Scott Fenstermaker

Scott Fenstermaker

@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

VP in risk industry, mentor for startup founders, amateur mixologist, Krav trainee. My followers are all of exceptional wit, style and charm.

21.7K followers1.2K following5.3K posts

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Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

At the advent of Trumpism, many conservative pundits asked, "Why is the GOP abandoning conservatism? Conservatism is about personal freedom and pragmatism, not populist mobs! Where did this wholly different thing come from?" MAGA isn't a deviation from conservatism, but the apotheosis of it. /1 🧵

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

BASH: One of the concerns is that Elon Musk has billions tied up in govt contracts. You don't see a conflict of interest? CHRIS SUNUNU: Everyone has a conflict of interest BASH: But that's a pretty big one SUNUNU: He's so rich he's removed from the potential financial influence

Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

Nobody seems to get that just because impeachment backfired and energized the MAGA base doesn’t mean book don’t want to see accountability for corruption. First of all, there are many more ppl who need to be held to account. Snd there are many different ways to do it.

Acyn@acyn.bsky.social

Kamala Harris: I think that going in the direction of impeachment is not a good idea. I was in the Senate for the last go-round, and the votes aren’t there. I think after the election, we all have to just also agree that our attitude has to be to get stuff done…

Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

The real question is, of course, is how long I still have to wait for affordable GPUs.

Dare Obasanjo@carnage4life.bsky.social

China’s AI bubble has already burst. Its AI-heavy STAR50 index has fallen 40%, wiping out $480B. Some Chinese AI chip companies have lost half their value. Even after the crash, the index still trades at 100x earnings, down from nearly 250x. In comparison, the Nasdaq 100 trades at around 30x.

Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

Earnest take: It’s probably not healthy for the practice of democratic self-government to rebut Yglesias’s takes earnestly, because that concedes the inaccurate notion that he’s a serious and usually-accurate commentator. Assuming Yglesias to be always wrong carries enormous predictive power.

Dan Mauler 🎃@meelar.bsky.social

I just think Matt's wrong about this. We're at a point in our technological development where a ton of problems spill over national borders--if Flavio Bolsonaro burns down the Amazon, that will flood houses in Miami.

Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

What were the odds?

Fascinating News 🇺🇸@fascinating-us.bsky.social

Catholic bishops regret Trump meeting, saying they were used for ‘political purposes’ https://fascinating.news/r/Ea0iscxh

fascinating.newsCatholic bishops regret Trump meeting, saying they were used for ‘political purposes’Two Catholic bishops have expressed regret over attending a meeting with 10 other prelates and President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, saying they were “exploited” and “manipulated.”

Scott Fenstermaker reposted

Dare Obasanjo
@carnage4life.bsky.social

People overestimate what technology can do in a year and underestimate what it can do in ten. In 1996, despite AOL’s popularity, you’d struggle to show how the internet boosted profits at Coca-Cola or P&G. Today, neither could function without it.

Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

Part of this is the frontiers of imagination and integration. In tech, the payoff is simple: make the fucking thing code. Outside of tech, it can enhance capabilities and professional polish, but people are still figuring out where it fits and how much they want to pay for it.

Carl Quintanilla@carlquintanilla.bsky.social

SLOK: “.. Revenue per worker is rising for the Mag 7 but is flat for the S&P 493. .. Mainstream corporate America is pulling back and starting to view token spending not as a source of growth but as a cost center that weighs on margins.” @bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Scott Fenstermaker reposted

Dare Obasanjo
@carnage4life.bsky.social

Apollo’s chief economist finds that there is still no measurable impact of AI adoption on corporate America outside of big tech. Revenue per employee and profit margins are rising for the Magnificent Seven but flat for the other 493 S&P 500 companies.

Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

Trump learned from Cohn that if you just state your framing with more conviction than the other guy, your reality wins. He’s largely been right. He will get away with everything, in the end, because of this effect.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Q: Ashley Hinson, who you're campaigning for tonight, says the Ramaswamy ad is 'absolutely terrible' and should be taken down. Why are you defending it? TRUMP: I'm defending it because I know that if that ad was about my mother, you would love every inch of it

Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

Someone wasn’t kicking upstairs. As an admin member, your job isn’t to make yourself rich, it’s to make Trump rich.

