{"product_id":"who-makes-money-in-ai","title":"Who Makes Money in AI: A Field Guide for Founders, Operators, and Investors","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNine trillion dollars went to the companies that make the chips. Two hundred and forty-six billion went to the ones everybody said would win.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWho Makes Money in AI is written for founders picking a layer of the AI stack, operators defending one and investors pricing it. Between the end of 2022 and September 2026 the money moved upstream and stayed there, and this book traces where it landed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwelve positions carry the AI stack. Each one sets four numbers before anyone at the company touches them: gross margin, the capital a dollar of revenue requires, when the cash arrives, and how fast the asset has to be rebuilt. A system of record keeps fifty-two cents of a revenue dollar, and forty-nine after the capital charge, on twenty cents of capital. A model owner keeps sixty, and minus a hundred and forty after the same charge. Execution moves a company inside its position, and changing position takes years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe mispricings\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe application layer is priced with too little dispersion.\u003c\/strong\u003e A real system of record and a wrapper differ by more than fifty times on the compounding test, and the venture market prices them inside a factor of two.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePower and land look cheap against the constraint they gate.\u003c\/strong\u003e The layer added $323 billion while gating a position that added $8.7 trillion, and capital cannot clear an interconnection queue.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCompute landlords look expensive against their credit quality.\u003c\/strong\u003e They keep about a fifth of what they bill, against counterparties funded by the same market that funds them.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe book closes on one rule for anyone writing a check: underwrite the position before the company, because being right about the team and wrong about the layer is the most expensive mistake in this market.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFormat\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePaperback by Nitin Kumar, 343 pages, 6 by 9 inches. Printed to order and shipped from the US, UK or Canada.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pivot Playbooks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67759393079525,"sku":"9798992302424","price":39.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0852\/8665\/0085\/files\/Who_Makes_Money_in_AI_Front_Cover_1800x2700_62662b64-3115-4f2e-a3c5-f2a569b3eab3.jpg?v=1792446852","url":"https:\/\/pivotplaybooks.com\/products\/who-makes-money-in-ai","provider":"Pivot Playbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}