Bits and Bobs 3/23/2026

Vertical AI is compressing the B2C-to-infrastructure arc into a single move.

  • Vertical AI is compressing the B2C-to-infrastructure arc into a single move.
    • This is how we think of things for Shelf.
    • In prior cycles, consumer and infrastructure evolved sequentially. Google and Amazon built massive consumer audiences first, then over years exposed capabilities as infrastructure. AWS didn't follow S3 overnight. The cycles were long and linear.
    • What's happening now is different. Consumer and infrastructure aren't sequential anymore. They're simultaneous. Launch a consumer-facing tool, build a differentiated intelligence layer, then expose that layer as APIs and agent capabilities, all within the same product cycle.
    • Consumer builds data, UX iteration, brand, and real-world feedback loops. Infrastructure builds revenue durability, distribution hedge, and strategic leverage. They're not two businesses. They're one compounding engine.
    • Early examples: Mindtrip building an agent-first travel layer on top of its consumer planner. Daydream decoupling visual search intelligence from its consumer UI to power brand websites directly. Duckbill bringing human-in-the-loop trust into agent ecosystems via MCP.
    • The real question is whether there's a single intelligence core compounding across both surfaces, or just two adjacent products under one roof. The latter is operational complexity. The former is a control plane.
    • The strategic hedge: if distribution concentrates around a few dominant AI interfaces, you want to be the vertical brain they call. If distribution fragments, you want to own the daily habit directly. Building both surfaces covers either outcome.
    • h/t Kristen Green for this framing.

Enabling user agency as a product design principle

  • Enabling user agency as a product design principle
    • People want to feel like they own their space. They want authorship over what represents them.
    • RE: Shelf. A shelf that just records is a receipt. A shelf you've touched is an identity.
    • Folks want authorship, to get a sense of accuracy.
    • Users build more trust when they feel like tehy participated in making it correct.

More moves toward action-based pricing.

  • More moves toward action-based pricing.
    • Clay just changed their pricing - which btw is worth studying: transparent, explained in detail, with a clear rationale tied to the value of actions taken rather than seats or access.
    • As AI shifts more products from "tool you use" to "work that gets done," pricing should follow. Charging per action aligns cost with value delivered. It also makes the product accountable: if the work isn't valuable, you don't pay.
    • The harder part is making this legible. Action-based pricing requires users to trust that they understand what they're being charged for.