Joshua wong

Sergey Brin admits Google messed up by under-investing in the transformer architecture it invented Google was too scared to release chatbots that "say dumb things", so it under-invested in scaling compute "we didn't take it very seriously... and openAI ran with it"

At Ramp we ship a new major feature every day - it's impossible for leaders stay up to speed. To keep a high bar without slowing folks down, teams can ship to early access tier whenever they want but need review for general release. Crazy fact: 10% of customers opt into early access because they can't get enough. That's 5000+ businesses. Plenty to work with. To release to general public, teams need to prove this product works and get sign off for heads of eng, product and design. Here is our template: 1. What did we build and why 2. What's the demo in < 3mn (loom) 3. Did we meet our goals in early access (hex dash) 4. Are customers raving about this (LLM on Zendesk tickets, Sprig surveys, and Gong transcripts) 5. Will customers easily discover and start using it (first time user journey) 6. Is sales ready to sell, AM ready to activate, and support ready to troubleshoot 7. Do we have a clear rollout plan (launch tier, pricing, coms) This helps us document decisions, serves as a strong checklist, and feeds our release notes. Most importantly, it keeps the bar high (we expect at least 1 rev of feedback). The best part: most of this template is automated using AI connected to the rest of our business sytems. Leadership has 48h to review or it ships. We think it's a great way to balance speed & empowerment with process and quality.

AI scaling is not plateauing at all

From Ilya’s deposition— • Ilya plotted over a year with Mira to remove Sam • Dario wanted Greg fired and himself in charge of all research • Mira told Ilya that Sam pitted her against Daniela • Ilya wrote a 52 page memo to get Sam fired and a separate doc on Greg

Agency > Intelligence I had this intuitively wrong for decades, I think due to a pervasive cultural veneration of intelligence, various entertainment/media, obsession with IQ etc. Agency is significantly more powerful and significantly more scarce. Are you hiring for agency? Are we educating for agency? Are you acting as if you had 10X agency? Grok explanation is ~close: “Agency, as a personality trait, refers to an individual's capacity to take initiative, make decisions, and exert control over their actions and environment. It’s about being proactive rather than reactive—someone with high agency doesn’t just let life happen to them; they shape it. Think of it as a blend of self-efficacy, determination, and a sense of ownership over one’s path. People with strong agency tend to set goals and pursue them with confidence, even in the face of obstacles. They’re the type to say, “I’ll figure it out,” and then actually do it. On the flip side, someone low in agency might feel more like a passenger in their own life, waiting for external forces—like luck, other people, or circumstances—to dictate what happens next. It’s not quite the same as assertiveness or ambition, though it can overlap. Agency is quieter, more internal—it’s the belief that you *can* act, paired with the will to follow through. Psychologists often tie it to concepts like locus of control: high-agency folks lean toward an internal locus, feeling they steer their fate, while low-agency folks might lean external, seeing life as something that happens *to* them.”

ChatGPT's product retention curves is a product manager's wet dream. Their 1 month retention has skyrocketed from <60% 2yrs ago to an unprecedented ~90%! Youtube was best-in-class with ~85%. 6mo retention is trending to ~80%. Rapidly rising smile curve. Generational product.

Be patient.