sam lessin 🏴‍☠️

A bunch of people have written me back saying this was the best newsletter I have ever sent (flattering) ... so here it is for those who don't subscribe: AI Is Not a Labor Crisis. It Is a Meaning Crisis.

The death of SaaS narrative -- my big 'viral' call on it was Sept, 2024 -- but what is soo cool about having all my content wired up into claude is tracing the lineage of the thinking back to 2017.

sorry i meant 2.5 years ago! time flys!

Jonah at buzzfeed did this same thing 18 months ago with his penny stock - ahead of his time ...

Claude analysis of my twitter history from 2007-2026... pretty interesting analysis TBH

@knycksutherland with true legitimate love and respect for drew...

Could you make a shadow App Store distributing source code and letting people deploy it themselves like this?

It is INSANE how hard the CAPTCHAS have become -- took at least 5 minutes and legit hurt my brain to get thru github signup for my kid yesterday (1) they must have an enormous bot problem (2) as AI gets better "test of humanity" become impossible

@D_Twitt3r in xcode build

@lessin What do you mean CMD-R it into your phone? That’s simply the shortcut for refresh. Are you just building it on desktop then, using it as a web app on your phone? Is that how you get around Test Flight?

Now i am just rolling the apps i want just for myself / i don't even care about TestFlight anymore or app review (the bad parts) - just make what i need for myself and command-r it onto my phone. done. wild future we live in.

@jordanvanhemert no real apps / swift

@lessin Are these web apps?

@Jessicalessin @zeroXmusashi @theinformation what i actually want is a separate "TI deep research" app where i can chat with the informaiton about the news in a thread ... and maybe a dedicated TITV streaming app... both exceedingly easy to make now

@zeroXmusashi @lessin @theinformation Yes and yes. Next version of the app underway already

Here is a summary of the set of emails / notes people replied to me with and key points... pretty interesting ...

... oh and if you want to read not as screenshots ... wlessin.com/meaning

A bunch of people have written me back saying this was the best newsletter I have ever sent (flattering) ... so here it is for those who don't subscribe: AI Is Not a Labor Crisis. It Is a Meaning Crisis.

Enjoyed this book...

Alpha School for Dogs.... instant billion dollar company.

Claude's response

”Cognitive Shaving” / Debasement is the new Ad-Load Dial -- If Your Quarter is Light?… Just be a 0.1% dumber, or spend 0.1% more tokens — whatever you need to hit your goal.

i agree with basically 100% of this / handle writing and the HT - my only real concern is that while totally doable at a personal level... for many -- i think fining passions like this and taking meaning from it tho as a life framework is harder to do then people realize tho / i don't think it scales well to billions of people -- it isn't retail

@lessin @camp4 shoutout. Your posts inspired this piece

@jeremysliew .. actually my college application essay was about the search for purpose and place ;)

Remember when you were in high school and you didn't worry yet about making a living or having meaning. Did you have hobbies that brought you joy? Did you play a sport for the fun of it, knowing that you were not the best in the world, or the country, or the city, or even the school? Did you read or play games or watch TV or hang out at the food court for fun? In a post abundance world, why can't that freedom to do what moves you be forever? And for some that might mean pushing the boundaries of science or creating new art or starting a business, but it doesn't have to be for everyone

@GeorgeKao i find it ai personally deeply joyful ... but i also find our civilization joyful / like it - and don't want to see it fall apart!

Very thoughtful newsletter with a lot of issues to explore. It seems to me that meaning will always be a problem for the unwilling. Those who are willing, will find Ai as a joyful tool for entrepreneurship and community building, two healthy sources of meaning.

@mokoyfman @NickKristof mo you know that is joe a compliment right?

@NickKristof Are you retarded?

The Trump administration seems to have miscalculated in Islamabad, assuming that Iran was weakened and ready to cave, when in fact it feels it has the upper hand. It's difficult to reach an agreement when both sides feel they have the advantage and are prone to overreach. And now Trump seems inclined to miscalculate again, assuming that blockading the Strait will force Iran to capitulate. That seems very unlikely. It's true that a blockade will put economic pressure on Tehran and on China, which in turn can put pressure on Iran. But with zero oil passing through the Strait, rising oil prices are likely to put even more pressure on Trump. Iran, as a dictatorship, simply has more strategic patience, and in addition there are many in Tehran who believe that Iran has to do more to reestablish deterrence and make the US pay a price. If the US blocks Iranian oil exports, expect Iran in turn to keep striking Fujairah, to keep the UAE from by passing the Strait by pipeline, and also to target Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline carrying oil to the Red Sea. And the Houthis are likely to counter-escalate by blocking oil exports through the Bab al-Mandab Strait as well. And that's not even counting possible strikes on oil refineries in the region. In short, I think Trump's escalation plans are once again characterized by magical thinking, false assumptions of Iranian weakness and a failure to think ahead about how Iran may respond to his moves. For Trump to escalate at this point will be a sign not of strength but of desperation, and counter to American and world interests.