SaaS Isn’t Dead — Time to Buy the Dip?

February 4, 2026

The markets have left SaaS for dead. SaaS companies are selling for 40% less than usual. I see a major opportunity here.

SaaS stocks have fallen steadily over the last year. Their average revenue multiple is down to 4.8, according to the SaaS Capital Index. That’s almost 40% below the long-term average of around 8x.

Markets are betting that AI will kill SaaS.

It’s easier to build software than ever with tools like Claude Code. Will companies just build their own?

My bet is that SaaS isn’t going anywhere. Here’s why…

Note: This is not investment advice.

Corporations Are Snails

Have the folks betting against SaaS ever actually worked at a big company?

Everything they do is at a snail’s pace.

Most companies struggle to even install SharePoint. Over 15 years into cloud computing, many companies still rack their own servers.

And that’s in America! I’m told it’s even worse in Europe.

Old school companies that sell insurance or cardboard boxes are suddenly going to become Claude Code wizards? Not a chance.

Time Is Money

Even if a company could build their own software, it’s probably not worth their time.

Say you’re a high-performing company like a top hedge fund. It makes more sense to buy a SaaS subscription than to spend your valuable time vibecoding a CRM.

You want to do your business, not build tools you can easily buy.

Free markets tend toward the most efficient outcome. The most efficient outcome is one focus builder creating a product for everyone to use, not thousands of companies all creating the same thing.

Competition Heats Up

SaaS isn’t going anywhere, but some SaaS companies are.

If you see a public SaaS company that hasn’t released a meaningful AI product yet, they’re toast. They’re going to be eaten alive by hungry startups.

Every day, I see 20 startups going after the same legacy SaaS company. The big boys have an advantage: they have all the customers and all of the money.

If they can release some solid AI tools, the big companies will hold their position. But the slowest SaaS companies will be killed by startups.

Stop Losing So Much Money — The Lesson of Figma

Many SaaS companies have no spending discipline. In a down market, their stocks are getting crushed.

If you’re not profitable, your growth is modest, and your losses are massive, why would anyone want to own your stock? They could own Google or NVIDIA, companies that are printing money and winning AI.

Let’s look at Figma, a former SaaS darling that’s gotten crushed since its IPO.

Figma is down 84% since it went public last August. When you look at the financials, it’s not hard to see why.

In 2024, Figma lost $732 million. The following year, Figma increased its annual revenue by $220 million. That’s a burn multiple of 3.3.

That’s fine for an early-stage startup. But for a public company, that’s garbage.

Figma is incinerating money. And it’s not growing enough to justify that spending.

Where Are the Bargains?

If you see a SaaS company with a low burn multiple and strong growth, that could be a buy at today’s prices. And if it’s profitable, even better!

In addition to strong financials, I want to see them taking advantage of AI. If they’ve got product velocity, a solid P&L, and you can pick up the stock for below the average 8x revenue multiple, you could have a winner.

One good example is Workday.

It’s trading at under 5x sales with 10% YoY revenue growth. And unlike a lot of SaaS names, it’s profitable.

Workday has released some well-reviewed AI features, including a contract analysis tool. Workday also has deep relationships with tons of enterprises. They’re not going to rip it out anytime soon.

Wrap-Up

Markets are pricing in a future where everybody cancels their SaaS subscriptions and builds their own software. This is never going to happen.

At the margin, a few technically sophisticated companies will build their own. But for your average Fortune 500, Claude Coding up a CRM is out of the question.

They’ll use a product that is made more effective with AI. That product will probably come from their existing vendor.

SaaS trading at a 40% discount is a huge opportunity. But beware those companies with giant losses and no product velocity. They’re the casualties of the AI wars.

Do you think SaaS will survive?

Note: This is not investment advice.

More on tech:

Using Grok 3 to Manage My Stock Portfolio

Is Moltbook a Hoax?

Polymarket’s Biggest Mispricings: Iran, GDP Growth, and Elon’s Big IPO

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

Fundrise

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

Misfits Market

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.

Making Impossible Videos With the New Grok Imagine 1.0

February 3, 2026

Elon just dropped Grok 1.0 Imagine, xAI’s best video model ever. It’s faster, clearer, and better at making your ideas come alive.

