Bitcoin, AI and the Way Out of the Permanent Underclass | Fernando Nikolić #230

<p>Fernando left his job as VP of Marketing at Blockstream to build a product on his own. Seven months later, still in beta, it was profitable. He has no employees, no investors and no board. Just a fleet of agents and a very clear view of where all this is heading.</p><p><br></p><p>He joins Jordan Walker to talk about what building actually looks like now, why the hardest part is no longer the code, and what happens to everyone who isn&#39;t a builder.</p><p><br></p><p>In this episode with Fernando:</p><p><br></p><p>Why the coding is now the easy part, and selling is still the hard part</p><p>Leaving Blockstream to go solo, and what he doesn&#39;t miss about managing a team</p><p>The moment in a demo call that tells you the truth</p><p>Running a business on a fleet of agents instead of employees</p><p>Why so much company content has started to sound identical</p><p>What happens to jobs when firms stop hiring altogether</p><p>Holding something scarce when the money supply isn&#39;t</p><p><br></p><p>Chapters:</p><p>00:00 Coming up</p><p>01:50 Seeing an early Perception demo</p><p>04:00 When AI was a glorified Stack Overflow</p><p>06:00 Does this feel like the early internet?</p><p>10:00 The trap of feeling productive</p><p>12:00 Coding is commoditised, selling isn&#39;t</p><p>16:00 Leaving Blockstream to build Perception</p><p>18:30 Nobody wanted the dashboard</p><p>21:00 The pivot to agents and MCP</p><p>25:30 The money moment is the honest moment</p><p>28:30 Can you lean on AI too much?</p><p>36:30 What agents actually save you</p><p>45:30 The real problem with AI slop</p><p>49:20 Profitable in beta, bootstrapped, solo</p><p>58:00 Jobs, ten years out</p><p>01:03:20 Hold something scarce</p><p><br></p><p>🇬🇧 Join the UK Bitcoin Business Network here: https://www.joinbbn.com/</p><p><br></p><p>FIND FERNANDO:</p><p>X - https://x.com/basedlayer?lang=en</p><p>Bitcoin Perception - https://bitcoinperception.com</p><p><br></p><p>CONTACT JORDAN:</p><p>X: https://x.com/JayW132</p><p>LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-walker-293955106/</p><p>Email: hello@bitcoincollective.co</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>📬READ OUR NEWSLETTER: https://newsletter.bitcoincollective.co/</p><p><br></p><p>LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE:</p><p>Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/06sBiOznJDxuhafDmkE9VK?si=3f0a8bb8abd64eec</p><p>Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-bitcoin-collective/id1561573613</p><p>Fountain: https://fountain.fm/show/AYHiNhTTv0HOgGEjRjWN</p><p>YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bitcoincollective?sub_confirmation=1</p><p><br></p><p>All content provided by The Bitcoin Collective and guests in this episode is for informational and educational purposes only and is not financial, trading, or investment advice.</p><p><br></p><p>⸻</p><p>EDITED BY JAMES PEARCE</p><p>www.selectedfrequencies.com</p><p><br></p><p>Available now on YouTube and all major podcast platforms. This episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research.</p><p><br></p><p>Nobody Wanted His Dashboard, So He Binned It </p><p>He Left Blockstream to Build Alone </p><p>Why Coding Is Now the Easy Part</p>