Jeff Sparks

Building structures, robots, and software. Driven by innovation, creativity, and continuous improvement. Bright Horizon's Westwood 5 under 5 nominee.

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

The future is usually less good than you hoped for, and less bad than you feared.

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

@jhong IH. I still think of it weekly.

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

@villi “Accenture is dead. We’re replacing all of their embedded consultants with FDEs”

“What does an FDE do?”

“Roughly what a software consultant did, but we call it an FDE now.”

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

@eladgil @garrytan Is no one going to call you out for misquoting William Gibson? What kind of nerd are you?

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

@jhong I struggle with the same. Change rarely happens as quickly as we anticipate, and college’s influence was a sorting hat, not educational, so AI’s impact is muted. But many top schools now reward behavior that actively discourages long-term success. I’m leaning towards life skills.

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

@jamescham @robgo Agree with James. Most VCs are not yet using AI to post every 15 minutes about how they’re using AI.

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

@villi There’s certainly some of that, but I’d argue it’s more that public companies are compressing to PE multiples vs. all SW companies compressing at equal rates.

It’s still bad for PE firms hoping to exit at growth company multiples, but it’s not likely a dramatic write down.

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

Sure; correlation != causation.

But this was deep in a wonkish conversation on energy policy, and the primary thing Texas has done over the last 10 years to create capacity and reduce costs is build interconnect infrastructure and let anyone build supply. It’s not two disconnected factors.

Just like it’s been shown over and over again that reducing regulatory burden on property development creates more housing.

The government’s tendency for the last 20 years is to take a page out of the OSS sabotage manual and study everything to death, which is somehow seen by much of the new left as progress.

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

@Noahpinion Humanity has been in a race between the democratization of destruction and the evolution of countermeasures for the last 100 years. It’s not clear which will win.

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

@jhong @Scobleizer It wasn’t an implicit social contract, but was defensive human stockpiling (Google can’t keep me from hiring someone when I need them if I’ve already hired them). Now scarcity isn’t as much of a threat, and it turns out you don’t need 10k people to digitally sign a document.

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

@JasonKPargin They’re wonderful books. Your contribution made the world better. Thank you for writing them!

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

@Noahpinion It's another nuclear arms race problem. There's a very meaningful chance the technology will destroy humanity, but you don't want to be the *second* group of people that have access to said technology

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

Exactly. There’s no viable alternative. The progressive left keeps pointing out all the ways the right is bad, but don’t seem to understand that people are fully aware of the right’s issues, don’t like them, and vote for the right *despite* the problems because they find progressive policies even worse.

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

There are simple (though not easy) solutions, but they’re long term and often do involve government action.

In AI/tech there are no large acquirers, so most startup exists are PE-based, which severely restricts exit values, capital reinvestment in the ecosystem, and investor risk willingness. In biotech, there are acquirers, but the industry is sclerotic and generally doesnt take risks. In climate / infrastructure, there’s potential, but capital (plus real demand) is going to be the #1 constraining factor.

Solutions:
1. Do whatever we can to foster a real community in AI / tech. This was / is a palpable difference between SF and Boston. In SF everyone was willing to make an intro and help. In Boston, it’s cold shoulders. It needs to start from people successful in the existing tech world. You’re doing this. I hope others follow your example.

2. We need to double down on biotech. The government *can* really help here. Make a big effort federally to bring down regulatory barriers and red tape. Do the same at the state level. Allow virtual trials, create immunity from law suits. Incentivize risk taking. A huge shift is possible.

3. On climate, we need more capital. This is both a private, public, and academic effort. We need to be working on earmarks federally, and fostering connections with sovereign wealth funds. Harvard / MIT need to commit meaningful portions of their endowments and activities to it, not just pay lip service. The state needs to commit too. But this only makes sense in areas where climate tech is actually profitable.

4. Fun and housing costs are both symptoms of regulation. Removing a lot of regulation increases fun and housing. Let people set up a beer garden wherever they want. Let them sell tamales. Let them host a music festival in the street. Let them swim in the Charles. Let them build micro apartments and ignore parking minimums. Take off the reins.

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

This is a much bigger deal than most people realize, and it’s 100% the future of warfare.

[Tymofiy Mylovanov @Mylovanov]

Ukraine has started daily combat use of AI attack drones.

Once launched, they find targets, track them, and strike on their own, even after jamming cuts the pilot’s signal.

This is how autonomous killing entered the war — NYT. 1/

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

@villi Have you read Stephenson’s Fall? I don’t think the majority of the population will adjust to the lack of reality in that time period. We see it now with the boomers and TV news. Most people can’t adapt quickly to these types of shifts.

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

@villi Much of the progressive left seems adamantly dedicated to recreating the cultural revolution.

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

A year and a half ago, my colleagues and I set out to change the conversation in DC on drones. We weren't alone, but there were only a few dozen of us calling for action. I'm happy to announce that combined with the NDAA last year, that action started.

https://t.co/Ll5Tig4xuV

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

We need to change the conversation around tariffs and trade into one focused on long term policy - https://t.co/vDzeFz3agl

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

Key takeaways:
1. Free trade only works if we have free trade. We didn’t, and don’t. The US tied its hands behind its back, took punches, and didn’t respond. The working class understood this far better than the elites, who looked the other way because they benefitted. (5/x)

[Jeff Sparks @aggregatejeff]

Many will disagree, so I’ve dived into how decades of deeply flawed “free” trade policy caused the US to lose the drone wars and how it’s dragged down both our ability to innovate as well as defend our nation. (4/x)