Kiko's Musings

Thoughts on the Agent-Mediated Economy

Consumer inertia, customer ownership, and the game theory of letting agents do the shopping

Sep 2 • Francisco "Kiko" H. de Mello

May 2026

The Legible Lever: Why AI Might Hit SaaS Before It Creates Growth

Et ceteris paribus, growth is undoubtedly harder to obtain than margin improvements.

May 27 • Francisco "Kiko" H. de Mello

An Old Email From A Young Kiko

This is an old email I found in my inbox after reading this tweet and remembering I once also thought the magazine Granta was a joke.

May 18 • Francisco "Kiko" H. de Mello

June 2025

Founder Mode or Manager Mode? Yes

It's neither founder mode all the way nor manager mode all the way. The right way to manage a company is being both at different times, in different…

Jun 17, 2025 • Francisco "Kiko" H. de Mello

April 2025

From Wages to Compute

The Shifting Landscape of Work, Wealth (and Public Finances) in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Apr 4, 2025 • Francisco "Kiko" H. de Mello

March 2025

The Venture Capital Equation

The math that undergirds the startup game

Mar 8, 2025 • Francisco "Kiko" H. de Mello

On The Game of Startups (AI Edition)

What game are you playing really?

Mar 8, 2025 • Francisco Souza Homem de Mello

February 2025

How to Think About Market

Why do startups fail outright, or fail to reach the skies? I argue that a lot has to do with too *little* top down thinking in picking a good…

Feb 24, 2025 • Francisco "Kiko" H. de Mello

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December 2024

Thoughts on Vertical x Functional Agents

Startups will eventually have to choose between being vertical-first or being functional-first

Dec 6, 2024 • Francisco "Kiko" H. de Mello

December 2023

On enterprise sales and performance: applying Total Quality Management concepts to the world of B2B SaaS

A reflection about the sales ladder and what each of the main levels entails.

Dec 8, 2023 • Francisco "Kiko" H. de Mello

July 2023

Meta's Threads x Twitter: Lessons on Competitive Strategy and the Commoditization of "Competitors"

Kevin Systrom + Matt Cohler's texts show how worried about Twitter Mark Zuckerberg has historically been. Cohler, a former Facebook executive, says "he…

Jul 6, 2023 • Francisco "Kiko" H. de Mello

June 2023

AI, enterprise software, and disruptive innovation

A AI-motivated follow-up to The Never-Ending Cycle of Disruptive Innovation in Enterprise Software

Jun 16, 2023 • Francisco "Kiko" H. de Mello