Ben and Andrew react to a bloodbath for public Saas companies with thoughts on the future of software in the AI era, beginning with why companies choose to outsource solutions to Saas companies today, and why those moats may be more durable than skeptics think. Then: Why SaaS skepticism remains fair, including an analogy to the newspapers in the ’90s, the absence of anti-fragility, a variety of headwinds that will impact pricing power, start-ups with superior cost structures, and looming consolidation and layoff questions. At the end: The biggest SaaS company of them all and what Microsoft’s roadmap should look like, a response to data center skepticism, supply and demand for hyperscalers, why Ben hated the Anthropic Super Bowl ads, should AI hallucinations be good case law?, and a Vision Pro announcement.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

Microsoft and Software Survival — Stratechery

An Interview with Benedict Evans About AI and Software — Stratechery Interview

OpenAI Bets on Super Bowl to Break Through the Competition — Bloomberg

Sam Altman’s Response to Anthropic — X: @sama

Anthropic’s Super Bowl ads — X: @jmsltnv

Hallucinated Cases Are Good Law — X: @ProfRobAnderson

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