🎃 Pumpkinomics

In 2020, OpenAI launched GPT-3, a language model that uses machine learning to ingest and produce human-like text.

Panic ensued as writers worried they’d be replaced by AI. But two years later, the impact of GPT-3 has felt underwhelming.

Last week, Lex, an AI-enabled word processor, took Twitter by storm, garnering rave reviews from users and 25k sign-ups within 24 hours of launching.

Lex was created…

… by Nathan Baschez, writer and co-founder of Every, a collection of business-focused newsletters.

It looks and feels like a minimalistic version of Google Docs, but with a key difference — a native integration with GPT-3.

• After writing a few lines, users can type ‘+++’, and GPT-3 will suggest what to write next.
• Lex can also help writers brainstorm things like title ideas.

While much of the talk around GPT-3 has focused on AI writing entire pieces, Baschez is positioning Lex as a tool to help writers get unstuck so they can produce their best work.

Of course, there are some caveats

First, Lex only works in English for now, though Baschez says he’s working on adding more languages.

Second, GPT-3 isn’t perfect, so sometimes the suggestions aren’t quite on target.

But overall, the app seems like a major step forward in using AI to assist with writing.

If you want to judge that for yourself, everything after “Of course” above was written by an AI using Lex.

To learn more, check out this three-minute demo, and join the waitlist here.

Pumpkin season is upon us, and while pumpkin patches may be the ultimate seasonal business — they can do serious numbers.

Some facts:

• In 2020, the US produced 1.5B+ pounds of pumpkins.
• Seeds from giant pumpkins can fetch $3-$5 each.
• With 2k-5k seeds inside, giant pumpkins can yield $6k-$26k in profit.

So, what are the economics of these orange orbs? How much is a pumpkin really worth? And how do pumpkin patches make money year-round?

To find out, we talked to pumpkin farmers, experts, and patch owners around the country.

1) An inmate inside a maximum security prison in Georgia reportedly stole $11m by convincing Charles Schwab customer service reps that he was California billionaire Sidney Kimmel.

2) Instacart is reportedly shelving plans for an IPO this year amid turbulent market conditions. The company slashed its internal valuation from $40B in March to $13B, though it also saw Q3 revenue grow 40%+ this year.

3) Vinyl had a comeback. Are cassette tapes next? The audio format may be ripe for a nostalgia-driven boom, and Missouri-based National Audio Company supposedly still produces ~30m cassettes annually.

4) This year, ~1.8k US companies are hoping to bring some or all of their operations back stateside and, through August, 106 earnings calls mentioned reshoring, up from six in 2019.

5) Once led by hundreds of communities of US nuns, the communion wafer business is now commanded by a for-profit firm. The company produced ~50m wafers per year in the 1950s and eventually grew production to ~1B wafers in the 1990s.