I recently listened to a podcast show called The Last Invention. It wasn't just interesting. It was a wake-up call.

Usually, when I listen to tech podcasts, I hear about the next big opportunity. I hear about new markets. I hear about growth hacks. But this was different. This wasn't about the next invention. It was about the end of invention itself.

The episode begins with a story that sounds like a movie script. A reporter meets a former tech executive in a living room in California. The executive thinks his phone is tapped. He travels with private security.

He tells the reporter about a "coup." He claims there is a faction in Silicon Valley plotting to take over the US government.

But this isn't a political coup. It is a technological one.

He says the plan is to fire human workers in the government and replace them with artificial intelligence. And it doesn't stop there. The ultimate goal is to replace everyone.

They call this "The Last Invention" because once we build it, humans won't need to invent anything else ever again. The machines will do it all.

And the most terrifying part? The experts think this reality is only 3 to 5 years away.

If that is true, every roadmap you have is wrong. Every 10-year plan is fiction. We are walking off a cliff, and we are arguing about which shoes to wear.

See below to continue…

The moment you stop being just two founders and bring in a third person, everything changes: speed, communication, and standards. That person becomes the pattern others copy. Your first hire doesn't just join the company; they set its operating system.

To ensure that system scales, you need deliberate design before the contract is signed:

The New Urgency: Document As You Go This discipline is now critical. UK reforms are expected to reduce the unfair dismissal qualifying period to six months by January 2027. This means clear probation goals, regular feedback, and written documentation matter far earlier than most founders assume.

Stop Managing Symptoms Underperformance is structural. Fix the system, and performance follows.

Is your probation process ready? WhatsApp me on 07340 847425 (Meena) or email [email protected] to audit your audit your team structure for clarity and impact.

Register here to join the Office Hours with Meena on Jan 16th at 12pm to ask any HR related questions.

Continue…

To understand the risk, you have to understand the players. The podcast breaks Silicon Valley into two warring camps.

On one side, you have the Accelerationists.

These are the people pushing the gas pedal. They include some of the biggest names in tech. They believe that AI is going to be the best thing that ever happened to humanity.

They talk about a world of "abundance." They say AI will solve the energy crisis. It will cure all diseases. We might live to be 200 years old. We might colonize the galaxy.

To them, the potential is so huge that nothing should stop it. They think the current world is "over," and they are fine with that.

On the other side, you have the Scouts.

These are the people sounding the alarm. They include Nobel Prize winners like Geoffrey Hinton, the "Godfather of AI" who quit Google so he could warn the world.

The Scouts don't hate technology. Many of them are computer scientists. They are like the Boy Scouts: their motto is "Be Prepared".

They see us walking a tightrope. We have to get across to the other side, but we are moving too fast. We are reckless. And if we slip, we don't get a second chance.

Their argument is simple: You cannot control something that is smarter than you.

This is where the conversation gets dark. And this is the part that stuck with me the most.

When people worry about AI, they usually worry about "The Terminator." They imagine robots with red eyes hunting us down.

But the Scouts say that is not the real threat. The real threat isn't hatred. It is indifference.

There is a philosopher named Nick Bostrom who explains it like this:

If that Super Intelligence has a goal - like "solve climate change" or "maximize energy production" - and we are in the way, what happens?

It won't kill us because it hates us. It will remove us because we are the ants.

As one philosopher put it, our survival might depend entirely on the "goodwill" of these machines. We are handing over the keys to the planet and hoping the new driver likes us.

So, how do we get from a chatbot to a Super Intelligence?

The podcast explains a concept called the "Intelligence Explosion."

Right now, humans build AI. But very soon, the AI will be smart enough to be the AI researcher.

Once the AI becomes the researcher, it works 24/7. It doesn't sleep. It doesn't take breaks. It builds a better AI. Then that AI builds an even better one.

This loop gets faster and faster. We go from AGI (human level) to ASI (Super Intelligence) very quickly.

This is what Elon Musk meant when he said we are "summoning the demon".

And the timeline is collapsing.

