Build for Value — Not for the Hype: How some AI Companies are Winning, and others aren't (Edge of the Napkin #11)

Edge of the Napkin #11

There’s a feeling that sweeps through every era of innovation — that electrifying sense of this is it. The next big wave. The one that’s going to change everything.

In this episode of Edge of the Napkin, Govindh Jayaraman dives into what happens when high-expectation innovation collides with reality — when the future we bet on becomes today’s proving ground. The AI boom, once the unstoppable tide lifting every boat in sight, is now pulling back. Markets are correcting. The water is getting choppy. And what’s being revealed isn’t failure — it’s truth.

Because in every correction, there’s clarity.
And clarity always comes back to one simple principle: Build for value — not for the hype.

 

When the Rising Tide Turns

A rising tide, they say, lifts all boats.
But when the tide goes out, you see who built on sand.

For years, AI was the tide. Money poured in. Startups ballooned overnight. Everyone rebranded themselves with a shiny “AI-powered” tagline, believing that being in the space was enough. The energy was intoxicating — the gold rush mentality that said, “Just show up, and you’ll win.”

But hype, like all waves, always breaks.

Now, as markets tighten and investors demand results, reality has set in. The companies that were built to chase attention are scrambling. The ones that were built to create real value are rising.

Because when the water recedes, what’s left standing is what was anchored well.

 

From Hype to Heart

There’s a rhythm to entrepreneurship — expansion, contraction, recalibration.
When everyone’s sprinting forward, it’s easy to get swept up in the rush. Easy to mistake momentum for mastery.

But that’s not leadership. That’s reaction.

Leadership happens when the story changes. When “growth at all costs” becomes “growth with purpose.” When we stop asking, How big can we get? and start asking, How deep can we go?

Because business isn’t just numbers — it’s emotion.
It’s how you feel about what you do.
It’s how your team feels showing up every day.
It’s how your customers feel when they interact with your brand.

Those feelings — that energy — are what drive value. And when hype fades, that’s the energy that remains.

The entrepreneurs who are still standing today? They’re not the ones who shouted the loudest. They’re the ones who listened the hardest.

 

The AI Lesson for Everyone

AI is not the villain of this story. It’s the mirror.
It shows us what happens when excitement outruns execution, when vision leaps ahead of value.

Most of the companies that faltered weren’t wrong about AI’s potential — they were wrong about how fast value compounds. They extracted before they contributed. They optimized before they empathized. They sold the sizzle before they built the steak.

And that’s the real takeaway here — innovation is not about invention alone. It’s about integration.
It’s about how well your innovation serves people.
Because profit doesn’t follow hype.
Profit follows contribution.

 

5 Key Takeaways (and How to Take Action)

1. Value Is the Foundation

The companies that last are the ones that start with contribution, not extraction.
Hype builds momentum; value builds endurance.

Take Action:
Revisit your business model. For every revenue line, write down what human problem it actually solves. If you can’t find one, refine it until you can.

 

2. Simplicity Wins When Times Get Complex

When markets get noisy, the message that cuts through is the one that’s clear. Complexity repels. Simplicity attracts.

Take Action:
Ask yourself, If I had to explain what I do in one sentence, could I?
Practice until your purpose fits on a napkin — literally.

 

3. Energy Shapes Outcomes

The emotional tone of your team, your clients, and your leadership ripples through everything you build. When that energy is aligned, momentum becomes effortless.

Take Action:
Start every meeting with one question: How are we feeling about what we’re doing?
You’ll be amazed at what surfaces — and what shifts when people feel seen.

 

4. Execution Is the Antidote to Illusion

Vision without action is imagination. Execution turns imagination into impact. The companies that rise after correction are the ones that turn talk into traction.

Take Action:
Review your “someday” list and move one idea into action today.
Momentum comes not from motion — but from completion.

 

5. Profit Follows Contribution

It’s not magic. It’s alignment. When your focus is on serving — deeply, meaningfully — the results take care of themselves.

Take Action:
Create a metric for contribution.
Track not just what you make, but how much value you add.
The simplest way to attract success is to deserve it.

 

The Proving Ground Is a Gift

Every hype cycle ends with a lesson — not a loss.
This correction, this cooling-off period in AI, is not a collapse. It’s a cleansing.
It’s a collective return to what really matters: helping people.

And when you zoom out, that’s the story of entrepreneurship itself.
We fall in love with possibility. We overreach. We get humbled.
Then we build again — this time, wiser.

So if your tide feels like it’s pulling back right now… good.
It means you’re getting the chance to see what’s real.
And if you choose to re-anchor in value — in simplicity, in contribution — you’ll build something that doesn’t just rise with the wave…
it stands when the water retreats.

 

The Napkin

“Build for value — not for the hype.”
Underneath that truth lives every great turnaround story.
Every comeback. Every leader who’s weathered the storm and found their center again.

Because the proving ground isn’t punishment — it’s practice.
It’s where hype burns off and integrity begins.
It’s where we remember that success isn’t about how loud we are, but how much light we bring.

 

Listen to Episode 312 – Edge of the Napkin #11:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/paper-napkin-wisdom/id735345903
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ejOegCltch4RZsqCRKUm3
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@papernapkinwisdom-podcastf1563

 

Final Thought

When your future bet becomes today’s proving ground, take a breath.
Step back.
Ask: Am I building for value… or chasing the hype?

And if you find yourself off-center, that’s okay — it just means the tide has gone out.
Now you get to see the foundation.
Now you get to build again — this time, for real.