Social Media is a Dumpster Fire (and We’ve Got Matches) + How SaaS and eCom are Being Rebuilt 👀

Hey ASOM Fam,

The future isn’t just knocking—it’s kicking down the door. This week, we’re diving into how AI is reshaping the world faster than a ChatGPT-generated social post. (trust us, that joke hits hard in this issue).

Oh, and don’t worry—we’ve got plenty to say about the dumpster fire that is LinkedIn/X content right now (looking at you, humblebraggers and “eCom Gurus”).

Here’s what’s on the menu:

🔥 John’s war on bad LinkedIn content: From burnout bingo to fake wins, he’s got a spicy take on why your feed needs a serious detox.

👀 Bryan’s authenticity roast: Faking it on X and LinkedIn has never been funnier—or more cringe-worthy.

👾 Jimmy’s AI awakening: How the rise of AI is turning SaaS upside down and why it’s time to get your hands dirty with prompts and code.

💰 Amer’s holiday survival guide: Temu, Amazon Haul, and the shrinking margins that could redefine small business as we know it.

Let’s get real about what’s next—and have some fun while we’re at it. Keep reading and let’s get into the nitty gritty.

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Sh*t posts on LinkedIn..

I read a recent post on LinkedIn by Jordan West and it struck a nerve because it is so spot on. 

There is so much garbage content on LinkedIn these days. 

I don’t want to hear about 10 ways to overcome burnout 5 times a day. I think I have burnout from reading burnout posts. If It’s not burnout I am feeling, maybe I have PTSD from it.

I don’t want to hear about how GREAT FAILING is because you learn something. Let’s not normalize failing and celebrating it this much. Yes, you can have learnings from the Ls you take, but not every failure provides actionable learnings.

Are these people just throwing a concept in ChatGPT and asking for 50 versions of a post?

This is not good content folks, nobody is going to read this type of content and have a takeaway/learning from it. I get it, it performs mildly well so you are leaning in. More people are following you so you think it’s good content?

Now, maybe I am jaded. I am not actually selling anything on LinkedIn so maybe this garbage content is filling up their funnel. I have also never really been a fan of motivational content so maybe I am simply not the target.

I am not always right. I realize this. I am right though in the fact that this content is NOT good.

The only thing worse than this type of content are this week’s posts correlating the Tyson Paul fight to their industry/job.

I want to provide actual actionable insights in my content or I am sharing something for self-promotional reasons. (e.g. like Check out the first episode of BattlGames exclusively on YouTube)

Now don’t even get me started on some of the comments you see on these posts. I can’t tell if the majority are AI or echo chamber garbage.

Everyone’s Faking It on X and LinkedIn And It’s Hilarious!

Let’s have a brutally honest moment: No one is authentic anymore on X (Twitter for you holdouts) or LinkedIn. These platforms have become the Wild West of fakery, humblebrags, and inflated metrics and it’s peak comedy if you look close enough.

Everyone’s a Guru Now

X and LinkedIn have created a new species of human: the “Ecom Guru” or “Ecom Bro”. These folks are self-declared experts because they have a lot of followers. Their advice? “Test everything!” Wow, groundbreaking stuff. I’m sure Bezos is quaking.

Remember, oftentimes the more expensive light bulbs aren’t the brightest ones.

Posting for Clout

Let’s not forget the “hustle and grind” crowd. You’ll see them posting photos of their laptops at 3 a.m. with captions like, “While you sleep, I’m scaling my store.” No, Brad, you’re not scaling anything. You’re doomscrolling Alibaba for knockoff fanny packs. Shut up Brad.

And the LinkedIn “wins” are even better. “Just signed a deal with a $50M brand!” 

Translation: They got a free tote bag at a trade show.

So What’s the Point?

The eCommerce space is full of incredible people doing amazing things (like us), but it’s hard to see them when your feed is clogged with wannabe sharks swimming in a puddle.

Here’s a wild idea: let’s all take a step back and remember what actually builds businesses. I’m talking about real relationships, real effort, and maybe even real data. Authenticity isn’t a marketing strategy; it’s just being human.

But hey, if you’re going to fake it, at least make it funny so we can all laugh together.

