When AI makes building cheap, knowing what's right is the scarce skill.
When AI can crank out code and designs for almost nothing, standing out means refusing to ship anything half-baked.
digitalnative.tech · The Post-Agentic FounderIn its Q2 letter to investors, the startup firm Daybreak recounts a recent question from a former founder. Jared Newman, a writer about startups and technology who wrote the essay for the letter, includes it in a discussion of building companies in an AI world.
A former founder asked the firm: “Why would you ship a half-baked MVP at a moment when it costs minimal effort and minimal time to deliver something truly perfect?”
By MVP, he meant minimum viable product, the rough first version. His point was that rushing out rough versions likely no longer makes sense.
The letter ties that shift to abundance. As models generate more output, identifying what is correct gets harder. To stand out, the letter argues, products should arrive close to flawless.
“This isn’t ‘taste.’ It’s perfectionism,” the letter says. The letter calls the scarce skill “the ability to recognize what is truly correct.”
Questions people ask
What exactly was an MVP?
MVP stands for minimum viable product. It means a rough, early version of a product. The letter refers to shipping a half-baked one.
Why does cheaper building make judgment more valuable?
The letter's argument is that as models generate more output, the ability to recognize what is truly correct becomes scarcer. In other words, making more options makes identifying the right one harder. That identification work is what the letter values.
How is perfectionism different from having good taste?
The letter draws a distinction between the two. It says this is not taste, but perfectionism. It defines the skill as recognizing what is truly correct.