Grateful Not 22 Now
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Sam Parr and Shaan Puri discuss the overwhelming pace of AI innovation and how it's transforming business operations. Sam feels grateful to be in his current position rather than starting out at 22, while Shaan argues that the opportunity set has expanded so dramatically that it's actually easier than ever for young people to succeed.
Sam's Perspective on AI Timing:
- Grateful for Current Position: Very thankful he's not 22 right now despite AI making building easier
- Information Overload: There's so much information and things are happening so fast
- Increased Competition: The competition is way harder now than before
- Need for Specialized Talent: Every company needs multiple AI specialists, not just one
Shaan's Counter-Argument on Opportunity:
- Musical Chairs Analogy:
- Yes, more players entered the game (more competition)
- But the number of chairs increased 50x (massively more opportunities)
- The ratio still favors new entrants
- Expanded Opportunity Set:
- Every single product in every category is up for grabs
- Entirely new categories emerged because of what AI enables
- The multiplier on possible ways to win is huge
- Easier to Build: The ease of building with AI outweighs the increased competition
The Right Mental Frame for AI:
- Don't Try to Be Top 1-10%: Wrong game to play is trying to beat AI geniuses who are technically brilliant and working on it 24/7
- Leverage Existing Skills:
- If you're already top 10% in business, content, or your domain
- Just get to 50th percentile in AI (not that hard)
- It multiplies against all your other skills
- Domain Knowledge + Basic AI: Someone with 10-20 years of industry knowledge who gets "just dangerous enough" with AI has a massive advantage
- Avoid the Comparison Trap: Don't compare yourself to 22-year-olds with plastic brains or people who are technically brilliant and on AI 24/7
Real-World AI Impact Examples:
- Billion Dollar Company Case:
- Created an AI general manager for projects
- Improved customer support with AI
- Made developers more productive
- Eliminated junior programmers who couldn't use AI well
- Result: Doubled profit margin on an already billion-dollar company
- Every Company Needs Multiple AI People: Not just one, but as many as you can have
Sam Parr
Host of MFM and fitness influencer
Sam Parr is a serial entrepreneur and business media pioneer.
In 2016, he founded The Hustle, a business news media company that started in his kitchen with just $12 and grew to eight figures in revenue.
Sam led the charge in making newsletters popular when few believed in their potential.
After four successful years, he sold The Hustle to HubSpot, a publicly traded company. Now operating as HubSpot Media, The Hustle reaches 3 million readers daily, employs a team of nearly 100, and has been the launchpad for dozens of its staff to found their own media companies and newsletters.
Sam remains the host of the popular business podcast, My First Million, and continues to start and sell companies. He also co-founded Hampton, a highly vetted community for entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs, and teaches people to write better through his platform, Copy That.