"People with talent apply their community skills in management, business, and politics.
The talentless use politics to impose themselves on a community."
-Elias Bizzanes
This is the first Twitter post I saw today, from one of the ex-Airchatter.
And it resonated deeply with me. It is so because I have come to notice that the above lines are the biggest context to leverage.
Leverage is the ability to amplify impact without proportional effort, often through tools, systems, or networks. Often times, leverage is not just about working harder but about working smarter-using resources like code, media, or community to scale outcomes exponentially.
For example, a single piece of software, like chatgpt can serve millions with minimal additional cost, unlike manual labor. It is also a great example of how a disruptive techs style is copied by the competitors without using creative logic to change its style and impact. Further, this is an example where what people will call "subject matter" or "machine learning"- is now a plain piece of software.
Recent MIDD advancements show talented scientists providing vision (e.g., defining biological targets or ethical constraints) while AI handles the "doing" (e.g., generating candidates or predicting interactions), exponentially scaling outcomes without proportional effort. Examples of these are, Alphabet's Isomorphic Labs where human experts set strategic goals (e.g., targeting "undruggable" proteins like KRAS), while AI screened billions of possibilities, cutting timelines by months. Or, Standford Virtual labs Chan Zuckerberg Biohub's AI agents autonomously designed and validated COVID-19 nanobodies with >90% viability, using <1% human input.
Leverage, therefore, is the modern alchemy of turning small inputs into massive outputs, but it requires strategic thinking and access to the right tools or networks.
This aligns with Elias' quote above because the talented leverage their skills to build and serve, creating value through genuine contribution. The talentless, lacking such ability, resort to manipulation, politics as a shortcut to power without substance. This can be observed where people are seen floundering when tasked with leading AI initiatives. They lack the vision to leverage AI effectively, relying on their teams to execute while they posture to maintain relevance.
The talentless use politics to impose themselves on a community."
-Elias Bizzanes
This is the first Twitter post I saw today, from one of the ex-Airchatter.
And it resonated deeply with me. It is so because I have come to notice that the above lines are the biggest context to leverage.
Leverage is the ability to amplify impact without proportional effort, often through tools, systems, or networks. Often times, leverage is not just about working harder but about working smarter-using resources like code, media, or community to scale outcomes exponentially.
For example, a single piece of software, like chatgpt can serve millions with minimal additional cost, unlike manual labor. It is also a great example of how a disruptive techs style is copied by the competitors without using creative logic to change its style and impact. Further, this is an example where what people will call "subject matter" or "machine learning"- is now a plain piece of software.
Recent MIDD advancements show talented scientists providing vision (e.g., defining biological targets or ethical constraints) while AI handles the "doing" (e.g., generating candidates or predicting interactions), exponentially scaling outcomes without proportional effort. Examples of these are, Alphabet's Isomorphic Labs where human experts set strategic goals (e.g., targeting "undruggable" proteins like KRAS), while AI screened billions of possibilities, cutting timelines by months. Or, Standford Virtual labs Chan Zuckerberg Biohub's AI agents autonomously designed and validated COVID-19 nanobodies with >90% viability, using <1% human input.
Leverage, therefore, is the modern alchemy of turning small inputs into massive outputs, but it requires strategic thinking and access to the right tools or networks.
This aligns with Elias' quote above because the talented leverage their skills to build and serve, creating value through genuine contribution. The talentless, lacking such ability, resort to manipulation, politics as a shortcut to power without substance. This can be observed where people are seen floundering when tasked with leading AI initiatives. They lack the vision to leverage AI effectively, relying on their teams to execute while they posture to maintain relevance.
The Talentless and the Illusion of Leverage
When the talentless are placed in positions of power, they often fail to harness true leverage. They “suddenly don’t know what to do with their skills” and depend on their team for execution. This is because leverage requires deep thinking, not just delegation. AI is a powerful tool, but it’s not a magic wand. Without a clear framework or strategic intent, we can flounder, using authority to create an illusion of importance. In such cases, one is not building; one is performing. Those are clearly different motivations.
