No Priors · Thursday, September 24, 2026
Michael Lee explains his perspective that AI will have an uneven impact on the economy, affecting some industries more than others. He believes that by acquiring established companies with inherent advantages like brand or scale, and then integrating AI, it's possible to forge new market leaders.
“And I kind of felt strongly that AI would have an uneven impact on the economy. There are certain parts of the economy that I felt that AI just wouldn't impact at all, right? Take restaurants, golf courses, things like that.”
“There are other industries that I just felt like a startup would win, right? Take coding for example.”
“But there are, as a student of business, there have always been certain industries where I felt that the incumbent had all the advantages. And that could be brand, that could be scale, network effect, regulatory. And in light of what is going to be the biggest technological shift of our lifetime, I felt very strongly that if you could acquire the right incumbent, inherit advantages being that incumbent, you could forge the market leader.”