Do you remember the golden age of WeWork?

The offices were luxurious, spacious, cheap, with lots of perks, free meals, events, after hours aircon, and numerous add-ons - all funded by venture capital, giving occupants more value than they were paying for.

That changed when they finally realised they needed to make a profit, so prices increased and perks were pulled back, making the end user pay the real price.

Do you remember the golden age of Uber?

Venture capital and gig worker modern day slavery meant we could get cheap rides anywhere with maximum convenience, and the destruction of an existing profitable taxi industry.

That changed once the venture capital funding ran out and they realised they had to make a profit - and now prices are much higher. Surge pricing is the icing on top of a service that was never gonna be profitable in its original incarnation.

Do you remember the golden age of AI?

Well, it’s today.

We have all these amazing tools and pay $20 a month to burn through hundreds of dollars worth of tokens that someone else is paying for - currently venture capital, circular financing, and all kinds of other stock market props.

May hay while you can, because the golden age of AI will soon be gone and we’ll all have to pay what it costs to really use it. The venture capital is running out, and the hyperscalers are calling for receipts (GitHub is the template).

Here’s my point: Enjoy it now while it’s cheap and at someone else’s expense. But most importantly, don’t build your long term house on a foundation of short term cheap token pricing.

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