Dave Morin, Jessica Lessin, Brit Morin, and Sam Lessin
Dave Morin, Jessica Lessin, Brit Morin, and Sam Lessin have debated the future of Silicon Valley and tech as the closest of friends for the last 15 years. Now s...
#87: Is Nike Desperate? Inside Their SKIMS Play, AI Drama & the Humane Fire Sale
Elon Musk trolled Jessica on X—at least, that’s how it seems.Was it just a marketing stunt for Grok 3, with The Information as the sacrificial lamb?Plus, Humane’s AI pin flopped, but HP swooped in for a $160M “rescue.”What does this mean for the AI hardware race? Sam has some strong opinions (spoiler: he’s not a fan of AI printers).And the internet’s latest rabbit hole: Could Jack Dorsey actually be Satoshi?Social media is unraveling, AI is becoming hyper-personalized (maybe too much so), and the next wave of consumer tech is either flopping or skyrocketing at warp speed.All that—plus the latest chaos in AI, Big Tech, and beyond—on Episode 87 of More or Less.We’re also on ↓X: https://twitter.com/moreorlesspodInstagram: https://instagram.com/moreorlessSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/moreorlesspodConnect with us here:1) Sam Lessin: https://x.com/lessin2) Dave Morin: https://x.com/davemorin3) Jessica Lessin: https://x.com/Jessicalessin4) Brit Morin: https://x.com/brit(00:00:00) Introduction(00:01:20) Bay Area ski week(00:02:38) Yoga(00:06:43) Grok 3 vs The Information(00:12:26) Best deep research model? (00:19:30) iOS bug and social media isolation(00:23:42) iPhone 16e and status symbols(00:27:49) Digital drugs(00:33:21) Do brands even matter anymore?(00:43:00) Humane fire sale and AI Printers?(00:47:07) Founders who can land a plane(00:53:31) Lost Meta "international spy technology"(00:55:40) More Or Less correspondents(00:56:50) Jack created Bitcoin?(01:00:32) Outro
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1:02:29
#86: Elon’s $97B Curveball For OpenAI
Elon Musk just threw OpenAI into chaos with a $97 billion bid for its nonprofit arm. But does he actually want it—or is it just for the memes?Meanwhile, Slow Ventures has secured $60M to bet on the future of creators, and Brit and Jessica predict the rise of serial influencers.Oh, and Google Maps is broken. Seriously. All that and more in Episode #86 of More or Less.We’re also on ↓X: https://twitter.com/moreorlesspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/moreorless Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/moreorlesspod Connect with us here: 1) Sam Lessin: https://x.com/lessin 2) Dave Morin: https://x.com/davemorin 3) Jessica Lessin: https://x.com/Jessicalessin 4) Brit Morin: https://x.com/brit(00:00:00) Trailer(00:01:07) Dressing well(00:03:38) Startups, hybrid work(00:11:47) Efficiency and productivity(00:18:51) Apple Intelligence (00:20:44) Google Maps(00:22:31) Elon's OpenAI bid(00:33:26) Who buys TikTok? (00:35:27) Bill Gates(00:41:31) Investing on people and adventure capital(00:50:30) 360 deals and musicians(00:52:34) Investing in niche creators(00:56:39) Super Bowl LIX and Kendrick Lamar(01:01:55) Outro
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1:02:54
#85: We Launched a Meme Coin... (JellyJelly)
Sam and Dave had been toying with the idea of making $$ from meme mania, but after last week’s pod, they may have taken it a little too seriously.They launched Jelly-My-Jelly ($JELLYJELLY), a meme coin that shot up to $250M—thanks, in part, to Venmo co-founder Iqram Magdon-Ismail.What happened next? Tune in to Episode #85 to find out.We’re also on ↓X: https://twitter.com/moreorlesspodInstagram: https://instagram.com/moreorlessSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/moreorlesspodConnect with us here:1) Sam Lessin: https://x.com/lessin2) Dave Morin: https://x.com/davemorin3) Jessica Lessin: https://x.com/Jessicalessin4) Brit Morin: https://x.com/brit(00:00:00) Trailer(00:01:01) Ski race and poker(00:03:00) Dave and Sam's newly-launched project(00:13:19) Fartcoin is serious(00:19:11) Everything will be tokenized(00:33:04) PvP system(00:36:47) Regulation side, Coinbase, jellyjelly(00:49:16) DOGE against the US Government?(01:06:56) Pop culture corner(01:09:52) Outro
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1:10:55
#84: China's DeepSeek Shakes the Tech World
DeepSeek—a name no one had even heard of until last week—has since given Big Tech a run for its money.
Soon after the news, they torched $1 trillion from Nvidia and other giants' market caps.
And while AI researchers call it “distillation,” aren’t LLMs recursive by design? Everyone’s distilling someone else’s work.
The real question: Did DeepSeek actually crack efficient training? Or just drop the right meme at the right time?
We’re also on ↓
X: https://twitter.com/moreorlesspod
Instagram: https://instagram.com/moreorless
Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/moreorlesspod
Connect with us here:
1) Sam Lessin: https://x.com/lessin
2) Dave Morin: https://x.com/davemorin
3) Jessica Lessin: https://x.com/Jessicalessin
4) Brit Morin: https://x.com/brit
(00:00:00) Trailer
(00:01:03) Under the weather
(00:01:43) News overload
(00:05:16) Subscriptions, trust, parasocial relationships
(00:14:21) DeepSeek and meme warfare
(00:29:09) Meme coins and the future of digital economy
(00:39:03) Regulation and trends
(00:44:04) AI is the tale of two cities
(00:49:40) Meta's strategic position
(00:55:29) DeepSeek questions
(00:59:13) Sam's watchlist
(01:01:35) Outro
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1:03:00
#83: Trump Inauguration, Stargate, and the Meme Economy
Stargate—a $500 billion AI venture straight from Trump 2.0's White House—has all the drama of a sci-fi blockbuster.
But instead of aliens (like in the movie from 30 years ago), we’ve got Elon Musk, Satya Nadella, and Sam Altman trading shots.
“SoftBank doesn’t have the money,” Elon posted on X, while Microsoft’s Nadella shot back, “I’m good for my $80 billion.” Meanwhile, Altman’s keeping things spicy with OpenAI already breaking ground.
Also on the docket:
• $TRUMP token,
• the inauguration at Capitol Hill, and
• if SoftBank buys, must you sell?
We’re also on ↓
X: https://twitter.com/moreorlesspod
Instagram: https://instagram.com/moreorless
Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/moreorlesspod
Connect with us here:
1) Sam Lessin: https://x.com/lessin
2) Dave Morin: https://x.com/davemorin
3) Jessica Lessin: https://x.com/Jessicalessin
4) Brit Morin: https://x.com/brit
Dave Morin, Jessica Lessin, Brit Morin, and Sam Lessin have debated the future of Silicon Valley and tech as the closest of friends for the last 15 years. Now six companies, two venture funds and more than a decade at Google, Apple and Facebook later, they are opening up the debate. From The Information, Offline Ventures, and Slow Ventures.
Follow the crew:
http://threads.net/davemorin
http://threads.net/brit
http://threads.net/jlessin
http://threads.net/lessin
Follow the pod:
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http://threads.net/moreorless
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