I’ve been thinking about something that is becoming impossible to ignore in the AI era.

Most AI products do not fail because they cannot generate output. They fail because users never reach meaningful output fast enough, or clearly enough, after they enter the system.

That gap is where growth breaks.

Teams keep improving acquisition. Better ads. Better positioning. Better landing pages. Users sign up. They try the tool. And then something subtle happens. They do not get value quickly enough from the AI workflow itself.

Not because the model is weak.
Not because the infrastructure is slow.
But because the workflow is not designed for how AI actually creates value.

So activation collapses. Retention weakens. Growth stalls.

The issue is not AI capability. It is the AI workflow after entry.This is the shift most teams are still underestimating. You do not have a funnel and an AI product.

You have one system. Your AI workflow is your funnel. And if that system is not designed correctly, no amount of distribution fixes it.

In todays edition, we will explore;

— Naseema Perveen

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Late last year, a Klimt sold for the highest price ever paid for modern art at auction.

An outlier sure, but it wasn't a fluke. U.S. auction sales grew 23.1% in 2025. The $1-5mm segment even grew 40.8% YoY.

Meanwhile, Apollo’s chief economist Torsten Slok said to expect ‘zero in return in the S&P 500 over the coming decade.’

So, that's where it gets interesting.

Each environment is unique, but after dot-com, post war and contemporary art grew about 24% annually for a decade. After 2008, about 11% for 12 years.

It’s also had near-zero correlation with the S&P 500 since ‘95.*

Now, Masterworks lets you invest in shares of artworks featuring legends like Banksy, Basquiat, and Picasso.

Shares can sell quickly, but my subscribers can skip the waitlist:

Skip the waitlist

^{*Investing involves risk. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. See important Reg A disclosures at masterworks.com/cd.}