Access Is The Constraint

What Is Holding Us Back From Prosperity?

I made a video about why you should move to the Bay Area to up your startup’s odds of success. Check it out here.

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In a world where knowledge is at its peak (by the way, I called this before ChatGPT was even announced), and information is widely and nearly freely accessible, where is the real constraint in a post-AI world? Solving for the true constraint—that’s the moat.

For someone in the SF tech bubble, taste feels like a natural answer. It’s the same dynamic as the one between creating and curating. Taste is knowing how to separate signal from noise, pull a needle out of a haystack, and intuitively sense what will resonate culturally—today and in the future. And yes, taste is a constraint… only so many people have it. But I think it’s actually derivative of something deeper: access.

So, what is access? At its core, access is about who you decide is in your tribe—and who decides you’re in theirs. It’s a simple definition, but I think it fits. Can you have taste if you don’t have access? I don’t think so—not in the context of tech and startups.

If a genius designer in Maine has impeccable taste, would people in SF acknowledge it? I think they would—but only once the vouch is de-risked. If someone they respect takes the social capital risk to vouch for this person in Maine, then it becomes acceptable to lean on them for their taste. But without access? That same person is just an interesting individual in Maine. And nothing more.

Access allows someone to actually get to know this person. Build a relationship. If an insider goes to Maine, spends time with them, and declares them a tastemaker, then others feel comfortable saying they have taste too. But are people handing out access like that? Absolutely not. It’s a much more organic motion—your friends become my friends, that kind of thing.

If two guys in Nevada had tried to pull off exactly what TBPN has done—down to every line—would they have been successful? I don’t know. But it definitely helped that John and Jordi were already insiders. They were high-context, deeply networked, and had access to many of the most important people in tech. The format didn’t make TBPN. The hosts did. The format just made it fun.

I think there are millions of examples like this in the world. We tell ourselves the internet is the ultimate equalizer—that if you’re good, you’ll get found. But in 2025, it’s much easier to get noticed if you’re a master shiller or cracked evangelizer. And I’m not sure that skill set always overlaps with the people the world most needs to hear from.

I actually think it’s never been harder to separate signal from noise—and AI is only making it worse. So yeah, taste matters. But the only taste that really counts is when it’s coming from someone in your circle—a mutual.

Because of this, I think the real constraint in the age of knowledge abundance—in the age of AI—is access. How can an objectively impressive outsider gain the respect and access they deserve? The answer today is: move to a hub so they can rub shoulders with people who know what to do with someone like that. SF? Probably, but expensive as hell and a huge pain for most. Hence, access is the constraint.

To build an enduring company in the age of AI, solve for the constraint. Or simply be Sam Altman 😉

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I made a video about why you should move to the Bay Area to up your startup’s odds of success. Check it out here.