Sequoia's Alfred Lin argues AI-driven development makes proximity to elite builders critical for mastering the final one percent of execution

The best founders know that final 1% is what truly matters, and will stop at nothing to get it.

-- "You would think that in a world where AI does more of the building, who you stand next to matters less. It is the opposite. The danger of 99% is that from inside it, it feels like totality. The dim sky looks bright enough when your eyes have adjusted to it. The only reliable way to find out you are in twilight is to stand next to someone who has been in the dark: a builder whose work actually flips, whose artifacts go all the way across. Proximity to the real thing recalibrates your eyes. It kicks you out of the local maximum you didn't know you were sitting in, because suddenly you can see the gap between your 99 and their 100, and you can't unsee it."