Yashar Ali 🐘@yasharali.bsky.social

2. “All I know is I want my people to be honest, and if they're not gonna be honest, they have to be prosecuted…[if] people are not honest, they're stealing from me as president.

Scott Fenstermaker reposted

Dare Obasanjo
@carnage4life.bsky.social

Every Republican president since Reagan has tanked the economy, increased the deficit and started a costly war in the Middle East. When people say Republicans are good for the economy, what they really mean is Republicans lower taxes on the rich.

Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

I was here for the start of the developer boom in the 90’s and I’m here for the end of it in the 20’s. I’m tempted to think about this time as a reversion to normalcy. Code either works or it doesn’t, meaning at some point coding would be subject to automation.

Dare Obasanjo@carnage4life.bsky.social

I’ve historically mentored people early in their tech careers, but as that pipeline dries up due to AI, I’ve spent more time with mid-career professionals. It’s a challenging time because it’s now clear that AI agents can do a decent chunk of the technical work people were hired to do.

Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

Pesci is cancer, and the dudes in back are Chicago motherfuckers.

NPR@npr.org

The Pope left Rome's Gemelli Hospital Saturday, days after surgery for lung cancer removed the lower lobe of his right lung. He is currently scheduled to travel to Latin America in November. n.pr/4scijUj

n.prPope Leo XIV leaves hospital days after lung cancer surgeryThe Pope left Rome's Gemelli Hospital Saturday, days after surgery for lung cancer removed the lower lobe of his right lung. He is currently scheduled to travel to Latin America in November.
Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

Well put.

Dare Obasanjo@carnage4life.bsky.social

The U.S. economy is in a weird position. The major bright spot is the AI boom, but that boom depends on companies laying people off and replacing them with Claude subscriptions, which depresses the economy. It’s essentially a doom loop.

Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

Chicago-tough.

The Guardian@theguardian.com

Pope Leo discharged from hospital after cancer operation

theguardian.comPope Leo discharged from hospital after cancer operationDoctors say pontiff is ‘fit for discharge’ after operation to remove cancerous tumour from his lung * Pope Leo lung cancer surgery: what kind of operation did he have and what happens next? Pope Leo has been discharged from hospital in Rome after undergoing an operation to remove a cancerous tumour from his lung. Leo, 71, was deemed “fit for discharge”, his doctors, Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritoria, said in a statement published by the Vatican. Continue reading...
Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

A big part of why Clinton aged well in general is that we all forgot everything he said.

Sven-Erik Volberg@volberg.bsky.social

Milk so aged it could itself be a weapon. '94 President Clinton praises Ukraine’s courageous decision to surrender its nuclear arsenal, pledging full US support for its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. He also considers it unlikely that russia would ever attempt to seize Crimea.

Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

Funny. I didn’t even know Affleck was a Scientologist…

The Hollywood Reporter@thr.com

Amid Digger‘s box office bomb, Ben Affleck is warning that those who are celebrating the film’s poor performance could instead lead to “a bunch of shitty homogenized movies.”

bit.lyBen Affleck Warns ‘Digger’ Box Office Bomb Will Lead to “A Bunch of Sh***y Homogenized Movies”Amid Digger‘s box office bomb, Ben Affleck is warning that those who are celebrating the film’s poor performance could instead lead to “a bunch of shitty homogenized movies.”
Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

Obvious point, but left out of the headline: Russia’s targets are deliberately civilian. “The White House gave the order to disrupt Starlink so Russia could attack *civilian targets* in Kyiv with no advanced (sic) warning.”

