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An Archive of the SOS Email Lists.

Are We Truly Prepared for Generative AI?

Are We Truly Prepared for Generative AI?

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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

We’ve been postponing covering ChatGPT as it is still relatively early days, although elements of it – re AI – have been there for quite some time. OpenAI’s ChatGPT is a definite disruptor, even more than Facebook was in its day, when it heralded the Age of Social, but this time, sans Mark Zuckerberg’s ego and/or iron-fisted control. Yet, or as far as we know. But when was the last time we stopped and considered the dystopian side of the shiny new thing before we realized that, say, our privacy and personal data would be gone, perhaps forever, or worse, thanks to, say, a communications assist?

 

As a writer, we will tell you that, while AI may correct our typos, since we key so quickly, great. As for its grammatical suggestions or recommendations for completing a sentence or thought? AI is clearly not an original thinker and is wrong 90+% of the time – without exaggeration. Read More...

The New Year’s Resolutions List for Founders

The New Year’s Resolutions List for Founders

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Image by h kama from Pixabay

We’re not a big fan of best of/worst of lists. Nor are we big on New Year’s resolutions, but not always easy to buck every trend that comes down the pike, so without further ado, nine resolutions founders might want to consider. We didn’t go for 10 as we do understand that even nine is pushing it…

  1. I will listen. It never makes a Top 10 list of why startups fail, but trust us, founders don’t listen. Not that they should listen to every piece of advice that they receive, but nor should they ignore it all. Helpful hint: if you hear the same advice again and again, you know that adage, ‘It’s not you, it’s me?’ In this case, it’s probably you
  2. I will understand that my investor pitch deck is a work in progress. It’s not finished until the round closes. You will change it many times, and may even have to scrap it and start over. No one ever said that this startup thing was easy.
  3. I will compensate all my developers. You’re no doubt compensating your coders somehow. But they’re not the only developers on your team. You need someone to help develop your market – they’re called marketers. Someone to help develop business leads – aka biz dev. People to help you develop the relationships you need to get your business to the next level. These are skills, too – and those developers must also be somehow compensated.
  4. I will do my investor due diligence. Especially in the current climate. Times – and term sheets – have changed. Investors are still writing checks – but there are those who seek to give founders less control and themselves more protection, of course, now that money is tighter. Beware of predatory terms. You may want and need the money, but at what price?
  5. I will get out of my own way. Here are The Most Common Limiting Beliefs of Entrepreneurs and How to Overcome Them
  6. I won’t be seduced by startup porn. You know, those influencers who post on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and give you rosy visions of how easy it is to start a company, work for yourself, you’re in charge. How many of them are running companies or anything besides their mouths? Building a company takes time. Even investors don’t expect an instant ROI. You know the adage: those who can, do. Those who can’t, post.
  7. I will think big. Investors – and successful founders – like big markets. But keep in mind that big rewards start with big risks, and there are going to be a lot of big headaches along the way, too.
  8. I will lose that excess weight this year. Meaning dead weight. Startups need to be lean – even after that initial funding comes in – and if there are those people who don’t seem to be pulling their weight, you need to find out why – were there promises made that weren’t kept, or are they not as committed to the project as you thought they were, or were at the beginning?  And once the funding comes in, don’t over hire. Another big mistake founders make. It’s not the time to put that weight back on.
  9. I will listen We know that we already said this. We’re repeating it – in case you weren’t listening…

And a very happy and productive 2023 to one and all, as we go onward and forward.

And Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year Is…

And Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year Is…

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 Said Merriam-Webster, “In this age of misinformation—of “fake news,” conspiracy theories, Twitter trolls, and deepfakes—gaslighting has emerged as a word for our time.

“…gaslighting is “the act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one’s own advantage.” 2022 saw a 1740% increase in lookups for gaslighting, with high interest throughout the year…Its origins are colorful: the term comes from the title of a 1938 play and the movie based on that play, the plot of which involves a man attempting to make his wife believe that she is going insane. His mysterious activities in the attic cause the house’s gas lights to dim, but he insists to his wife that the lights are not dimming and that she can’t trust her own perceptions.”

In the earlier days of tech and home computing, Apple was the underdog and Microsoft the Evil Empire, and note those were the days of MSFT with founder Bill Gates at the helm. Google took over the ‘evil’ designation, with Apple fanboys still blindly committed to their tech god. Now it seems that Apple Is Tracking You Even When Its Own Privacy Settings Say It’s Not, New Research Says, Gizmodo reported. Read More...

What Founders Can Learn from Drug Dealers

What Founders Can Learn from Drug Dealers

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Disclaimer: we are in no way intimating or outright suggesting that you become purveyors of drugs, legal or otherwise.

We’ve long known that tech can be addictive. When was the last time you left home without your cellphone? Or voluntarily spent a day or more without checking email et al? Read More...

