1. The internet’s globalization of e-commerce is one of the most interesting things to happen in human history.
Before the internet, if you wanted to sell something, you were mostly stuck in your local town or country. Now anyone with a phone and Wi-Fi can sell to anyone on Earth.
Why it’s historic: It’s like the invention of shipping containers or electricity, invisibly powering how humans trade, but on steroids.
2. Everyone now has never-ending competition.
Old world: You competed with the 5 other shops in your city.
New world: You compete with 7.9 billion people, 24/7, many of whom will work for pennies and never sleep (thanks to AI tools).
There’s no “off switch.” Even while you sleep, someone in Vietnam is undercutting your price.
3. AI is only going to make it accelerate faster.
AI = the great equalizer + accelerator. A kid in Kenya can now write perfect English copy using AI.
A factory in Indonesia can design products faster than a Silicon Valley team.
Customer support? AI chatbots in 100 languages, 24/7.
The gap between “rich country talent” and “poor country hustle” is collapsing.
4. There are so many 2nd and 3rd order consequences that it’s tough to fully grasp the implications.
1st order: Cheaper products, more choice.
2nd order: Entire industries (e.g., graphic design, copywriting) get disrupted globally.
3rd order: Kids in slums become millionaires via dropshipping.
Western middle-class jobs vanish.
New global brands emerge from nowhere (think Shein, but 100x more).
It’s like trying to predict the world after the printing press, we are at the very beginning of the race.
5. With AI you no longer have as strong of lingual or racial advantages in certain markets.
Old advantage: “I speak English, so I dominate U.S. customers.”
New reality: AI translates, writes, and markets in perfect Spanish, Arabic, or Swahili. A seller in Pakistan can now sound like a native New Yorker.
A Brazilian designer can pitch to Japanese clients flawlessly.
Language and appearance don’t protect you or provide a home team advantage anymore.
6. If you think you are hungrier than a kid in a poor country who just got internet access + AI, you’re probably underestimating how desperately they are willing to escape poverty.
Motivation asymmetry: You might work 40 hours to pay rent.
They’ll work 80 hours to feed their family and escape a slum.
Hunger isn’t just a metaphor, it’s raw survival instincts. That kid will learn Fiverr, Canva, ChatGPT, and TikTok ads in a week.
7. There are billions of them, only a handful need the right combination to become competitive with you.
Numbers game: 1 billion people live on <$2/day.
Even if 0.001% of them figure out e-commerce + AI → 10,000 new competitors.
You don’t need to lose to all of them, just to the smart, hungry 1%.
8. They probably have labor cost advantages over you.
Cost of living arbitrage: You need $3,000/month to live in Seattle.
They need $300/month in Lagos.
They can offer the same service for 1/10th the price and still feel rich.
9. First mover advantages are a real thing, you too now have an unlimited global market to work with.
The flip side (hope?): You’re not just playing defense, you can play offense.
That same kid in Kenya? You can hire them for $5/hour to crush your competition.
You can sell to China, India, Brazil without ever leaving your couch.
The game isn’t zero-sum, it’s infinite-sum. The pie just got way bigger (with caveats, e.g. The Great Firewall of China).
TL;DR
The internet is now a single arena with the entire world playing in it, and AI just gave everyone a knife. The kid in the slum is hungrier than you, cheaper than you, and learning faster than you. But you also have the same tools, more money, and a head start.
Your move is to adapt or die. Learn AI, automate, go global.
Or get disrupted by someone who can thrive on your monthly coffee budget.
It’s not doomsday, it’s capitalism evolving at light speed.
The internet + AI is turning the entire planet into one giant, hyper-competitive marketplace.
This blog post is a big-picture wake-up call!