Essay
My Coding Agent Shouldn't Have a Boss
Claude Code is one of the best products I use. That is exactly why realizing how little of it I controlled became uncomfortable.
EssayPublished
Founder Reality / Markets
Understand the companies changing your money, your work and the world around you, through the eyes of someone building one.
Essay
Claude Code is one of the best products I use. That is exactly why realizing how little of it I controlled became uncomfortable.
EssayPublished
Essay
In the first week of July I spent over $5,000 coding through one company's API and couldn't tell you what I got for it. Here's what we actually pay now -…
EssayPublished Context note
Read with the editorial context in the article.
Read the essay: What a 3-Person Team Actually Pays for AI: July 2026AI is a starting point. The wider story is how businesses make money, gain influence and change the economy people actually experience. Whether you invest in public companies, back private ones or just want to understand the bill, start with the same questions.
Follow a customer’s money through the product, the people and the companies behind it. A growth headline is the beginning of the question.
Look at who controls access, sets the terms and makes it easy or difficult to leave. Convenience and dependence often arrive together.
Connect business decisions to the prices people pay, the work they do and the choices they keep.
Only in Markets · Interactive explainer
See who gets what from a fictional purchase, then test a fee change. Compare what the seller absorbs, what the customer pays and who controls the relationship.
Try Follow the moneyOne made-up marketplace. Editable assumptions. No account or live market data.
George Pu is the founder of SimpleDirect, an independent Canadian AI lab. Building an AI business gives him a firsthand perspective and relevant commercial interests. Read personal experience as personal experience, keep a company’s reported numbers separate from interpretation, and follow the sources and editorial notes in each article.
The existing newsletter includes George's essays and letters. Separate Markets and Adapt email preferences aren't available here yet.
Visit the general newsletter signup