Web 2.5: A Dangerous Crossroads

Web 2.5: A Dangerous Crossroads

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Image by Lisa Johnson from Pixabay

Web 3 is not about to take over any time soon, especially given the damage that FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried have done to reinforced the public’s view that crypto (an element of Web 3) is rife with fraud and no, we have idea why Bankman-Freed isn’t in prison (‘Why aren’t you in jail already?’ Internet erupts after Sam Bankman-Fried confirms participating in New York Times’ DealBook). Yet according to MSN, We’re Witnessing the End of Social Media, and while the Age of Social was supposedly about ‘connecting,’ it has mostly been responsible for the disconnections that have been going on between people and groups.

So, we seem to be in a strange tech stasis: a no man’s land between the last and the next phase of tech.

Even FAANG – Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google stocks – isn’t FAANG anymore

Now it’s MAMAA – Meta Platforms FB, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple – although we propose MAMMAA, and although not stock related, Musk definitely belongs in the cabal mix and make no mistake about it: The Web 2 cabal is still alive and kicking – and not about to surrender their lead positions to the so-called next iteration of tech and yet a new crop of tech wunderkinds any time soon. Read More...

Holiday List for Founders: The Laws that Drive Success in Technology

Holiday List for Founders: The Laws that Drive Success in Technology

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Image by Mary Pahlke from Pixabay

Thanksgiving kicks off the holiday season and while tech never rests, those people on the money side of the table, be they potential investors, partners, or clients, do tend to slow down/take longer to make a decision or even take meetings.

As we well know, there’s little rest for the startup side of the equation, but here’s some not-necessarily-light holiday reading, the list courtesy of CBInsights, who asks, “What separates success from failure? These 11 laws contain some of the most influential ideas that the biggest tech companies use to run their operations, design business models, and build products.

Some, like Moore’s Law, have been extremely prescient. Others, like Conway’s Law, provide counterintuitive insights — such as why Microsoft sells Xbox consoles at a loss, or how Facebook became one of the most valuable companies in the world by offering a free service.” Read More...

Everything You’ve Been Told About Tech May Be Wrong

Everything You’ve Been Told About Tech May Be Wrong

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Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

At the dawn of the Age of Social, tech bros built promised the world  goodness and light – to bring the world closer together; to give everyone a voice – built walled gardens, amassed billions of users, made themselves more or less the only game in town and became a vital part of life. Which made them too big to fail.

Or so we’d been told. Often.

Yet by the end of September, Facebook’s Meta Lost Two-Thirds of Market Cap Value From 2021, NewsMax reported. Mark Zuckerberg Admits He ‘Got It Wrong’ as Meta Lays Off 11,000 Employees. At Least He Signed His Name. Twitter laid off 7500 employees – but at least Zuckerberg signed his name??? Which will no doubt make all the difference, especially once the benefits run out. Read More...

The Demise of Web 2.0: Ignoring Product-Market Fit

The Demise of Web 2.0: Ignoring Product-Market Fit

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Photo by Nicolas Cool on Unsplash

Anyone working on a startup – or an investor deck – knows that one of most important criteria to investors (besides what your company will do to ensure that they’ll see an exit at some point in their lifetime, or at all) is product-market fit, which is especially important at this juncture, given the downturn in the market. Although we will remind you once again that some of the biggest companies emerged during the worst of times.

That said, Big Tech is no more immune to the vagaries of the market and the importance of product-market fit than is anyone else, but one thing that they do have- so far – is deep pockets.

Does that really help? At Alphabet, “Revenue growth slowed to 6% from 41% a year earlier as the company contends with a continued downdraft in online ad spending,” said CNBC. It had missed analysts’ expectations. “CEO Sundar Pichai said in the statement that the company is “sharpening our focus on a clear set of product and business priorities,” while Ruth Porat, the finance chief, said “we’re working to realign resources to fuel our highest growth priorities.” So, does that mean so much for moonshots et al and, instead, sharpening the focus on what people do want, rather than what the company feels that they might or should want? Read More...

This Is Meta Frightening

This Is Meta Frightening

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Photo by James Yarema on Unsplash

If you’re wondering why Mark Zuckerberg has poured some $15B into his metaverse project despite seeing ‘no results,’ according to the tech press, we’re wondering why no one pays attention to the man behind the curtain. Following its developer conference, Meta was roundly slammed for not being further along, given the amount of money their Reality Labs received to develop it, to the point where Facebook’s ‘desperate’ metaverse push to build features like avatar legs has Wall Street questioning the company’s future, as Business Insider reported. The publication also asked “How many more warning signs does Mark Zuckerberg need to see before he pulls the plug on his metaverse?”

This just in: At least one big investor is calling for Mark Zuckerberg to throw in the towel on the metaverse, saying Meta ‘lost the confidence of investors’

Or does Zuckerberg see something we don’t? And where did all that money go?

Meta released a new metaverse-friendly headset, and the price tag aside, Meta’s New Headset Will Track Your Eyes for Targeted Ads, Gizmodo reported, coming yet one step closer to reading your mind. “Whether you’re resigned to targeted ads or not, this technology takes data collection to a place we’ve never seen. The Quest Pro isn’t just going to inform Meta about what you say you’re interested in, tracking your eyes and face will give the company unprecedented insight about your emotions.” Read More...