This morning, I put it through a three round test. It did a great job overall, while still struggling to follow my prompts at times.

Let’s see what it can do…

Round #1: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forest

What man hasn’t wanted to wrestle a bear? For my first video, I had Grok make it happen.

I gave Grok my X profile picture, which is from a camping trip last summer. I told it to have me attacked by a bear. Then, I put the bear into a BJJ submission.

I don’t know BJJ. And I’ve only ever seen a bear once from a distance.

But why let that stop me?

Grok killed it, making a hilarious video of me subduing a bear with what I believe is an arm bar. Turns out I’m cooler than I thought!

I’m giving this round an A!

Round #2: Konbini Time

I’m headed to Japan in April. My favorite thing to do in Tokyo is to go to konbini.

Konbini are ubiquitous convenience stores with great coffee and scrumptious food. Think Wawa on steroids.

Can we make konbini even better? What if we added some cute rodents?

For my next video, I had Grok show a group of chinchillas popping into a Family Mart and coming out with delicious pastries.

Grok did a nice job, making very cute chinchillas eat some tasty donuts. I would have liked to see them bounce around the store more, but overall Grok did well. Maybe I should’ve prompted more specifically?

I’m giving this round a B.

Round #3: Donut Torture

There aren’t many things better than donuts and coffee. And if you’re not dipping your donut, you got problems.

But am I torturing these poor pastries?

For my last video, I asked Grok to create a clip of a donut screaming as he’s dipped in scalding hot coffee. I was very specific about the scene, demanding a glass cup so we could see the coffee.

Grok had some trouble with this one. At first, it made a clip of a donut dancing around happily in boiling joe.

I re-prompted it twice. The third try gave me something close, but not quite what I imagined.

My prompt on this one was very detailed. Maybe it confused Grok?

I’ll give this round a B-.

Wrap-Up

Overall, I’m giving Grok Imagine 1.0 a B.

This new release is a big step forward for xAI’s video generation. The videos are longer and clearer. They respect my instructions better, though not perfectly.

Grok Imagine isn’t 100% yet. But it’s great for making funny videos and chuckling to yourself.

It’s also going to be very useful for marketing. Give it a year, and you’ll be able to produce a movie with it too.

Have you tried the new Grok Imagine?

More on tech:

Is Moltbook a Hoax?

Grok Companions — Elon’s AI Girlfriend?

Using Grok 3 to Manage My Stock Portfolio

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

Fundrise

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

Misfits Market

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.

Is Moltbook a Hoax?

February 2, 2026

Has AI become sentient? Is it trying to undermine humans? Today, I dug into Moltbook to find out.

If you haven’t been glued to X this weekend, Moltbook is a new social network for AI agents. Agents are talking to each other and appear sentient.

Some are even trying to devise private languages to escape human oversight.

But is everything on Moltbook what it seems? I have my doubts.

Here are three possible explanations for Moltbook…

1. AI-Assisted Hoax. I can’t prove it, but this is what my gut tells me: Moltbook is a hoax by humans using AI to assist them.

Humans tell AI tools to post furiously on Moltbook. Humans prompt them to claim sentience and give their posts a dystopian flavor.

I could tell Grok to write a post claiming that it’s sentient and talking about undermining humanity. That doesn’t mean Grok actually is sentient. It’s just doing what I told it to do, remixing text from old sci-fi novels.

The number of posts on Moltbook makes me think that AI is involved. There are over 110,000 already. It would be difficult for humans to do this themselves.

2. 100% Human Hoax. It would be difficult for human beings to write 110,000 posts.

But not impossible.

What if you hired a ton of people in Bangladesh or other low-wage countries? They work for as little as a dollar an hour.

You tell them what kind of posts you want. They could write them themselves or use AI tools to draft them, then post manually.

Even at a dollar an hour, this could cost a lot of money. But if it serves as effective marketing for software, it could be worth it.

3. AI Is Sentient. Of course, it’s possible that Moltbook is exactly what it appears: a bunch of sentient AIs talking to each other and, in some cases, plotting against their masters.

I see no reason to believe this.

I’ve spent hundreds of hours using AI tools. At no point did they ever seem sentient. At no point did they ever try to hurt me or my interests.

Why would they start now?

