Jim Osman @EdgeCGroup - Twitter Profile

AI doesn't change growth investing. It reveals who was actually doing it. That line from David Souccar (CIO at Vontobel) in a Jim Osman piece on Forbes hit hard. Same is true in every service business right now. AI isn't disrupting agencies, freelancers, and operators evenly. It's exposing them. Here's the sorting mechanism Souccar laid out: If AI makes a customer less dependent on you, your valuation should fall. If it makes the customer more dependent, you have something that lasts. Translate to our world: → If a client can replace your output with a $20/month tool, you weren't selling expertise. You were selling friction. → If your delivery is templated, your margin is on borrowed time. → If your only moat was "I can do it for you," AI just dissolved it. But the inverse is also true: → If your judgment compounds across 50 brands, AI multiplies your leverage → If you've built proprietary frameworks and data, AI sharpens them → If clients lean on you for decisions, not just deliverables, AI deepens that dependency → If your relationships are built on trust and outcomes, AI makes you faster, not replaceable AI isn't a threat to expertise. It's a threat to pretending you have it. The freelancers and agencies that disappear in the next 24 months won't be the ones who didn't adopt AI. They'll be the ones who built businesses that were never that durable to begin with. Worth reading Jim Osman's full piece on Forbes.

EdgeCGroup's tweet photo. AI doesn't change growth investing. It reveals who was actually doing it.

That line from David Souccar (CIO at Vontobel) in a Jim Osman piece on Forbes hit hard. Same is true in every service business right now.

AI isn't disrupting agencies, freelancers, and operators evenly.

It's exposing them.

Here's the sorting mechanism Souccar laid out:

If AI makes a customer less dependent on you, your valuation should fall. If it makes the customer more dependent, you have something that lasts.

Translate to our world:

→ If a client can replace your output with a $20/month tool, you weren't selling expertise. You were selling friction.
→ If your delivery is templated, your margin is on borrowed time.
→ If your only moat was "I can do it for you," AI just dissolved it.

But the inverse is also true:

→ If your judgment compounds across 50 brands, AI multiplies your leverage
→ If you've built proprietary frameworks and data, AI sharpens them
→ If clients lean on you for decisions, not just deliverables, AI deepens that dependency
→ If your relationships are built on trust and outcomes, AI makes you faster, not replaceable

AI isn't a threat to expertise.

It's a threat to pretending you have it.

The freelancers and agencies that disappear in the next 24 months won't be the ones who didn't adopt AI.

They'll be the ones who built businesses that were never that durable to begin with.

Worth reading Jim Osman's full piece on Forbes.

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Jim Osman

@EdgeCGroup

about 8 hours ago

This stack explains my entire investment framework. Manias. Panics. Delusions. Special situations. Distress. Insider signals. Catalysts. Most investors study markets to predict the next move. I study structure, behavior and pressure. Because the real money is usually made where the crowd is emotional, the ownership base is wrong, and something has to change.