Building in Public
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The Atoms Are Already Deployed
Cloud AI sells itself as a software business. Underneath the API sits the largest industrial buildout in the history of computing, and you are paying the depreciation by the token. The hardware that matters is already on your desk.
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One server, every device, yours
Whelk is out. One server on hardware you own, a native client on every device you carry, and a room full of people running AI without a meter.
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The Depreciating Asset
Most AI products invest in the part of the stack that loses value fastest. The model is the wasting asset. The interface, the coordination layer, and the trust properties of where inference runs are what compound.
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Radical Uncertainty Is the Job
Most advice about building a company is the answer to a puzzle. The hardest parts were never puzzles. They are mysteries, and more data does not settle them. Make changing your mind cheap, and bring judgment to the rest.
Building in Public · 4 min -
The Marginal Return of Intelligence (And the Marginal Return to It)
People ask how I plan to build more than one company at once. The question assumes intelligence is still scarce. It is cheap now, and judgment is not. Two curves explain the gap, and most people fold them into one.
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The Builder’s Bet
I’ve spent 15+ years building things inside other people’s companies. This week I started building one of my own. It’s called Aqen.ai. You bring the idea. Aqen brings everything else.
Building in Public · 4 min -
I Trained a Small Language Model on My City’s Government Documents
A city council packet runs 400 pages, and the people it affects most read it least. I spent a few Friday nights training a small open model to read local government documents. It trains and runs on one Mac.
Building in Public · 6 min -
I Vibe Coded a Civic Tool
Everyone is vibe coding the next todo app. I vibe coded a speed trap for my neighborhood. Slow Them Down estimates car speeds from a phone video, so residents can bring data to their city. The tools are not the problem. Purpose is.
Building in Public · 6 min -
Can AI Solve the Four Burner Problem?
The Four Burner Theory says success means turning off family, friends, health, or work. I have lived it. AI may be the first technology that changes the math: more gas for every burner, not a better way to ration it.
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Awe in an AI World
The talk about AI swings between hype and dread. I am stuck on something simpler: people are about to get a lot of their time back. The awe is in watching them rediscover what they are good at.