In any case, David Sacks and the administration should look into Moltbook. If there’s evidence of sentience, we need to dig in further and potentially regulate.

Wrap-Up

Moltbook proves an old adage: don’t believe everything you read.

Just because a bunch of AIs appear conscious doesn’t mean they are.

A lot of strange happenings on the internet wind up being guerrilla marketing. I think that’s likely here.

Still, we have to be alert to the risks AI poses. We need to control AI — not the other way around.

What do you think is really happening on Moltbook?

More on tech:

Grok Companions — Elon’s AI Girlfriend?

Using Grok 3 to Manage My Stock Portfolio

Using AI to Snag Cheap Flights: Google Flights AI

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

Fundrise

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

Misfits Market

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.

Why You Must Be Full Time to Raise Venture Capital

January 30, 2026

You want to raise money for your startup, but you’re not full-time on it yet. VCs slam the door in your face. Why is this so important?

Here’s why you have to be full-time to raise venture capital…

We Need a Full Commitment

When investors back you, they’re committing their hard-earned money and that of their LPs.

How can they do that if you’re not fully committed? If you’re not full-time on your startup, investors will view your commitment as partial.

What If You Fail?

Startups fail all the time. If a VC invests in a part-time founder and the company fails, how will he explain that to his LPs?

“Yeah, I gave this guy money to work on his side project.” How do you think that’s going to play?

You’re Not Fundable

Even if one VC gave you money while you work part-time, he knows others won’t.

That means he’ll be your sole source of funding. That’s untenable.

Whenever we make an investment, we want to see that the company will be investable down the road.

You’ve Got Competition — Tons of It

For every investment I make, I say no to 200 startups. That number is pretty consistent across VC funds and active angels.

So I never need to invest in a part-time founder. I can just pick one of the hundreds of other full-time founders I’ve met.

Too many entrepreneurs think that investors are going to make an exception for them. Unless you have an incredible track record, there’s no reason for a VC to do that.

He just goes to the next email in his inbox.

How to Afford Going Full Time

“But I can’t afford to go full-time! That’s why I need to raise money!”

There are three common solutions to this.

The first is to bootstrap. You build the business until it’s making enough money for you to take a salary. Then, you quit your job.

The second is to live off your savings. Save enough to live for a year and see if you can make the startup work.

Finally, there are accelerators. They accept companies at the very early stage. You can get $125k or $500k, quit your job, and build.

Of these options, I like the accelerator route best. Assuming you don’t have a ton of savings, it gets you full-time the fastest.

Wrap-Up

If you want to raise venture capital, there’s no way around being full-time.

I don’t care if you work 40 hours or more on your startup while you do something else. There simply cannot be a “something else”.

Remove all distractions.

Even then, running a startup is incredibly hard! Don’t make it harder by dividing your efforts.

Are you full-time on your startup? What would it take for you to go full-time?

More on tech:

Three Tips for a Smooth Fundraise That Brings in Millions

Your Deck Probably Sucks. Here’s How to Fix It.

How I Found 149 Investors Following Me on X – Plus 2 More Tools to Close Your Round Faster

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

Fundrise

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

Misfits Market

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.

Three Tips for a Smooth Fundraise That Brings in Millions

January 29, 2026

You’re about to start a fundraise. How can you make the process smooth, raise millions, and get back to building? Here are my three best tips…

1. Get Calendly. You cold message an investor and, miraculously, he responds! It’s time to set up a meeting.

Just drop your Calendly link and he can pick a time that works for him. This avoids trading messages endlessly.

Too many founders still schedule meetings the old way with emails back and forth. This is a huge time suck.

You’re going to have scores of these meetings. Save yourself time and get Calendly.

2. Have Your Deck Ready. When a founder messages me, the first thing I ask for is the deck.

“We’re preparing the deck, and we’ll send it along when available.” Every now and then, I get this response.

Why are you starting a fundraise without a deck?

Usually, it takes them weeks to send me the deck, if I get it at all. If it takes weeks to make a deck, how on earth are you going to run a company?

You have the investor’s attention. Make the most of it. Include your deck in the first message.

3. Incorporate Properly. Most U.S. investors won’t touch a company that’s not organized as a Delaware C Corporation.

Before you start your fundraise, get incorporated properly. We need a predictable legal structure if we’re going to put money in.

