a lot of founders are building businesses on AI costs that might not be real

LLM subscriptions are still subsidized and you’re not paying what it truly costs
you’re paying the “capture the market before IPO” price
and that’s cool until your entire company is built around that assumption
remember when Uber rides used to cost almost nothing and Uber Eats was cheap?
no “service fee” and all that bs
I remember DiDi entering the Chinese market back in 2017
I was riding across Shanghai nearly for free with infinite coupons, but it stopped in 2018
good old “get them hooked and raise the prices” model
same thing will happen with AI
your pricing and your margins are soon to get cooked
all that “we don’t need engineers anymore” thesis is built on token costs that are too good to be true
if you’re building your own business, keep in mind that you’re sitting on a ticking bomb
the real cost shows up later and suddenly you don’t have an AI native company
you have a business model that only worked during someone else’s cash burn
get the most out of it while it lasts
and cover your tail risk silly