AI is boosting output across startups, but higher productivity doesn’t automatically create more value. As teams generate more code, content, and reports, the actual work—judgment, taste, and problem-solving—remains human. The result is a growing gap between the feeling of speed and actual business.

Everyone claims AI makes them 10x more productive. I measured it. The results are more nuanced — and...

AI is boosting output across startups, but higher productivity doesn’t automatically create more value. As teams generate more code, content, and reports, the actual…