Dan Hock's Essays

Momentum is Not a Moat

Why defensibility still matters and where it will come from in the AI era

15 hrs ago • Dan Hockenmaier

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August 2026

How to Build a High-Growth Operating System: 9 Lessons from 9 Years at Faire

Lessons on cadence, hiring, culture, and finding meaning at a high-growth startup.

Aug 18 • Dan Hockenmaier

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April 2026

How to Use AI Without Losing Your Mind

A common-sense, hype-free guide to using AI to become more effective

Apr 8 • Dan Hockenmaier

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March 2026

The End of Fragmentation

Why AI will consolidate markets and create the biggest businesses of all time

Mar 19 • Dan Hockenmaier

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February 2026

The Software Shakeout: What Is Durable and What Is Not in the Age of AI?

A lot has been said about the software selloff in the last few weeks. This is an attempt to distill all of that into a framework to predict which…

Feb 19 • Dan Hockenmaier

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Becoming an artist to outrun the machines

The skills that still matter as AI progresses, and how to develop them

Feb 10 • Dan Hockenmaier

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January 2026

LLMs vs. Marketplaces

Which marketplaces will probably win the battle with LLMs, which will probably lose, and what any marketplace can do to improve its odds.

Jan 13 • Dan Hockenmaier

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September 2025

How to make your writing C.R.I.S.P.

A framework for improving your business writing with templates and an LLM prompt

Sep 4, 2025 • Dan Hockenmaier

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July 2025

Vibe Analysis

AI is coming for data analysis, and it will never be the same

Jul 31, 2025 • Dan Hockenmaier

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Build, Sell, Understand

A framework for navigating your startup career

Jul 14, 2025 • Dan Hockenmaier

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June 2025

The internet killed general-purpose products. AI will bring them back.

AI will break fundamental trade-offs in product design and bring back massive general-purpose products in retail, media, education, and more.

Jun 11, 2025 • Dan Hockenmaier

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February 2025

How to Design an Org for Founder Mode

Examples from Apple, Airbnb, Shopify, and Nvidia

Feb 7, 2025 • Dan Hockenmaier

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