WSJ: “What I miss most is closing my eyes at night, then opening them and it’s morning, that total submersion, yesterday’s problems wiped away like algebraic equations on a junior-high blackboard. Or maybe I have it backward. Maybe sleeping did not erase my problems. Maybe I slept like that because I had no problems. That kind of sleep is what we all want to recover. It’s why, when you listen to late-night TV or podcasts, you’re bombarded with commercials for the perfect pillow, the perfect mattress. Everyone seeks the special ingredient that will let them sleep as Adam and Eve slept in the Garden. But the mattress is not the problem. Nor is the pillow. It’s the world, which we can’t escape even in bed at night. It’s not uninterrupted sleep we seek but the ignorance that makes it possible.”
Ben Thompson: “Bubbles may end badly, but history does not end: there are benefits from bubbles that pay out for decades, and the best we can do now is pray that the mania results in infrastructure and innovation that make this bubble worth it.”
Ruth Porat: “I don’t want people who process. I want people who think. Step back and put yourself in my shoes; if I’m having a conversation with a head of state somewhere, think, “Is this material rich, deep, insightful—does it take the conversation to another level?”…[A star employee] is someone who is in my face, because I want them to challenge me in different ways.”
SaaStr: “The game changed overnight: For a decade, SaaS CEOs got really, really good at one game: land-and-expand, PLG motions, consumption pricing, usage-based revenue. Now, seemingly suddenly, you’re competing with AI-native startups that can build in weeks what took you years. Your roadmap is constantly under threat. Your customers are asking about AI in every call…The pace is exhausting: I talk to B2B CEOs every week. Every single one is implementing AI agents, rebuilding products around LLMs, competing with AI-first startups, and explaining to boards why they need to invest millions in AI R&D while maintaining margins. The cognitive load is insane. And if you’re 55+, you’ve already done this dance for 10-15 years through multiple cycles.”
