A weekly industry memo for founders who refuse to build generic software. I’m sharing the frameworks, "Dark Arts," and product strategy we use at Jams to build high-fidelity products in the experience economy.
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Hey, Juan here. I’ve spent the last 10 years of my life building digital products. And I’m now convinced the biggest opportunities aren’t purely digital at all. Let’s dive in. 🧠 From the Lab The internet is getting weird. AI-generated articles are everywhere. Photos are fake. Sora and Meta are churning out AI videos. It’s a huge hall of mirrors. How do you know what’s real? Kevin Rose, relaunching the old social news site Digg, is obsessing over this. He calls it the “verification problem”. His example is perfect: someone leaves a review for an Oura Ring. How do you know they actually own one? You don’t. Without verification, trust collapses. And this “Content Authenticity Crisis” is why the most valuable experiences of the next decade will be intensely human. I’m not the only one seeing this. I heard Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose talking about this exact theme. Brian Chesky said on Masters of Scale that we’ll never want a robot to give us a massage. He’s right. The future isn’t pure tech. It’s a hybrid.
🔧 From the Trenches I’ve been a guinea pig for this hybrid model for years. I’ve worn the Oura Ring. The Apple Watch. Now the Whoop band. I love the data (the Hardware + Software). But when a real decision comes up? About my health, my business, my life? I call my doctor. My coach. My therapist. A Human. The tech collects the data. The human provides the wisdom. This is the exact model Peter Attia is using with his “Medicine 3.0” practice. He uses cutting-edge diagnostics, but the premium service is his team’s human-led coaching. The data is the entry ticket. The human relationship is the main event. 💭 From the Chair So what does this mean for us as founders, operators, and investors? Scott Belsky calls it “The Great Unlock.” He argues that as AI handles the grunt work (writing basic code, summarizing reports, etc.), it frees up our time and creates a massive, new demand for things AI can’t do. Artistry. Craft. High-touch, bespoke experiences. This is why, as he also points out, we’re seeing a “resurgence of hardware.” In a world of infinite, generic software, a beautifully crafted physical object becomes a tangible anchor for a premium experience. The opportunity isn’t to replace humans with AI. It’s to use AI to free up our time so we can deliver, and enjoy, more valuable human experiences. That’s a future I’m excited to build. 🔗 From the Feed
P.S. What’s one service you would absolutely never, ever let a robot do for you? My answer: getting a tattoo. Follow me to get the Daily Memo: And share this newsletter The Founder Memo goes out every Sunday. Join 1,000+ founders here. |
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A weekly industry memo for founders who refuse to build generic software. I’m sharing the frameworks, "Dark Arts," and product strategy we use at Jams to build high-fidelity products in the experience economy.
Hey, Juan here. If you made it here through my Founder Memo videos, thank you. This one's a bit more personal than the previous ones. I spent 4 nights in a remote area in northern Patagonia called Frey (Bariloche, Argentina). It was my most intense climbing experience. No phone signal. Lots of climbers and hikers from everywhere. Great sense of community. And an alpine paradise formed by a huge valley. All this creates a big sense of connection to the place. Here are 3 lessons from the trip...
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