It’s unfortunate that he doesn’t actually delve into new strategies.
Anyone know of any actually good articles on plausible AI startup strategies?
In past disruptions the startups could all have similar playbooks because one strategy was applicable everywhere: "do X, but on {web,mobile}". Now there's no common strategy that applies to all markets because the incumbents are already integrating AI more rapidly than you'll be able to bootstrap a whole product. This means that each startup needs a strategy that is tailored to the specific incumbent they're trying to unseat.
I would argue that they do in some ways. For example, with AI it's not about adopting vs. not adopting AI, but rather degree of adoption.
It's easy to superficially integrate AI, but creating a competitive product predicated on post-AI assumptions requires rebuilding it from the ground up, which is not in the rational self-interest of incumbents.
In fact, this is even harder than the decision whether or not to adopt new technologies because with AI you can fool yourself into thinking you've gone far enough.
AI is such a game-changer that we have no idea what 'far enough' means yet. So the best we can do is run in that direction as fast as possible, which is hard to do with the baggage of an existing business. Startups are uniquely suited to this because they arebets on a different future.
That said, it is a fantastic article -- Jason always puts out insightful, high quality writing.
And I agree with your push-back on that. Indeed, perhaps when a startup is able to say "ahh, but HERE Disruption CAN work because...", that's where a good strategy can emerge.