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A continuation of Luxury Media (2023).
In 2023, I argued that in a world of infinite content, articulating worldview is your most valuable asset. People pay to support a point of view, to signal taste, to participate in something they believe in. I called this “luxury media.”
That argument has become even clearer. AI has further collapsed production costs. Anyone can launch software in an afternoon. The only question now is whether anyone cares.
This essay explores what luxury media means for startups and business. If you’re building technology for the growing entrepreneurial population, you’re selling to a market where capability is abundant and meaning is scarce.
The barrier between producer and consumer has collapsed. While people have discussed the “prosumer” for decades, a more specific definition for this moment is needed:
A prosumer is someone with infinite capability to build and total optionality about what to build.
Once you’ve created a company, hired a team, and built a brand, your direction becomes clearer. The constraints of commitment create clarity and gravitational pull for aligned talent, capital, and customers.
Prosumers haven’t made those commitments yet. They exist in maximum capability and maximum optionality, meaning they have no forcing function for direction. They can do anything, but they are looking for somewhere to direct their energy. They are agents seeking something to believe in.
Prosumers are the fastest-growing customer segment in technology—founders, builders, creators, freelancers, indie hackers, and solopreneurs acting freely, often within networks rather than traditional organizations. The explosion of AI tools has accelerated this trend.
“Technical” and “non-technical,” “B2B” versus “B2C” are largely meaningless in the Age of Agency.
Here’s what this means for business: you cannot compete on capabilities alone. Your customers can quickly become your competitors. They will soon have personal agents solving their problems autonomously. Your product isn’t the moat. When everyone can build, no one pays for product. They pay for something else.
What do people pay for when capability is free? They pay for direction. People will pay for the signal that choosing a product sends about who they are.
This is what luxury has always been. When we buy luxury, we are buying the story more than the utility. According to the Acquired podcast, “What makes a luxury brand different from premium is the fact that it is more desirable than its function alone.”
Look at prosumer purchasing behavior today. Why are knowledge workers paying $200/month for Claude when capable alternatives exist? Who is buying all these Substacks? Why did thousands spend $500 on Mac Minis to run cloud models and open source agents?
These are luxury purchases. People vote with their wallets for a worldview they want to support and associate with.
“When your customer can build anything, the only thing worth selling is what to believe.” This is the business of luxury, and it’s the only business left in software.
If you’re selling to prosumers (which more startups are than they realize), your worldview is your product. Everything else follows.
Articulation comes first. Before building features, you need a point of view sharp enough that makes clear what people are buying into. Claude isn’t dramatically better than alternatives, but using it signals philosophy. It’s “the thinking man’s AI.”
Opinion is a feature. Consistently offer a point of view. People are often looking for someone to tell them what to do. The most beloved products encode philosophy in defaults: The Linear Method, or Obsidian’s “file over app.”
Design for identity. Every product decision reinforces or dilutes the identity your users are constructing. Marc and Los at Danger Testing understand this—they drop apps like musicians drop singles, small expressive software that says something. You don’t use their apps daily, but you share them because they signal taste.
Open Product Hunt on any given day and you’ll see dozens of “AI-powered” tools doing the same thing, with the same landing page template, same value propositions, and empty Discord servers. This is startup slop: building without taste, craft, or intention.
The alternative is luxury. Give people something to believe in. Ensure your work and words align. Build a world worth inhabiting. The nature of technology business is changing, but the opportunity has never been greater.
In software, everything else is dead on arrival.