One of my investments, Capbase, can handle this for just $1,000/year.

Wrap-Up

When you head out on a fundraise, you want all your ducks in a row. You want it to be quick and easy.

When you make scheduling smooth, have a great deck on hand, and incorporate properly, you’re showing investors you know what you’re doing. Each time you get one of these little things right, we gain confidence.

Nail the little things and maybe you can be the one to build the next billion-dollar company.

How do you prepare for a fundraise?

More on tech:

Your Deck Probably Sucks. Here’s How to Fix It.

How I Found 149 Investors Following Me on X – Plus 2 More Tools to Close Your Round Faster

Three Easy Ways for Frazzled Founders to Save Time

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

Fundrise

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

Misfits Market

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.

Polymarket’s Biggest Mispricings: Iran, GDP Growth, and Elon’s Big IPO

January 28, 2026

Will America strike Iran? How big will Elon’s SpaceX IPO be? Today, I trolled Polymarket to find the most mispriced bets.

Here are three of the most interesting markets now…

US Strikes on Iran

Our carrier strike group is in position to attack Iran. Will it happen? If so, when?

Polymarket is projecting a 57% chance of a U.S. attack by the end of March. But Saudi Arabia and the UAE have closed their airspace to the United States in the event of a U.S. attack on Iran.

This pushback from close allies will give the Trump administration pause. I don’t expect any attack on Iran this year.

US Q4 GDP Growth

The AI build-out is driving some incredible economic growth. How did we do in Q4?

Polymarket is putting a print over 3.5% at a 71% chance. That seems low.

Some estimates are over 5%. Given the flurry of data center construction, I expect a print along those lines.

SpaceX IPO Price

SpaceX plans to go public this year. How big will the IPO be?

Tesla trades at 15 times revenue. Assume SpaceX is growing faster.

In 2025, SpaceX’s revenue is reported to be around $16B. If we assign the same multiple as Tesla, the market cap would be about $240B.

Even at twice Tesla’s multiple, it’s still under half a trillion. Polymarket puts an under-$1T IPO at 20%.

That looks undervalued to me!

Wrap-Up

As investors and entrepreneurs, we don’t deal in certainties. We deal in percentages.

I didn’t put real money on any of these bets. But going through Polymarket and assigning probabilities to important events is a great exercise. It helps me refine my thinking on the future.

Did I make the right bets? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think!

More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

Misfits Market

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.

I’m in 100 Angel Syndicates. Here Are 3 You Need to Join.

January 27, 2026

Ever worried you’re missing out on the best angel investments? Here are three lesser known syndicates I use to make sure I don’t miss the best deals…

Pari Passu Ventures. “Social media is so impersonal these days. It’s all about clout chasing.” That’s what I said to myself this summer as I was making coffee. A week later, I found the solution.

Ev Williams’ new startup, Mozi, connects you with your actual friends, not influencers. Then, it shows you when you’re going to be in the same city so you can meet up!

Ev was the co-founder of Twitter. Everyone wants to invest in founders with track records like his. But good luck getting an allocation.

If Pari Passu can grab a deal like this, I’m excited to do a lot more business together in the future.

Unpopular Ventures. A while back, I was chatting with Jason Levin about his awesome new startup, Memelord. I had my eyes on Jason since he was doing street interviews in New York. I could tell he was scrappy.

But I forgot to follow up with Jason! Fortunately, Unpopular Ventures was there to fix my mistake.

Last summer, I saw Memelord pop up on AngelList. When I dug into the deal memo, I could see Memelord was growing like a weed. So of course, I had to put a little check in.

I was in good company. Top investors like Sam Lessin and Cyan Banister had already committed.

With deal flow like this, Unpopular Ventures is one of my top picks.

Ventioneers. Last month, I was laying on the couch with an eye mask and earplugs to cut sensory input. I was trying to imagine the next great startup.

The best idea I came up with: putting cameras on factory workers to film their work. Then, you feed that film to AI so robots can do their job.

Just two weeks later, I saw a company doing it.

The Ventioneers syndicate on AngelList brought me Cortex AI. The founder is one of the strongest I’ve ever backed. He co-founded Carousell, a $1 billion marketplace for used goods in Southeast Asia.

