Tag: business strategy

AI Stole My Cheese. And It May Steal It Again in Six Months.


I have been in technology and business for 26 years.

I started when creating a website itself was a skill. Then tools simplified it. PHP changed development. Frameworks reduced development time. Open source changed how we built products. Then came cloud, SaaS and APIs.

Every few years, somebody moved my cheese.

But AI feels different.

AI didn’t just steal my cheese. It seems capable of stealing the next cheese before I even decide where to keep it.

I have been using AI from its early days and watched it move from generic answers to usable content, code, reasoning and now agents that can actually perform tasks.

And I can clearly see gaps in today’s agents.

They struggle with some workflows. They need supervision. Enterprise integrations are messy. Exceptions confuse them.

The entrepreneur in me immediately thinks: “There is a business here.”

Then another voice asks:

“Will this problem still exist six months from now?”

That is something I have never experienced at this intensity in my 26 years of business.

Everyone Is Asking the Same Question

Talk to employees: Will my job survive?

Talk to entrepreneurs: What should I build?

Talk to software companies: What happens when AI can build this itself?

There are plenty of answers—learn AI, reskill, build agents, become AI-first.

But frankly, much of it still feels like writing in the air.

Nobody really knows where the capability line will be two years from now.

That made me realise I may have been asking the wrong question.

Instead of:

“What can I build that AI cannot replace?”

Maybe I should ask:

“What becomes more valuable as AI becomes more capable?”

Don’t Build Around AI’s Weakness

If I build a business around something AI cannot do today, my business depends on AI remaining bad at it.

That is a dangerous moat.

But if I own the customer problem—the workflow, integrations, domain knowledge, exceptions, relationships and operating process—AI becoming better can actually make my business better.

My cost of solving the problem comes down.

That completely changes the equation.

Don’t make AI’s limitation your moat. Make AI’s improvement your leverage.

Maybe I Was Trying to Plant the Wrong Thing

For years, I wanted to build something that lasts.

Something I could plant today and still see standing twenty years later.

AI made me wonder whether that is possible anymore.

Then my own journey gave me an answer.

HTML changed. Development tools changed. PHP changed. Frameworks changed. Infrastructure changed. Cloud changed things again. Now AI is changing almost everything.

But businesses still have customers.

Buildings still need managing. Companies still need moving data between systems. Money still needs collecting. People still need problems solved.

And suddenly it became obvious:

The problem was the tree. Technology was only its leaves.

Leaves are supposed to change.

What Do I Plant Now?

I don’t know where AI will be five years from now.

I don’t think anybody really does.

But I don’t need to find something AI will never change.

I need to find a problem worth owning even if the way we solve it changes five times.

A temporary AI gap might last six months.

Use it.

It brings customers. Customers bring workflows. Workflows bring knowledge. Knowledge creates systems, relationships, distribution and trust.

Those may survive the next model release.

Maybe creating a legacy in the AI era isn’t about building something that never changes.

Maybe it is about building something that knows how to change without losing the problem it exists to solve.

After 26 years of technology repeatedly moving my cheese, perhaps that is the lesson:

AI will keep moving my cheese. My job is not to guard the cheese. It is to own the dairy.

The “Common Enemy Effect” in Founder Relationships


The common enemy effect is a powerful social phenomenon: people unite strongly when they share a common threat. We often see it in military units, sports teams, and political movements — and it’s equally true for founders and startup teams.

Phase 1: The early struggle

When founders start out, they face huge external threats:

  • Market rejection
  • Cash burn
  • Pressure to prove themselves
  • Family or societal doubt

Their common enemy is failure itself. This shared threat aligns them deeply. There’s no time for ego; decisions are fast and collective. Emotional support is strong. They feel like warriors in the same trench.

Phase 2: Early wins and success

Then comes funding, product traction, revenue, or media buzz. Suddenly, the “enemy” that held them together begins to fade.

Without that shared fight, founders start:

  • Claiming credit individually
  • Listening to “proxy teams” or external voices that inflate egos
  • Pushing personal agendas

The urgent need to survive is gone, so the cracks appear.

Phase 3: Gaps widen

When the common threat disappears:

  • Misaligned visions surface
  • Egos grow
  • Trust erodes
  • Silent power struggles begin

The same founders who once pulled all-nighters together may now fight over direction, credit, or influence.

Lessons from research

✅ Ben Horowitz (The Hard Thing About Hard Things): In crises, teams unite; in safety, they splinter.
✅ Patrick Lencioni (The Five Dysfunctions of a Team): Without a shared mission, conflict thrives.
✅ Harvard Business Review: “Shared existential threats unify.” New shared missions are critical as you grow.
✅ Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner): Strong group identity often needs an external “enemy” to stay focused.

What can founders do?

  • Constantly define new “enemies” or big missions (new markets, innovations, tougher impact goals).
  • Regularly revisit and realign personal and collective visions.
  • Watch out for external influences that inflate individual egos.
  • Build a culture where mission > individuals, always.

In short

What unites founders at first? A common enemy (failure, survival).
What causes splits later? The enemy fades, egos rise.
What’s the fix? Keep creating new shared battles to stay united.