I suspect that the ideal form of future economic structure is something like “vast high modernist corporate machine, wearing the mask of mom-and-pop small business”
Specifically: big corporate machines are much more efficient and scalable at delivering goods and services, generally are better for labor, etc. However, “small business” is one of the most popular institutions in America. In general, small businesses have much better vibes/aesthetics, they are often better at certain kinds of experimentation, and they provide much needed human connection and community integration. The synthesis is to use the machinery of modern technocapital to handle all of the non-central and alienating parts of a business, and concentrating the human effort on the community-facing experiental part of the commercial world.
For example, Dripos is a SaaS business that basically provides all of the operational machinery for a coffee shop as a software project. It’s not a stretch to imagine also bundling in white-label roasting or a connection to one of many local baked goods providers as logistics costs continue to drop via AI + just general software eating the world. Add in credit facilities and a provider aiding in location acquisition, and people could open their dream neighborhood coffee shop, while only needing to be an expert in how to provide a good “coffee shop experience”.
I think this is already happening, and near-time AI will likely accelerate it massively.
I suspect that the ideal form of future economic structure is something like “vast high modernist corporate machine, wearing the mask of mom-and-pop small business”
Specifically: big corporate machines are much more efficient and scalable at delivering goods and services, generally are better for labor, etc. However, “small business” is one of the most popular institutions in America. In general, small businesses have much better vibes/aesthetics, they are often better at certain kinds of experimentation, and they provide much needed human connection and community integration. The synthesis is to use the machinery of modern technocapital to handle all of the non-central and alienating parts of a business, and concentrating the human effort on the community-facing experiental part of the commercial world.
For example, Dripos is a SaaS business that basically provides all of the operational machinery for a coffee shop as a software project. It’s not a stretch to imagine also bundling in white-label roasting or a connection to one of many local baked goods providers as logistics costs continue to drop via AI + just general software eating the world. Add in credit facilities and a provider aiding in location acquisition, and people could open their dream neighborhood coffee shop, while only needing to be an expert in how to provide a good “coffee shop experience”.
I think this is already happening, and near-time AI will likely accelerate it massively.