Platform shifts and building information asymmetry
By Simon Zhou at
Mitchell Hashimoto, one of the co-founders of HashiCorp, recently published a blog post describing the patterns between the "shift to the cloud" that began more than ten years ago and the "shift to AI" that is currently taking place. It remains an interesting comparison and one that investors continue to draw in an effort to postulate where value accrues in this budding ecosystem.
To me, the most fascinating thing to observe in this current platform shift is the set of companies that are investing significant resources in community in order to build information asymmetry. HashiCorp was popularly known to have prioritized creating an active open source community in the early days, despite receiving constant questions from investors around their ability to monetize. We are seeing similar things happen right now.
Platform shifts will always beget new platforms. I strongly believe that these new platforms should place a maniacal focus on building a community of evangelists and champions. Successful platforms understand the immediate need for community building and over time, will earn the right sell to that community. These will be the platforms that will have the best shot at defining this next decade of AI.