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Paul Graham: Why ‘Obvious’ Ideas Fail

Praveen Panjiar

20 Nov 2025 — 6 min read

September 28, 2025

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In This Edition:

Agentic AI: The Next $B Wave
Will AI Replace Your Sales Interns?
Idea → MVP in 7 Days with AI
Paul Graham: Why ‘Obvious’ Ideas Fail
VCs’ New AI Startup Checklist

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Agentic AI: Why VCs Say It’s the Next Multi-Billion-Dollar Wave

Investors are shifting focus from general-purpose AI to agentic systems—autonomous AI that doesn’t just answer but acts on behalf of users.

Why VCs believe it’s a multi-billion-dollar opportunity:

Autonomous execution → AI handling tasks end-to-end, not just providing outputs
⚡ Productivity leap → Replacing entire workflows across sales, support, and ops
Scalable demand → Every sector, from healthcare to finance, benefits from agents
Early signals → Startups in this space already drawing oversized seed rounds
Strategic moat → Teams that master orchestration will own defensible markets

The shift is clear: agentic AI is not hype—it’s the next competitive layer where startups can carve billion-dollar niches.

Curious which startups are leading this charge and why investors are doubling down? Explore the full breakdown here.

Will AI Replace Your Sales Interns? A Startup Case Study

A growing number of startups are testing whether AI can handle the tasks traditionally assigned to sales interns. The findings reveal a shift in how teams think about early-stage sales support.

What the case study uncovered:

Lead sourcing → AI tools processed 10x more leads in less time
✉️ Outreach → Personalized emails generated higher open and reply rates
Time savings → Routine research and data entry reduced by 80%
Cost efficiency → Operational expenses dropped significantly compared to intern programs
⚠️ Limitations → AI struggled with nuanced conversations and unstructured data

The insight is clear: AI may not fully replace interns yet, but it is reshaping how sales leaders allocate tasks and budget.

Explore the full case study to see where AI adds the most value—and where humans remain irreplaceable.

From Idea to MVP in 7 Days: Startups Using Pythagora & GPT-Pilot

Startups are no longer waiting months to test an idea. With tools like Pythagora and GPT-Pilot, founders are compressing the journey from concept to minimum viable product into a single week.

⚡ Key advantages these teams reported:

Rapid prototyping → Functional apps built without heavy engineering teams
⏱ Time-to-market → Weeks of development reduced to days
Cost savings → Lower upfront spend on design, testing, and engineering resources
Faster iteration → Immediate user feedback drives product-market fit experiments
Founder focus → More time spent on customers, less on debugging code

This shift shows how automation and AI-first workflows are redefining the startup playbook.

Curious how these tools work in practice—and which startups are already scaling with them? Explore the full breakdown here.

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Founder Hot Take: Paul Graham on ‘Why Obvious Ideas Rarely Work’

Paul Graham highlights a paradox in entrepreneurship: the most obvious startup ideas are rarely the ones that succeed.

Key points from his insight:

Obvious ≠ original → If it’s clear to everyone, competitors are already building it.
⚡ Non-obvious wins → Breakthroughs often hide behind mistaken assumptions or ignored niches.
Founder advantage → Insight comes from spotting what others overlook, not chasing trends.
Market truth → Many billion-dollar companies started as “weird” or “niche” ideas.
Investor perspective → VCs often back contrarian founders who see value in overlooked spaces.

The lesson is clear: innovation thrives in the shadows of doubt, not in the spotlight of consensus.

Before the Startup with Paul Graham (How to Start a Startup 2014: Lecture 3)

Explore the full context of Paul Graham’s take—and why it matters for founders searching for their next big idea.

Best AI Tools Directory: Transforming Innovation into Success

Startups Buzz

Why the Best Startup Skill Might Be Saying No

Saying yes to everything drains focus. The founders who win big are the ones who say no—relentlessly—to protect their time and energy.

Learn why ‘No’ is the ultimate growth skill

What Airbnb’s Brian Chesky Learned From Burnout

Airbnb’s co-founder hit burnout during hypergrowth—and came back stronger by reshaping how he worked. His lessons can help founders avoid costly burnout while scaling.

See the 7 lessons every founder should know

50 Pre-Seed Funds Every Founder Should Know

Papermark compiles a list of the most active pre-seed investors — a handy resource for marketers to identify sectors where new product launches will emerge.

View the full pre-seed list

20,000-Word Personal Finance Guide for Founders

Built for startup founders, this deep-dive Notion guide covers everything—equity structures, cap table setup, fundraising, taxes, team hiring & compensation, plus selling secondaries and planning your exit. Every section is actionable and founder-tested so you can build wealth while building your company.

Click to unlock the complete founder-focused personal finance playbook now

VC Insights: The New Due Diligence Checklist for AI Startups

Venture capital firms are updating how they evaluate AI startups. Beyond product demos and market size, investors now scrutinize deeper factors that determine long-term defensibility.

What’s on the new checklist: