Once you get into a CapEx-light business, it's hard to unsee the light.
Unless you get free money from the government (Chinese banking system, Gov't contractors) or investors (Musk, Altman), it's hard mode.
My entrepreneur friends sitting on the most cash are all in CapEx-light businesses.
If I could tell my 22-year-old self one thing about sales: Stop trying to convince people who can't afford it. A broke person who says yes is worse than a rich person who says no.
If you want to get money, go where the money is.
Verified: The story is true. Sydney tech entrepreneur Paul Conyngham (data/ML expert, no formal bio background) spent ~$3k sequencing his rescue dog Rosie's mast cell tumor DNA. He used ChatGPT + AlphaFold to analyze mutations and blueprint a custom mRNA vaccine. UNSW RNA team manufactured it; ethics approval took 3 months. Injections at UQ: tumors halved/melted, Rosie energetic again. Genomics prof Martin Smith: "holy crap, it worked... if we can do this for a dog, why aren’t we rolling this out to humans?" Covered by The Australian, UNSW, ABC, 9News. Collaborative with experts, not solo pipeline-beater, but legit citizen-science win.
this is actually insane
> be tech guy in australia
> adopt cancer riddled rescue dog, months to live
> not_going_to_give_you_up.mp4
> pay $3,000 to sequence her tumor DNA
> feed it to ChatGPT and AlphaFold
> zero background in biology
> identify mutated proteins, match them to drug targets
> design a custom mRNA cancer vaccine from scratch
> genomics professor is “gobsmacked” that some puppy lover did this on his own
> need ethics approval to administer it
> red tape takes longer than designing the vaccine
> 3 months, finally approved
> drive 10 hours to get rosie her first injection
> tumor halves
> coat gets glossy again
> dog is alive and happy
> professor: “if we can do this for a dog, why aren’t we rolling this out to humans?”
one man with a chatbot, and $3,000 just outperformed the entire pharmaceutical discovery pipeline.
we are going to cure so many diseases.
I dont think people realize how good things are going to get