B BAMTECH ACQUISITION

The story starts with MLB trying to stream baseball games for Ichiro Suzuki's fans. This small project grew into BAMTech, which solved basic streaming problems like showing different content in different regions and keeping videos in sync across devices. Disney bought BAMTech for $4B and used it to build Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu. While Disney's stock price has dropped 15% since launching streaming in 2019, and Netflix's has grown 277%, BAMTech's technology helps Disney get more value from its $100B worth of movies and TV shows.

readtrung.com8 min read

THE LUXURY OF DOING LESS

The writer shares how he now sees taking quiet time as a luxury, unlike five years ago when he would have seen it as wasting time. He points out that while many celebrate being busy and optimizing every minute, true success often comes from having time to think deeply. He explains how he protects his time: keeping his phone on Do Not Disturb, scheduling thinking time each week, and going to bed early.

justinwelsh.me4 min read

03TOOLS & RESOURCES

HORSE BROWER

Alternative browser built for productivity.

browser.horseTool

FAKEDATA (PRODUCT)

FakeData allows you to generate realistic data for testing, development, and simulations.

fakedata-mu.vercel.app

CLIPZAP (PRODUCT)

ClipZap is an AI-powered video tool for automatic clipping, editing, and translation.

clipzap.ai

04MISCELLANEOUS

ISAAC ASIMOV ON CREATIVITY

Asimov explained how people come up with new ideas in a 1959 essay. He said that creativity comes from making unexpected connections between things, like Darwin connecting animal species with Malthus's ideas about population. Asimov believed people need to work alone to be creative because sharing early ideas can be embarrassing. He said groups should be small, relaxed, and free from judgment when people do meet to share ideas.

giacomofalcone.substack.com5 min read

O3, OH MY

OpenAI has unveiled its o3 model, a significant advancement in reasoning with a notable performance on programming and math benchmarks. This model, which uses enhanced reinforcement learning, set a new bar in various tasks, marking a substantial jump from its predecessor, o1. While promising, the rollout emphasized safety, with OpenAI actively inviting researchers for comprehensive testing, highlighting both breakthroughs and the challenge of managing increased compute costs.

thezvi.substack.com31 min read

THE MOMENT AI SURPASSES YOU

The article looks at what happens when AI becomes better than humans at their jobs. It starts with Lee Sedol, a champion Go player who quit after losing to AI in 2016. The author shares how AI can now write articles in his style in seconds, which makes him question his work. The key point is that everyone who creates things will face this moment, and they need to focus on what makes them unique - their human experiences and judgment - rather than just their technical skills.

unknownarts.co6 min read