Joey DeBruin
@joeydebruin
Helping communities build public knowledge online. Founder @withBackdrop. Past/current product/advisory roles @Benchling @ResearchGate @Forefront__ @SeedClub
Joey DeBruin
It's time to invent the GPS for the internet.
Oliver Hunt • Page Not Found
hypothesis:
1. work feels bad (unmotivating, boring, hard) when we lack of focus
2. focus is upstream of energy, flow, fulfillment, progress, feedback loops
what's upstream of focus?
attention (presence) paired w/ agency (when our abilities and beliefs match our context) Show more
Building 0-1 and Focus
The federal regulation of foundations didn’t mean the death of idea machines, however. It just meant that that foundations were no longer the best place to house them. It’d be like if the government decided to heavily regulate Delaware C Corps: if it were bad enough, founders would stop using them for startups, but they’d eventually find some other... See more
Nadia Asparouhova • Idea Machines
just as in physical territory, online territory starts out as default autocratic, then only can become democratic through revolt, revolution, and reform.
every.to • Twitter as a City-State
DAOs are networks that are defined by nodes and links, corresponding to people and relationships.
Oliver Hunt • DAOs as novelty search engines
Software is expensive to create. You have to pay people to create it, maintain it, and distribute it. Because software is expensive to create, it has to make money. And we pay for it–software licenses, SaaS, per seat pricing, etc. Software margins have historically been an architectural envy–90+% margins and zero marginal cost of distribution.
Software is expensive because developers are expensive. They are skilled translators–they translate human language into computer language and vice-versa. LLMs have proven themselves to be remarkably efficient at this and will drive the cost of creating software to zero. What happens when software no longer has to make money? We will experience a Cambrian explosion of software, the same way we did with content.
I expect that effective altruism will always be an example of what I’ve called “club” communities elsewhere: high retention of existing members, but limited acquisition of new members, like a hobbyist club. EA will continue to grow, but it will never become the dominant narrative because it’s so morally opinionated. I don’t think that’s a problem, ... See more
Nadia Asparouhova • Idea Machines
What we need is the YC of talent identification and encouragement. We either need Thiel to step up and 100x his fellowship, or a 100 other billionaires to step up and stop whining about talent.
Rohit Krishnan • On Medici and Thiel
A genuine interest in something is a very powerful motivator — for some people, the most powerful motivator of all. [3] Which is why it's what Jessica and I look for in founders.