PK's Musings

💻 AI Beat Us at Chess. Yet Chess is more popular than ever.

When Deep Blue defeated Kasparov in 1997, many thought it was the end of human chess.

Instead, it was the beginning of something bigger.

Today:
🧠 600M+ people play globally
📈 Chess.com has over 200M users
♟️ Millions tune in to watch games live
🎬 The Queen’s Gambit triggered a global chess boom

Chess didn’t die when machines mastered it.
It evolved.

Because we don’t play to beat the computer.
We play to beat ourselves.

#Chess #AI #DeepBlue #QueensGambit #HumansVsMachines #PKsMusings

4 months ago | [YT] | 0

PK's Musings

8 Jobs That Don’t Exist Anymore (Thanks to Tech)

Worried about AI taking over your job?
You should be… but it wouldn’t be the first time.

From human alarm clocks to people who cracked codes with pencils...
Technology has always been replacing us.

Swipe to meet the jobs that time (and tech) forgot.
Which one surprised you most?


#ObsoleteJobs #AIandHumans #TechHistory #JobsThatTimeForgot #FutureOfWork #PKsMusings

Skip the Carousel

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

4 months ago | [YT] | 1

PK's Musings

𝗶𝗣𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗣𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲?
Its real genius was invisible: the supply chain behind it.

In 2007, Apple didn’t just launch a sleek new phone. It quietly built one of the most advanced, high-stakes global supply chains in history.

Steve Jobs and Tim Cook secured:
* Exclusive deals on flash memory when the global supply was tight
* Custom-built factories designed to meet their speed, scale, and quality demands
* Unprecedented control over suppliers, components, and logistics

And then there’s the glass screen story.

Originally, the iPhone was designed with a plastic screen. But just weeks before launch, Jobs demanded glass. Not just any glass—scratch-resistant, flawless, ultra-clear glass.
Apple turned to Corning, which had a product called Gorilla Glass that had never been mass-produced.

Corning repurposed entire factories. Timelines were crushed. The glass screen became real, just in time for launch.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗼.

Apple’s scale and standards created a massive manufacturing boom in China. Entire industrial zones were upgraded. Infrastructure was built. Suppliers grew from small shops to global giants, just to keep up with iPhone demand.

This wasn’t just product innovation. It was 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆.

Most companies build a product and then figure out how to ship it.

𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁.

That’s what made the iPhone unstoppable.

A reminder: visionary products are only as good as the systems that bring them to life.

(And, thank you Ayman Itani, for this brilliant piece that inspired this post!)

#Apple #iPhone #Corning #GorillaGlass #Operations #ProductStrategy #PKsMusings

5 months ago | [YT] | 1

PK's Musings

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗠𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗕𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲

For years, memes were dismissed as internet noise, fleeting jokes made by bored teenagers with too much time and Wi-Fi. They were seen as distractions, not discourse. Certainly not serious enough to belong in brand strategies, boardroom decks, or historical archives. But that perception is starting to shift, and fast.

Today, memes are a cultural infrastructure. They capture public sentiment, social commentary, and emotional nuance in a way few other mediums can. One meme can say what a thousand-word op-ed struggles to. From political satire to startup culture, from niche communities to global crises, memes have become our go-to language for reacting, reframing, and remembering.

This isn’t new, just evolved. Ancient civilizations had cave paintings and hieroglyphs. The Renaissance had paintings layered with symbolism. Every era left behind artifacts that told future generations what mattered to them. Ours might just be memes. Compressed, pixelated, absurd, but deeply revealing. A meme isn’t just a joke. It’s context. It’s a commentary. It’s culture in shorthand.

And eons from now, when future archaeologists dig through our digital ruins, they might not be reading our newsletters or replaying our TED Talks. They’ll be decoding memes. Trying to understand what made us laugh, what we feared, what we fought over, and what we found worth sharing. The same way we try to make sense of ancient carvings on forgotten stone walls, they’ll be zooming in on pixelated Wojaks and Doges.

Memes are not trivial. They are our civilization’s most viral, visual, and visceral form of communication. In a world drowning in noise, the most powerful thing is meaning, delivered fast, shared widely, and remembered.

Memes are not beneath us.

They might outlast us.
#InternetCulture #VisualLanguage #ModernAnthropology #FutureOfCommunication #DigitalCulture #PKsMusings

5 months ago | [YT] | 1

PK's Musings

𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗜𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮 𝗙𝗮𝗱, 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸

What makes someone pay $10,000 for a toy, wait in line overnight for sneakers, or trade cards or JPEG’s like stocks? The answer has less to do with logic, and everything to do with emotion.

For years, collectibles were seen as fringe. A playground for superfans, not serious business. The assumption was that value had to be rational, that markets had to be driven by utility. But that playbook doesn’t hold anymore. The collectibles economy has gone mainstream, and it’s done so on its own terms.

Collectibles aren’t new. Humans have always assigned value to rare things; coins, stamps, trading cards, comic books. The difference now? Access. You no longer need to walk into Sotheby’s or trade in secret forums. You can mint, bid, or flip from your phone. NFTs, despite the market correction, still hold significant value for certain collections, because of what they represent, not what they “do.” A vinyl toy like Labubu can become an asset. A sneaker drop can feel like a product launch.