The Mouthy Renegade Writer@mouthyrenegade.bsky.social

He absolutely should be impeached and tried for treason, along with his many enablers in the White House and Congress. It's unfuckingreal that it hasn't happened yet. 🤬

Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

“Congratulations on graduating Summa Cum Laude. Unfortunately, our lowest entry-level position requires 15 years experience…”

Dare Obasanjo@carnage4life.bsky.social

Going back to the Reddit post I shared earlier, this is part of why junior hiring in tech is collapsing. Why hire someone junior to do work that a senior employee using Claude can complete faster and often better? It’s short-sighted, but this is how many tech companies are thinking today.

Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

Calling it “naked partisanship” is not quite right, because then the liberal justices are also “partisan” in their consistent decisions against Trump. It’s that SCOTUS defies the Overton Window in one direction. Throwing out rights but then nixing a stupid Trump suit and thinking themselves “even.”

Pete Buttigieg@petebuttigieg.bsky.social

The Supreme Court is losing respect in the eyes of the people because of its naked partisanship. We need reform - and now is the time.

Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

The GOP in general has never known anything or even given a damn about the economy. They just figured out that they personally get richer from low taxes and less volatility. Trump innovated by showing the GOP how to get rich from HIGH volatility. Voters, meanwhile, can’t spell “volatility.”

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social

Republican farmer who voted for Trump twice: “I’ve hurt more under Trump than I have any other president… Trump promised to help the farmers. Instead fuel and beef prices are crushing us and he’s cutting our throat.”

Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

Data centers are responsible for what percent of U.S. economic growth now? What could possibly go wrong??

Dare Obasanjo@carnage4life.bsky.social

The past week, and yesterday in particular, were brutal for chip stocks. Anthropic’s slowing revenue growth has added to investors’ fears that AI companies won’t generate enough revenue to justify the trillions being committed to data centers. A very dotcom bubble shaped pattern is forming 🫧

Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

In the age of Claude Code, we will need to rethink valuing companies on their IP; IP that can be reverse-engineered and bested within days. Companies capture value based on the sum of the employees’ institutional knowledge of how to do shit better. Knowledge that never makes the balance sheet.

Dare Obasanjo@carnage4life.bsky.social

Berkshire Hathaway just invested another $330M in Bending Spoons, whose shares jumped 41%. Recently Bending Spoons announced mass layoffs at newly acquired Airtable, arguing smaller teams work better. It seems buying software companies and firing their employees is a compelling investment thesis.

Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

So, the jobs that pay well enough to repay college debt…remind me, where do those companies hire from, again?

The Atlantic@theatlantic.com

The college-admissions process has broken America, David Brooks argued in 2024. Students are taught that their worth is found in test scores rather than in interpersonal relationships, innovation, and passion, he wrote. He examined how to fix it:

bit.lyHow the Ivy League Broke AmericaThe meritocracy isn’t working. We need something new.
Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

Remember when Florida was a swing state? Jesus.

Polling USA@usapolling.bsky.social

Florida Polling: Governor: 🔴 Donalds: 52% 🔵 Jolly: 41% Senate: 🔴 Moody: 52%* 🔵 Nixon: 41% Stetson / Oct 9, 2026 (Current FL-GOV Model: GOP 53% - DEM 47%) (Current FL-SEN Model: GOP 53% - DEM 47%) unitedstatespolling.com/p/democrats-...

unitedstatespolling.comDemocrats Lead by Nearly 10 Points as the Midterms ApproachFrom Iowa to Texas, Democrats are making Republicans defend territory that should be safely red
Scott Fenstermaker
@scottfenstermaker.bsky.social

You realize how much $$ is to be make from a teacher-only version of OnlyFans?

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com

After Sheena Sittner was suspended from her teaching job for her OnlyFans activity, the mother of two experienced a financial boost that came with some frustration. “The backlash women receive for doing online content, it’s absolutely awful,” she said.

washingtonpost.comSubstitute teacher fired over OnlyFans account says business is boomingA Missouri woman says her free speech was violated. Her adult content site has attracted more subscribers after news spread of her dismissal.

Scott Fenstermaker reposted

Denise Breen 🖖
@denisebreen.bsky.social

Today is apparently James Bond Day. The day is noted on October 5th each year to commemorate the World Premiere of the first James Bond film, Dr. No, in 1962. #JamesBondDay