I co-founded an Amazon FBM business several years ago. At our peak we were shipping 7,000 packages a month. It was big, bulky stuff, too.

My partner was one of the hardest workers I've ever been around. Like 18-hour days, multiple days a week. Animal.

But we had very different philosophies in a few key areas.

I owned growth: revenue, branding, advertising, new product development.

He owned operations: inventory, warehouse organization, getting every package out the door.

From early on, I was always trying to get out of my own way. Hire good people. Train them well. Hand things off. Build process. Free myself up for work that would move the needle more.

His instinct was the opposite: "No one will understand the nuance like I do. Training someone takes too much time. I'd rather just do it myself."

Hiring for ops was always the friction point.

I would spend weeks sourcing, screening, getting strong candidates in front of him. But he had the final say, because he was the one on the floor with them every day slinging packages. And they'd fall apart at that last step every time.

The tradeoff just never felt worth it to him. He'd rather work the 18-hour days and keep control than take the short-term hit of bringing someone new up to speed.

As the business scaled, I was able to scale with it - taking on higher-leverage work because I had people and systems supporting me.

My partner was still doing the same things we'd done on day one.

We both agreed he wouldn't pass the "get hit by a bus" test.

I talk to a lot of owners now who are "using AI," but only at the surface level. Not because they don't care but because actually learning to use it well takes time, effort, and short-term sacrifice.

And a lot of operators are so buried in the day-to-day that sacrificing anything today feels impossible, even if it creates massive leverage tomorrow.

That is going to become an increasingly large gap.

As AI continues to unlock more and more leverage in business, what does the divide look like between those who can handle the short-term tradeoffs, and those who can't?