This shift is especially important for founders building consumer brands. Scarcity, once seen as a bottleneck, is now a strategy. Community isn’t an outcome, it’s a feature. And storytelling is the new marketing budget. Just like collectors, users want to feel part of something rare, something with meaning.

Meanwhile, the infrastructure to scale that kind of fandom has never been stronger. Platforms like Discord, Shopify, and even Reddit give startups the tools to rally their tribe, reward early believers, and turn customers into evangelists. What once took years of brand building can now happen in weeks, if done right.

Here’s the bottom line: in a world of infinite products, the ones that win feel collectible.

So if you’re building something new, don’t just make it useful. Make it wanted.

#StartupInsights #ProductDesign #Collectibles #BrandBuilding #ScarcityPrinciple #Labubu #FounderThoughts #CulturalCapital #PKsMusings

5 months ago | [YT] | 1

PK's Musings

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝗔𝗻𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲

𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀, 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝘂𝘅𝘂𝗿𝘆, something startups pursued only after dominating their home turf. The assumption was that going global required big rounds, large teams, and deep infrastructure. It was a step reserved for the 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹-𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 and the 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹-𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱. But that playbook doesn’t hold up anymore. The barriers to going global have come down, and they’ve come down fast.

Today, the smartest startups are born global. 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗴𝗲𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘆, giving even solo builders the power to go global instantly. Your first customer might be in Dubai, your strongest growth channel in Jakarta, and your best feedback from Nairobi. With tools like Stripe Atlas, Product Hunt, and Remote.com, setting up and scaling internationally is not just easier, it's expected.

This shift is especially important for Indian founders. India already offers the core ingredients: 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆, and 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁. Indian entrepreneurs are no longer building just for India; they’re leading teams, building products, and influencing tech globally. The ecosystem has matured to a point where global credibility is no longer aspirational; it’s achievable.

Meanwhile, places like Dubai are turning into 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗽𝗮𝗱𝘀. Offering founder-friendly regulations, funding support, and access to rapidly growing markets across MENA, Africa, Europe, and the US. For Indian startups, these are not distant opportunities; 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 with the direction the world is moving.

Here’s the bottom line: 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗮 $𝟭𝟬𝟬𝗠 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗻 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝘇𝗶𝗽 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲 to think globally anymore. If you’re building something valuable, the world might be your best first market.

Global isn’t a distant milestone; it’s the new default.
𝗦𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲.

5 months ago | [YT] | 1

PK's Musings

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗚𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝘁 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀

I hate it when founders are ghosted. As a founder and investor, I believe that honesty, even if it’s a no, is better than silence.

At 🪽⚡️AngelSpark, we made it a rule: every founder gets a response, cheque or not. But the truth is, most investors don’t operate that way. Across the board, ghosting is far more common than it should be.

So why does it happen? Often, it’s not because investors are careless or arrogant; it’s because saying no, honestly, is harder than it sounds. The real reasons are usually personal, unfixable, or blunt: “𝗪𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸,” or “𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.”
Sharing that can hurt a founder and risk future fallout, so many investors choose silence instead.

To complicate things further, founders can get defensive. What starts as a feedback call can turn into a debate, a rebuttal, or a strained exchange. The investor has already made up their mind, and now both sides leave frustrated. Over time, this dynamic teaches investors that saying nothing is safer than saying something real.

Then there’s volume. An investor might meet dozens of startups a week. Writing 20+ tailored, sensitive rejections is simply not scalable. And when the reason for passing is vague or instinctive, even a well-meaning message can do more harm than good. 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁, 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗮𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴.

None of this makes ghosting okay, but it helps explain why it happens. If you haven’t heard back, assume it’s a pass and move forward. Not bitter, just wiser. Because in a strange way, ghosting is sometimes the kindest way investors can say: “This isn’t for us”, and that’s okay.

5 months ago | [YT] | 1

PK's Musings

"𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟯 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: “𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙗𝙞𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 ?” 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬.

True revolutions don’t arrive fully formed. They unfold over time, quietly reshaping how we live, work, and think. Almost every breakthrough follows the same pattern: 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘁𝘆, 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, and finally 𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 .

In the 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘁𝘆 stage, the technology feels like a toy. It’s clunky, unfamiliar, and easy to dismiss. Mainstream users don’t take it seriously, incumbents wave it off, and headlines often mock it. But a small group of early adopters begins to explore its edges, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘆𝗲𝘁, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝗲. This is when the seeds of transformation are planted, quietly and without permission.

Then comes 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, when the toy starts breaking the rules. The once-dismissed idea begins reshaping user behavior and threatening established players.
Business models buckle, regulators react, and suddenly everyone’s paying attention.
What was once a curiosity becomes a catalyst, and there’s no going back.


Finally, there’s 𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. This is when the technology fades into the background, not because it failed, but because it succeeded. It becomes boring, expected, and invisible. We stop calling it “new tech” and start calling it infrastructure. Cloud computing, mobile apps, GPS, even AI, they’re no longer marvels, just how the world works.

𝗡𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁: when technology stops being discussed and just gets used.

𝙎𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙖𝙧, 𝙖𝙨𝙠 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚? 𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙮𝙘𝙡𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜."

5 months ago | [YT] | 1