More or Less #112 Swift Should Buy Chrome, Not Perplexity
88 snips
Aug 15, 2025 This week, playful speculation swirls around Taylor Swift potentially buying Chrome to amplify her music's online presence. The team dissects the AI hype cycle and the peculiarities of San Francisco's tech scene. Humor intertwines with insights on meme capitalism, the absurdities of on-demand protests, and the dubious valuations of tech companies like Perplexity. The discussion also tackles viral conspiracy AIs and light-hearted predictions about audience engagement in today’s digital landscape.
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Jackson Square: Old Hub, New Buzz
- Sam describes Jackson Square as an early, persistent venture hub where strip clubs oddly still survive.
- He admits never having visited those strip clubs despite their continued presence near startups.
Niche Features Don't Guarantee Moat
- Perplexity rode a narrow product lane (web-browsing QA) and saw attention without building its own core model.
- Market leadership can be subsumed when a dominant player (ChatGPT) adds the same capability to its core product.
Valuation Can Be Meme, Not Economics
- Perplexity's valuation far outstrips its revenue, revealing meme-driven investor enthusiasm.
- The hosts compare this to AOL–Time Warner style overreach using inflated currency to buy real assets.