Tweener Tips - Moats, (Really) Big Ideas, Zero Clicks and Screens,
What ARK, NFX, a16z, and Similarweb are telling us about where technology (and opportunity) is actually heading in 2026 and beyond.
Every once in a while, a cluster of reports, essays, and talks land at the same time and quietly snap into focus. Different firms with different angles, but a shared signal: the pace of change is accelerating, and the surface-level narratives aren’t enough anymore.
This week, several pieces stood out to us. They span public markets, venture investing, product strategy, and behavioral shifts driven by AI. Together, they paint a pretty compelling picture of where founders, operators, and investors should be paying attention next.
If you’re building, investing, or just trying to understand what’s actually changing (and what’s hype), this is a great set to dig into.
But before we dive in, this series is made possible by our sponsors, so let’s give them a quick shout-out 👇
Loving our content? It wouldn’t be possible without our amazing sponsors and our paid subscribers, so THANK YOU!
Featured Gold Sponsor
Featured Silver Sponsor
2025 Sponsors
ExtensisHR - As a Professional Employer Organization (PEO), ExtensisHR empowers tech founders and growing businesses to scale smarter. We take HR administration off your plate—managing payroll, recruiting, employee benefits and retirement plans, compliance, risk, and more—so you can focus on innovation. For over 25 years we’ve leveraged a people-first approach, customer-centric mindset, and deep industry expertise to ensure employers have the tools needed to stay competitive in today’s market.
And special thanks to our friends at Walk West for partnering with us to produce this pod!
ARK Invest’s Big Ideas for 2026
Bold bets from the public-markets side of innovation
ARK Invest is a bit of an outlier in the investing world. Unlike most buy-side firms, they publish their research openly, a practice more commonly associated with sell-side analysts.
Led by Cathie Wood (who you’ve probably seen on CNBC), ARK just released their Big Ideas for 2026, and it’s one of their strongest syntheses yet.
What’s refreshing about this report is its range. It doesn’t just zoom in on AI, it connects AI to HealthTech, SpaceTech, Robotics, Defense, DevTools, and more, framing them as converging forces rather than isolated sectors.
If you’re a founder, this deck is especially energizing. It captures something that’s easy to forget in the day-to-day grind: this really is one of the most exciting moments in recent history to be building.
