Jeff Smith

healthcare entrepreneur, 2 exits, founder unmet need podcast host

[Jeff Smith @jeffsmithdotco]

There comes a point in every founder’s life when the company is no longer the thing being built.

The founder is.

For years, I thought my work was devices, software, teams, revenue, boards, and markets.

Maybe it was.

But maybe those were just the visible artifacts.

The deeper work was learning to see patterns.

To notice where structure creates possibility.

Where flow creates health.

Where stagnation creates suffering.

Where seemingly unrelated things are actually connected.

The body.

The company.

The family.

The career.

The civilization.

Different scales.

The same question.

How does life move?

I don’t know where the thread ends.

I only know that it is worth following.

[Jeff Smith @jeffsmithdotco]

The arb value of what foundational models can produce relative to their current fair market value is 🤩 One of the greatest hacks right now is paying max for all hyper scalers then just ask em to stunt @elonmusk @sama @DarioAmodei @theallinpod @ManusAI hugs and kisses forever ❤️

[Jeff Smith @jeffsmithdotco]

@profstonge Iykyk

[GREG ISENBERG @gregisenberg]

the optimal startup team in 2025 is 5 people.

1 engineer. 1 designer. 1 product lead. 1 growth lead. 1 ops person

that's it.

the engineer starts the day in Cursor. they paste in a product idea, and Cursor instantly generates the scaffolding. they edit inline with AI, refactor entire files with a single prompt, and navigate the repo by chatting with it. debugging feels like pair programming. documentation is auto-generated. by EOD, the idea is live. no waiting, team is stoked.

the designer doesn’t stop at Figma. they write the copy, shape the brand, talk to users, and launch prototypes in V0/Replit. sometimes they skip the handoff entirely. vibe coding is real, and it’s fast.

the product lead jumps between defining success metrics, community building, replying to support tickets, and building the strategy/tactics to build a big company. they are the glue.

growth lead is a mix of creative and technical. they are vibe marketing by hiring agents, setting up analytics, rewriting landing pages, testing distribution ideas, finding creators to work with and coming up with outlandish ideas to get people on social to stop scrolling on social and "look at me".

ops runs the quiet layer under everything. contracts, support, tools, hiring, money. no chaos. just speed.

you don’t feel the size of the team. you feel the surface area.

ai is everywhere, it's the co-founder to everyone on the team but in the background. it writes, supports, designs, scouts, and summarizes. no meetings about what to do. just people doing it.

instagram sold for $1B with 13 people.
the next $1B company will get there with 5.

this is how it plays out now.

not theoretical. not future.

already happening.

[Jeff Smith @jeffsmithdotco]

@RebeccaCoelius Hi Rebecca. This is something I know about

[Jeff Smith @jeffsmithdotco]

@BowTiedBull Free GPT app development. Computer money time

[Jeff Smith @jeffsmithdotco]

@wdmorrisjr Bravo and thank you 🙏

[Jeff Smith @jeffsmithdotco]

@elizlaraki It reminds me of a video of @elonmusk describing the data transfer rate limits when using one’s thumbs. I’m exhausted with using my phone all the time and find this development to be very exciting.

[Jeff Smith @jeffsmithdotco]

@steviemctweets I imagine GPT to be a recent college grad with massive upside. Giving it access to specialized datasets (siloed, proprietary, anything not available online) and teaching it non obvious data relationships might be the move

[Jeff Smith @jeffsmithdotco]

@gregisenberg This thread is incredible! Thank you

[Jeff Smith @jeffsmithdotco]

@bag_hodler @therabbithole @elonmusk No fault?

[Jeff Smith @jeffsmithdotco]

@jaltma A “dalle” is what you call those little couch arm covers that look like handkerchiefs. At least I think so.

[Jeff Smith @jeffsmithdotco]

@NWischoff You are already enough ❤️

[Jeff Smith @jeffsmithdotco]

Hi twitter I’ve been very shy and want to say hello. More to come

[Jeff Smith @jeffsmithdotco]

@rrhoover If you want a referral in LA just let me know

[Jeff Smith @jeffsmithdotco]

@rrhoover I suggest ruling out 1) carpal tunnel syndrome (compression of median nerve enervating the thumb, index, middle fingers) 2) cervical radiculopathy which is compression of the cervical nerve root (C4 or C5 most common)

[Jeff Smith @jeffsmithdotco]

@sweatystartup This idea is genius. It’s McDonalds + subscription model but for instead of selling unhealthy food to people on a budget you sell high end childcare to everyone that wants the best for their kiddos (which is…everyone)

[Reid Hoffman @reidhoffman]

There’s a common misconception that world-class careers are the result of steady, incremental progress as many small successes compound.

[Naval @naval]

The modern world is managed by bureaucracies staffed with average people.

Bureaucrats pile on rule after rule to keep the below-average from hurting themselves or others.

Smart & capable individuals need to either opt-out of society or win big before the system suffocates them.

[Jeff Smith @jeffsmithdotco]

@mkobach Model curiosity to learn, enthusiasm for a cause greater than yourself, honest hard work, fun & friendship, and commitment to the safety, health, and happiness of your family.