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Instinct, the AI agent that lives in iMessage, is growing 10% a day, and Eric says its 23-year-old founder proves you do not need a personal brand to win. Neil explains why personal brands worked five years ago, why Neil Patel Digital became NP Digital to cut key man risk, and why shoppers now switch brands on a dime. Eric shares DHH’s talk on all the things his team no longer does, and the OpenRouter chart where agents use 7.5 trillion tokens against 1 trillion for humans. Then the bill arrives: finance teams pushing back on AI spend, a friend burning $14K a day on tokens, and Hormozi’s memo capping his team’s AI budget. They close on hiring AI-native people who can keep up. A sharp episode on brand and AI spend.

Key takeaways
◾People buy the product now, not the founder’s personal brand
◾Every AI tool needs an ROI number, not an estimate of time saved
◾Hire people who are AI native and can prove a return

Chapters
00:00 Instinct grows 10% a day, no personal brand needed
01:21 Lisa Su’s Formula One badge moment
02:06 Personal brands worked five years ago
02:41 Why Neil Patel Digital became NP Digital
04:01 Shoppers now switch brands on a dime
05:32 It has never been easier to make
06:19 DHH: look at all the things I’m not doing
07:34 Agent tokens now dwarf human tokens
10:50 Finance teams push back on AI spend
11:32 A teammate maxed out the Ahrefs tokens
13:02 A friend spends $14K a day on tokens
13:44 B2B tools ship too many features
14:49 Hormozi’s AI usage cap memo
16:44 Training won’t fix a mindset
18:28 Hire AI-native people who can keep up