Philosophy Mondays: Human-AI Collaboration
Today's Philosophy Monday is an important interlude. I want to reveal that I have not been writing the posts in this series entirely by myself. Instead I have been working with Claude, not just for the graphic illustrations, but also for the text. My method has been to write a rough draft and then ask Claude for improvement suggestions. I will expand this collaboration to other intelligences going forward, including open source models such as Llama and DeepSeek. I will also explore other moda...
Intent-based Collaboration Environments
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Web3/Crypto: Why Bother?
One thing that keeps surprising me is how quite a few people see absolutely nothing redeeming in web3 (née crypto). Maybe this is their genuine belief. Maybe it is a reaction to the extreme boosterism of some proponents who present web3 as bringing about a libertarian nirvana. From early on I have tried to provide a more rounded perspective, pointing to both the good and the bad that can come from it as in my talks at the Blockstack Summits. Today, however, I want to attempt to provide a coge...
Philosophy Mondays: Human-AI Collaboration
Today's Philosophy Monday is an important interlude. I want to reveal that I have not been writing the posts in this series entirely by myself. Instead I have been working with Claude, not just for the graphic illustrations, but also for the text. My method has been to write a rough draft and then ask Claude for improvement suggestions. I will expand this collaboration to other intelligences going forward, including open source models such as Llama and DeepSeek. I will also explore other moda...
Intent-based Collaboration Environments
AI Native IDEs for Code, Engineering, Science
Web3/Crypto: Why Bother?
One thing that keeps surprising me is how quite a few people see absolutely nothing redeeming in web3 (née crypto). Maybe this is their genuine belief. Maybe it is a reaction to the extreme boosterism of some proponents who present web3 as bringing about a libertarian nirvana. From early on I have tried to provide a more rounded perspective, pointing to both the good and the bad that can come from it as in my talks at the Blockstack Summits. Today, however, I want to attempt to provide a coge...
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Share Dialog
Share Dialog
When I was an entrepreneur raising money I tended to make a classic mistake: trying to convey all the amazing things we were doing in great detail. This is a terrible strategy. Why? Because too much detail buries the story of your business and also makes your business seem, well, complex. And investors are afraid of complexity.
Imagine for a moment a pitch that describes in great technical detail creating a custom processor, a custom operating system, a new relationship between hardware producer and distributor, and so on. Now contrast this with Steve Jobs introducing the first iPhone. It tells a story that anyone can follow with essentially zero technical knowledge. Now ask yourself which pitch you would invest in.
Does that mean you shouldn’t be prepared to talk about technical details? Not at all. But you want them pulled from you by the audience instead of pushing them. By the way this is just another example of the less is more principle which applies incredibly broadly to communication and in particular when you are selling something. Whether it is a pitch to VCs, an idea for the team or a sale to a customer: tell a simple story that will get attention, then provide detail when it is asked for.
When I was an entrepreneur raising money I tended to make a classic mistake: trying to convey all the amazing things we were doing in great detail. This is a terrible strategy. Why? Because too much detail buries the story of your business and also makes your business seem, well, complex. And investors are afraid of complexity.
Imagine for a moment a pitch that describes in great technical detail creating a custom processor, a custom operating system, a new relationship between hardware producer and distributor, and so on. Now contrast this with Steve Jobs introducing the first iPhone. It tells a story that anyone can follow with essentially zero technical knowledge. Now ask yourself which pitch you would invest in.
Does that mean you shouldn’t be prepared to talk about technical details? Not at all. But you want them pulled from you by the audience instead of pushing them. By the way this is just another example of the less is more principle which applies incredibly broadly to communication and in particular when you are selling something. Whether it is a pitch to VCs, an idea for the team or a sale to a customer: tell a simple story that will get attention, then provide detail when it is asked for.
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