Screensharing top takes in AI/startups

Episode Timeline

1. 9:18

   Greg Isenberg launches SIP Live with co-host Jonathan Courtney to review hot takes from the timeline as 'sip' (good) or 'skip' (cold).

   • The show's format asks chat to vote 'sip' for a hot take or 'skip' for a cold take, with shrimp emojis for co-host Jonathan Courtney, the self-described 'shrimp millionaire'.
   • Jonathan admits he was hearing his own audio in the YouTube version and had to fix it live, setting a casual, unscripted tone for the stream.
   • Greg explains he created the show because existing podcasts and live streams don't pick out the most interesting takes, only news takes.
2. 14:22

   Take 1: A baby food app, Solid Starts, is making $1M/month, and the more expensive the app, the more parents trust it.

   • Sensor Tower data shows Solid Starts Baby's First Food earning a million dollars a month by selling the first 100 foods a baby should eat, trusted by pediatric feeding experts.
   • Jonathan argues parents pay premium prices because they get one shot at doing right by their child, so price signals seriousness versus an AI-generated cash grab.
   • Greg suggests niching down: the same model works for puppies' first 100 days, or for Canadian babies, and $10-30K/month is achievable without half-assing it.
3. 19:23

   Take 2: Sahil's claim that 'customer support is eating engineering' sparks a debate on AI loops and human support.

   • Greg explains that AI-native companies now dump meeting notes and support data into MD files LLMs can read, enabling daily loops where support transcripts generate prototypes that improve retention and revenue.
   • Jonathan adds that companies like Trade Republic and Basecamp market 'you'll talk to a human 24/7' as a differentiator, and that enshittification (e.g., Amazon's decline in support) kills brands faster than anything.
   • Both agree they sip the idea of human support heavily but skip fully AI customer support, since support must retain a human element.

Key Concepts

• SIP or SKIP hot takes— The show's core format: judging whether a startup or AI take is a good 'sip' or a cold 'skip'.
• baby food app million dollars a month— Solid Starts makes $1M/month, showing parents pay premium prices for trusted baby-feeding guidance.
• niching down— Repeated strategy of taking a proven $1M/month product and targeting a smaller niche for $10-30K/month.

Notable Quotes

• There's a baby food app making a million dollars a month. I was searching for baby food apps for my newborn and I realized the market is absolutely insane. The more expensive the app, the more parents seem to trust it.

  🤯

  — Reveals that in parenting, higher prices signal trust and safety, creating a counterintuitive pricing power for baby apps.

  Jump to 11:47

• I think that company entrepreneurs are getting obsessed with systems to the point where they forget that the job of a CEO and an entrepreneur is to get people to know about your thing.

  💡

  — Overturns the common startup advice to build systems first, arguing that promotion is the real CEO job.

  Jump to 46:23

Actionable Takeaways