As per the eternal wisdom of Michael Porter, it’s the companies stuck in the middle who are buggered when markets bifurcate… in other world: be amazing, be cheap, or be ready to go bust.
The big AI labs probably will end up having a product portfolio addressing both segments (after all Volkswagen owns Lamborghini and Skoda) - the cheap stuff just isn’t the focus/race right now.
Hours in => value out is the business equivalent of calories in => calories out in nutrition. Yes, it’s sort of true, but most of the value is understanding the nuance.
So should everyone hustle?
Yes if: you’re working on a high value, unsolved problem with a steep slope of learning and high marginal value per unit of new learning.
Not necessarily if: the above does not apply.