The Race to the Bottom

This year’s holiday season, we will receive a test of what the future of commerce might look like for small businesses in the United States and Canada.

With Temu gaining more and more traction in the United States, Amazon followed suit with Amazon Haul. For consumers, at first, both Temu and Amazon Haul are a blessing, especially while still recovering from inflation. 

Amazon Haul and Temu have the potential to take over SMB e-commerce, just as Walmart took over middle America. And, if Amazon is pushing Haul, no pun intended, do not worry – Walmart will do the same. 

Temu and Amazon have immense buying power and subscriber base. SMBs already struggle to compete with Amazon’s massive scale and pricing power. With Haul, Amazon is doubling down on ultra-low prices, putting pressure on SMBs to either cut margins further or find ways to differentiate. For many, those margins are already razor-thin.

If consumers have a sizeable lean towards Temu and Amazon Haul this holiday season, the struggling SMBs will not survive BFCM 2025.

This could also impact existing Amazon sellers. Amazon’s marketplace is already hyper-competitive for sellers. The new Haul section could potentially divert traffic away from independent sellers’ products, especially if Amazon prioritizes its own Haul items in search results and recommendations. This will have a larger impact than Amazon Basics. 

Just the way some talk about the shrinking middle class, we will now talk about the shrinking of mid-level products. Cheap goods will lean to Amazon Haul and Temu, where the opportunity will lay with SMBs is in the premium products and services.

It’s a shift that could redefine the playing field for U.S. small businesses. To survive and thrive, SMBs will need to double down on their unique value propositions, emphasize brand loyalty, and explore alternative channels to reach their audiences. We have to watch this holiday season very closely and the transition into 2025 – it will be a telling tale of what is to come. Some SMBs may need to rethink their strategy and offerings as we jump into the next year.

The death of SaaS… Hello AGI.

Since I started to exit the day to day over at Sendlane, I’ve been AI obsessed.

One thing you may not know about me is, I’m a non-technical tech founder. I founded and scaled a tech company.. Without knowing any tech.

But I do know the product and I know the principles are engineering enough that if I had a team of developers… I could be dangerous. 

Enter:  ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok.

With the recent updates to AI, especially ChatGPT-4o with canvas and Claude’s 3.5 Sonnet, my life is changing.

I have been quietly working with each to write code. 

A simple prompt can produce 100’s of lines of code. 

A UI/X? Jump over to v0.dev and build a friendly Ui/X. 

All within minutes.. Seconds…compared to the days and weeks a human output is required to do the same thing.

Jump on Cursor .. start editing and adding code live. Sure.. we could argue it’s not PERFECT but it’s close. 

AI is here to change the SaaS landscape.

A tool you’re probably paying $10-$20-$50..$200 a month for? It will soon be (and already can be) reproduced for your own installation of your favorite tool, throw it up on a AWS instance and load up some GItHub and suddenly, you’re producing real solutions to your own personal needs.

You can tweak it for your specific user stories. 

You can tweak it to look and feel the way YOU want.

And you can add features with a prompt.. 

SaaS started because engineering/coding was hard.

In 2012, producing a review application was big work.

In 2024, it’s a handful of lines of prompts. 

The world is about to be disrupted and SaaS won’t die overnight, but it’s going to evolve into the one thing all investors hate: Services.

Services.. That use a certain software application to solve your problem.

Look at our friends at Salvit, they are doing just that.

The future is now and if you’re reading this and haven’t at least started to dabble, you are going to be left behind.

This is bigger than any change that’s occurred.

Sam Altman says by 2025.. Expect AGI.

And if you don’t know what AGI is.. Well, you’re about to realize, we’re still only in phase 1. 

You listen to our pod and read this newsletter because you’re a pioneer and one that wants to be on the cutting edge.

Today, my message is simple:

• Learn prompting.

• Play. 

• Install stuff.

• Get technical.

• Learn AI.

• Love AI. 

AI is here to disrupt everything. NOTHING is safe

And that’s a wrap on this week’s unfiltered fire! If you’re hooked on our no-BS rants (or just love the chaos), be sure to hit that Subscribe button and let us keep your inbox spicy. 🌶️

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Until next time, keep it hot, keep it unfiltered. ✌️