Contrast this with the talented, who apply their skills to create systems that benefit the collective. In management, they inspire and align teams toward a shared goal. In business, this attitude innovates products or services to push them to one that solves real problems. In politics, the talented build coalitions that uplift rather than exploit. Similarly, multimodal AI models broke silos in drug discovery, fusing genomic, clinical, and imaging data to reveal hidden patterns in rare diseases. Or, the most recent prompt to pill , multi agent pipelines that visions out the augmentation of humans with AI for the entire drug product lifecycle.
These are forms of leverage- using community, trust, or tools like AI to amplify impact. There are many highschoolers for example who are leveraging accessible technology (3D printers, basic coding) to create a community- on internet. That’s talent in action: identifying a need, applying skills, and scaling impact through creation. Their life though is entirely lived on the digital world.
Contrast this with the talented, who apply their skills to create systems that benefit the collective. In management, they inspire and align teams toward a shared goal. In business, this attitude innovates products or services to push them to one that solves real problems. In politics, the talented build coalitions that uplift rather than exploit. Similarly, multimodal AI models broke silos in drug discovery, fusing genomic, clinical, and imaging data to reveal hidden patterns in rare diseases. Or, the most recent prompt to pill , multi agent pipelines that visions out the augmentation of humans with AI for the entire drug product lifecycle.
These are forms of leverage- using community, trust, or tools like AI to amplify impact. There are many highschoolers for example who are leveraging accessible technology (3D printers, basic coding) to create a community- on internet. That’s talent in action: identifying a need, applying skills, and scaling impact through creation. Their life though is entirely lived on the digital world.
The Internet’s Decline and the Search for Authentic Leverage
The internet’s current state is pretty sad. Yongsters are consuming divisive content, third-world propagandists chasing TikTok payouts, and everyone filtering their words through AI (including myself) for validation points to a deeper issue: the erosion of authentic leverage.
The internet was once a playground for creators, a place where people could indeed build something or share research well and foster real connection. I could find scientists and their scientific work easily- consume it and also have a chance to rebutt it. Now, it’s a battleground of noise, where algorithms reward outrage and conformity over originality. This is what happens when leverage is misused. Further, the children are less and less understanding emotions or reading body language. The intensity of understanding connection and helping create those are diminishing due to the continuous digital presence.
Philosophically, this reflects a tension between freedom and control. The internet promised decentralized freedom, but it’s been co-opted by centralized forces—corporations, algorithms, and political actors—who use it to impose their agendas.
Such a case is seen in the world of pharma too, where advancements are fostering decentralized, original creation (e.g., open datasets), but warn of control (e.g., proprietary models). Quantum AI explores novel spaces, human strategy filters authentic leverage against cancer. I think the future is more open than what we see right now for drug discovery, and I hope to imagine: Youngsters inspired by these open breakthroughs, coding their own MIDD models, fostering empathy and cures while collaborating with scientists. That for me is true techbio
The internet was once a playground for creators, a place where people could indeed build something or share research well and foster real connection. I could find scientists and their scientific work easily- consume it and also have a chance to rebutt it. Now, it’s a battleground of noise, where algorithms reward outrage and conformity over originality. This is what happens when leverage is misused. Further, the children are less and less understanding emotions or reading body language. The intensity of understanding connection and helping create those are diminishing due to the continuous digital presence.
Philosophically, this reflects a tension between freedom and control. The internet promised decentralized freedom, but it’s been co-opted by centralized forces—corporations, algorithms, and political actors—who use it to impose their agendas.
Such a case is seen in the world of pharma too, where advancements are fostering decentralized, original creation (e.g., open datasets), but warn of control (e.g., proprietary models). Quantum AI explores novel spaces, human strategy filters authentic leverage against cancer. I think the future is more open than what we see right now for drug discovery, and I hope to imagine: Youngsters inspired by these open breakthroughs, coding their own MIDD models, fostering empathy and cures while collaborating with scientists. That for me is true techbio
With AI, one must do 80% of the thinking and outsource only the doing. This is crucial. AI is a leverage multiplier, but it’s not a substitute for vision. And leverage comes from strategic use of tools, not blind reliance on them.
Pic: grok imagine Arcane inspired.