What fascinated me most about DeepSeek was not WHAT they came up with (though impressive nonetheless) but HOW their models came to be.
DeepSeek didn’t have ready access to chips to create their model as other companies did — so they worked around it.
Turns out the forcing function of less demanded creativity & led them to the profound innovation making headlines today.
We might apply forcing functions to create better outcomes in our everyday…
- Less budget on marketing ideas → better, lower CAC ideas to acquire customers
- Less time to deliver a project → more efficient with every minute (procrastinators rejoice!)
- Less devs to build a product → more focus choosing the right problems to solve
- Less available funding → greater scrappiness and focus on sustainable growth
- Less people in a meeting → more efficient discussions and quicker decisions
Less wasn’t a bug—it’s been a feature all along.
P.S. Resisted the DeepSeek bandwagon but alas…