Jonathan Mills Patrick

AI destroyed virtually every moat. Except one. In a world where everyone has the same tools, it’s GTM strategies that are the final moat.

This past week was incredibly busy. So, I haven't been able to write as much. This morning I had about a two hour block to write. Instantly my brain quieted down and I was at peace. When you find something like that, fight for it, don't let it go.

@juliapintar My engagement there is 10x that of X, with the same content.

I hate to admit it but LinkedIn does actually work really well

What's the difference between Coinbase and banks? Both can hold your money (deposits) and both lend money (credit cards w/ rewards, unsecured loans, and now mortgages). We are in a new financial services world.

Plumbing is popular right now. But, trade businesses aren't the only reason. I've seen billion-dollar ideas die because the founder forgets the "plumbing." I'm not talking about infrastructure or APIs. Your plumbing, the thing that keeps your growth engine humming, is your GTM strategy. One of the things your GTM strategy has to avoid is "death switches." What's an example? Chasing after TAM versus TRM. Not understanding your ICP at an intimate level. Zero differentiation. A lack of a true USP. If your growth is sputtering, you've hit a death switch.

@Peter_Soida Substack? Beehiiv?

@jonathanpatrick We’ve seen demand from writers who don’t want to “play the Twitter game” but still want distribution. Current platforms optimize for short-form or existing audiences - not for discovering new long-form thinkers.

Hi, I’m Peter! Building a “YouTube for text” Launching next month Might not work, we’ll see

@karpathy Also seeing this. My recurring “Chief of Staff” morning report regularly resurfaces old context. The only solution I’ve found is starting a fresh agent.

One common issue with personalization in all LLMs is how distracting memory seems to be for the models. A single question from 2 months ago about some topic can keep coming up as some kind of a deep interest of mine with undue mentions in perpetuity. Some kind of trying too hard.

@sankitdev I like this. Just might do it with my next book - currently writing.

Startup idea 💡 Dark mode books.

@pcshipp Competition means demand exists. Execution is your best moat.

Hey devs, I’m stuck. I’m building a SaaS..but I just found someone building the same thing. Should I quit?

When, not if. Yesterday's House Financial Services Committee hearing ending with a bipartisan consensus around tokenized securities: when, not if. By all appearances the infrastructure is ready. But, the legal concepts aren't fully established. What we are seeing is a push to find middle ground regarding tokenized money. Ex. the proposed ban on passive stablecoin yield favors banks. But it allows activity-based rewards, which favors crypto. If you are planning for your banks response, expect this "finding of a middle ground" to be the likely outcome.

@via_marketing_ I’m hopeful the latter.

@jonathanpatrick The regulatory moat just got deeper. Will this push more innovation offshore or force genuine differentiation?

One issuer, one brand for stablecoins. The OCC is leaning towards a white-label ban to prevent "contagion" across multi-brand stablecoin agreements. If affirmed, the move will effectively strangle the ability to rent a bank's brand and license. From a GTM view, this means that building a tokenized money strategy on "rented land" isn't just dangerous, its not possible. Banks can partner with fintech, but they can no longer be "behind-the-scenes," they must be the face.

I've had the concept for a newsletter & podcast that I've wanted to pursue for a decade. Tonight I decided to start moving in that direction. In 30 minutes I had it all setup. The barrier to starting a venture is near 0. What's holding you back?

True validation = An exchange of value. If they won't pay (or commit skin in the game), it’s not validated. When you have a stack of those exchanges, you finally have something worth building. 🚀

It’s not: • Free users • Beta signups • Pitch competition wins • GitHub repo stars A "like" or an email isn't validation. It’s cost-free and baseless.

The most impactful step in a product launch? Ideation → Validation → Build → GTM Ideas and tooling (especially with AI) are now commoditized. Don't build until you have a validated product. One that customers are begging to buy. How do you know you're there?

@TTrimoreau This isn’t a hot take, it’s fact. In a world where everyone has the same tooling, it’s go-to-market strategies that will make companies stand out.

Hot take Your product isn’t the problem… your distribution is.

Wonderful article. I disagree, slightly, about primacy. Younger generations have upwards of 30 financial accounts. They are used to disparate management of their money. That said, you nailed it with the “daily plumbing.” You have to be able to handle that to be a bank. Deposits and loans still rule the day.

@rrhoover This is a really good callout. Less so for consumers, I don’t know of many that stop and think about the ToS, but definitely for enterprises.

The hardest part of being an early adopter in this generation of tech: accepting privacy and security risk