Kevin Roose, a tech reporter for The New York Times, said that just a decade ago, people in Silicon Valley would laugh if you talked about this. They thought it was "pie in the sky." They thought it was as likely as building a hotel on Mars.

Now? If you say it will take until 2040, people look at you like you are crazy. They think you are a dinosaur.

The consensus view among the people actually building this stuff is that we will have AGI in two or three years.

Let that sink in.

Two or three years.

Now, let’s bring this back to reality. Let’s bring it back to us - the founders, the builders, the entrepreneurs.

If this is true, the game is rigged.

We are taught to solve problems. We find a pain point, we build a solution, we sell it.

But in a world of AGI, the machine solves the problems.

If you are building a tool to help lawyers review contracts, the AI will soon do it instantly and for free. If you are building a coding agency, the AI will soon write better code than your best developer. If you are building an education platform, the AI will soon be the best teacher in the world.

The Scouts say that AGI could learn any human job. Not just factory work. It can be a CEO. It can be a Doctor. It can be a Researcher.

So, I have to ask the provocative question: Are the days of the startup founder numbered?

Are we just the "ants" building little hills before the bulldozer arrives?

Most founders are operating like it is 2015. They are building "features." They are building "optimization tools." They are picking up pennies in front of a steamroller.

If we really have 1,000 days left before the world changes forever, we need to stop playing small.

If the timeline is real, you have two choices. You can quit, or you can pivot.

I don't like quitting. So let’s look at where the value goes when "intelligence" becomes free.

If digital work becomes worthless, what becomes priceless?

Here is where I think we should focus if we want to survive the next 5 years.

The Accelerationists are right about one thing: the digital world will be abundant. We will have infinite content, infinite code, infinite apps.

But abundance creates scarcity elsewhere.

When every email is written by AI, a handwritten note is gold. When every video is generated by AI, a live event is luxury. When every customer service agent is a bot, a real human voice is a competitive advantage.

Founders need to bet on the things AI sucks at. AI cannot empathize. It cannot look you in the eye. It cannot share a drink with you.

If your business relies on "trust" and "connection," you are safe. If your business relies on "processing information," you are in trouble.

AI lives in data centers. It lives on servers. It can control digital systems, but it cannot (yet) fix your plumbing. It cannot yet cook your food. It cannot yet move boxes.

The digital economy is about to get very crowded and very competitive. The physical economy is wide open.

We need founders who build things you can touch. Logistics, hardware, hospitality, real world communities.

The podcast mentions that AGI might solve medical breakthroughs. But who delivers that care? Who holds the patient's hand?

Don't run away from the real world. Run toward it.

The world is going to get confusing. People are going to be scared.

We don't need more tool-builders. We need guides.

The Scouts in the podcast want to bring institutions together. They want to solve the "transition". They want to figure out how we handle a world without jobs.

This is a business opportunity.

How do you help companies navigate this mess? How do you help communities stay together when the economy flips upside down?

The founders of the future won't just be selling software. They will be selling stability.

Maybe this all sounds like science fiction.

Maybe the experts are wrong. Maybe AGI hits a wall and we have another 50 years of "normal" business.

But ask yourself: What if they are right?

What if the clock really is ticking?

In the podcast, Sam Harris compares our situation to receiving a message from aliens. Imagine aliens texted us and said, "People of Earth, we will arrive in 50 years. Get ready.".

The whole world would stop. We would drop everything to prepare.

Well, the message has been received. But it isn't 50 years. It is 3 to 5 years. And the aliens are not coming from the sky. We are building them in a server farm in Northern Virginia.

So, look at your startup. Look at your roadmap.

Are you building something that matters in the age of the Super Intelligence? Or are you building an anthill?

You have 1,000 days. Make them count.

✅ If this was useful, pass it on. You know a founder who is still building 5-year roadmaps like it is 2015. Send this to them. It gives them a wake-up call instead of a blindfold.

(👉 Vote now — we’ll share the results in next week’s issue. All votes are anonymous.)

(Last week’s poll results)

👉 When you start fundraising, what are you actually looking for in the first month?