Marc Andreessen on JRE: AI hasn't replaced coders. It turned them into vampires.
"The opportunity cost of going to sleep is too high because if you go to sleep, you won't be with your 20 AI coding agents."
This is an email I sent earlier today to all employees at Coinbase:
Team,
Today I’ve made the difficult decision to reduce the size of Coinbase by ~14%. I want to walk you through why we're doing this now, what it means for those affected, and how this positions us for the future.
Why now
Two forces are converging at the same time. We need to be front footed to respond to both.
First, the market. Coinbase is well-capitalized, has diversified revenue streams, and is well-positioned to weather any storm. Crypto is also on the verge of the next wave of adoption, with stablecoins, prediction markets, tokenization, and more taking off. However, our business is still volatile from quarter to quarter. While we've managed through that cyclicality many times before and come out stronger on the other side, we’re currently in a down market and need to adjust our cost structure now so that we emerge from this period leaner, faster, and more efficient for our next phase of growth.
Second, AI is changing how we work. Over the past year, I’ve watched engineers use AI to ship in days what used to take a team weeks. Non-technical teams are now shipping production code and many of our workflows are being automated. The pace of what's possible with a small, focused team has changed dramatically, and it's accelerating every day.
All of this has led us to an inflection point, not just for Coinbase, but for every company. The biggest risk now is not taking action. We are adjusting early and deliberately to rebuild Coinbase to be lean, fast, and AI-native. We need to return to the speed and focus of our startup founding, with AI at our core.
What this means
To get there, we are not just reducing headcount and cutting costs, we’re fundamentally changing how we operate: rebuilding Coinbase as an intelligence, with humans around the edge aligning it. What does this mean in practice?
- Fewer layers, faster decisions: We are flattening our org structure to 5 layers max below CEO/COO. Layers slow things down and create coordination tax. The future is small, high context teams that can move quickly. Leaders will own much more, with as many as 15+ direct reports. Fewer layers also means a leaner cost structure that is built to perform through all market cycles.
- No pure managers: Every leader at Coinbase must also be a strong and active individual contributor. Managers should be like player-coaches, getting their hands dirty alongside their teams.
- AI-native pods: We’ll be concentrating around AI-native talent who can manage fleets of agents to drive outsized impact. We’ll also be experimenting with reduced pod sizes, including “one person teams” with engineers, designers, and product managers all in one role.
In short: AI is bringing a profound shift in how companies operate, and we’re reshaping Coinbase to lead in this new era. This is a new way of working, and we need to leverage AI across every facet of our jobs.
To those who are affected
I know there are real people behind these decisions — talented colleagues who have poured themselves into this company and our mission. To those of you who will be leaving: thank you. You’ve helped build Coinbase into what it is today, and I am sincerely grateful for everything you've done.
All impacted team members will receive an email to their personal account in the next hour with more information, and an invitation to meet with an HRBP and a senior leader in your organization. Coinbase system access has been removed today. I know this feels sudden and harsh, but it is the only responsible choice given our duty to protect customer information.
To those affected, we will be providing a comprehensive package to support you through this transition. US employees will receive a minimum of 16 weeks base pay (plus 2 weeks per year worked), their next equity vest, and 6 months of COBRA. Employees on a work visa will get extra transition support. Those outside of the US will receive similar support, based on local factors and subject to any consultation requirements.
Coinbase prides itself on talent density. Our employees are among the most talented people in the world, and I have no doubt that your skills and experience will be highly sought after as you pursue your next chapters.
How we move forward
To the team that is staying, I know this is a difficult day. We’re saying goodbye to colleagues and friends you've been in the trenches with. But here��s what I want you to know as we move forward together:
Over the past 13 years, we have weathered four crypto winters, gone public, and built the most trusted platform in our industry. We’ve made it this far by making hard decisions and by always staying focused on our mission. This time will be no different – nothing has changed about the long term outlook of our company or industry. And most importantly, our mission has never been more important for the world. Increasing economic freedom requires a new financial system, and we’re building it.
The Coinbase that emerges from this will be more capable than ever to achieve our mission.
Brian
Introducing CapCut Video Studio, a timeline-free way to create videos on CapCut Web, supporting Dreamina Seedance 2.0!
Video Studio is your canvas-based AI production workspace, built for creators at every level to bring great stories to life.
This is where ideas become finished videos for every stage of your creative process, from ideation, character building, storyboarding, scene generation, detail polishing, editing and exporting. It happens on one unlimited canvas:
→ AI agent to help you ideate, write and structure your story
→ Built-in storyboard feature to help you shape the plot
→ Industry-leading image & video generation models with omni reference
→ Full editing toolkit to refine every frame
Short films, drama series, animations, explainer videos, ads... this is where it all comes together.
Head to CapCut Web and you'll get some free credits to kickstart!
Note: Dreamina Seedance 2.0 is currently available to users in SEA, MENA, LATAM and Africa, with more regions coming soon.
This mixed reality app lets you create and ride thrilling rollercoasters in your own living room. It uses physics-based tools to design tracks that adapt to your space and then simply hop in the front seat for a first-person ride like no other.
THE APPLE APP STORE IS DROWNING IN AI SLOP
people are treating the App Store like a Medium blog spitting out apps one after another.
All with zero users and $0 revenue.
Apple reviews that used to take hours are now stretching into WEEKS and even months
> more than 550k apps were submitted just last year, highest in a decade.
I asked Claude to build my daughter an app that plugs into our piano, can read live key strokes, can show her sheet notes and key view and ends with a Guitar Hero style game. All while giving progressively harder songs. Today she’s using It and crushing It.
Meet the new Stitch, your vibe design partner.
Here are 5 major upgrades to help you create, iterate and collaborate:
🎨 AI-Native Canvas
🧠 Smarter Design Agent
🎙️ Voice
⚡️ Instant Prototypes
📐 Design Systems and DESIGN.md
Rolling out now. Details and product walkthrough video in 🧵
I’m on week five of trying to vibe code a replacement for some dumb saas that we use and it’s so incredibly frustrating that I’m slowly realizing it’s actually a quite complex and thoughtful piece of software.