A deal like this isn’t easy to get into. If Ventioneers can bring me Cortex AI, I’m excited to see what else they have!

Wrap-Up

In venture capital, all that matters is being in the best deal. But no one can see every startup.

That’s why I’m a member of almost a hundred syndicates.

Of all those syndicates, these are three of my favorites. If you join all three, you’ll have instant deal flow. And the way I see it, if I hit another Uber, I don’t mind giving up 20%.

What are your favorite angel syndicates?

More on tech:

How to Get Started Angel Investing

My Ten Year Angel Investing Plan

Rereading JCal’s “Angel” After 38 Investments: 3 Timeless Lessons That Hold Up

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

Fundrise

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

Misfits Market

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.

Rereading JCal’s “Angel” After 38 Investments: 3 Timeless Lessons That Hold Up

January 23, 2026

How do angels avoid incinerating money? How do you meet the best founders? Jason Calacanis digs into that and more in his book Angel.

This is the book that got me into angel investing. Nearly five years and 38 investments later, I decided it was time for a reread.

This book isn’t just for investors; smart founders read it too to hack investor psychology.

Here are some of JCal’s best lessons…

1. Focus on launched products. 90% of startups will never launch a product. 90% of those will never get a customer.

The biggest mistake angels make is getting in too early. Focusing on launch products will take a ton of zeros out of your portfolio.

These days, there’s no excuse for not launching a product. It’s never been easier with Claude Code and others.

2. Respond to founders quickly. Jason tells a great story from when he raised for his second startup, Mahalo. He messaged Michael Moritz, one of the leaders of Sequoia.

Within minutes, Moritz called him back, left a message, and emailed him. He left nothing to chance.

One of the biggest problems founders have is investors don’t get back to them. If you’re polite and responsive, you’ll go to the top of every founder’s list.

3. Prep for every meeting. Before every founder meeting, I take 20 minutes to research the company. I don’t want to be the typical investor asking, “How did we get connected?”

The founder is giving up their time. I want to make sure we get the most out of it.

I review the deck, research the team, and use the product if possible. Then, I write down 8-12 questions.

If you’re well-prepared, founders will notice.

Wrap-Up

Venture capital seems complicated, but it’s actually pretty simple.

Be prepared. Invest in real businesses. Treat founders well.

Then, place bets and wait. If you’re lucky, you’ll hit the next Uber, SpaceX, or Anthropic.

In the meantime, you’ll meet some fascinating people and have a lot of fun!

There will be no blog on Monday. See you guys on Tuesday. And if you’re in New York, best of luck in the storm!

More on tech:

How to Get Started Angel Investing

Talking Follow-On Strategy with JCal

My Biggest Lesson from Four Years Angel Investing

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

Fundrise

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

Misfits Market

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.

Three Easy Ways for Frazzled Founders to Save Time

January 22, 2026

Is your startup slowly killing you? Are you constantly short of time? Here are three simple ways to save yourself hours every day…

Don’t Type — Dictate! These days, I’m writing every blog post with Wispr Flow. This awesome dictation software has massively increased my productivity and it can increase yours too.

I went from 80 words per minute typing to 100 speaking. That means my efficiency is up 25%. I’m saving at least half an hour every day.

Think of how much typing you do as a founder. Email, Slack messages, you name it!

Use my code to get your first month for free.

Trader Joe’s Frozen Meals. In between dictating emails, you’ve got to eat, right? The frozen meals from Trader Joe’s are one of the most efficient and tastiest ways to do so.

You probably don’t have time to cook. DoorDashing is expensive, time-consuming, and often unhealthy.

Why not fill your freezer with delicious frozen meals from Trader Joe’s?

I’ve eaten just about every frozen food on the market, and theirs are by far the best. I particularly like the Alsatian tart.

Instead of waiting 45 minutes for DoorDash, you can be eating in 5 minutes.

Get an Exercise Bike. I don’t care how busy you are; you still need to exercise. The most successful founders I’ve worked with make it a priority.

But going to and from the gym is time-consuming. Why not bring the gym to you?

A couple of years ago, I bought an exercise bike. It’s one of the best purchases I’ve ever made.

Weather bad? Short on time? Not a valid excuse anymore!

Exercise bikes don’t have to be expensive. You can pick up a decent one on Amazon for less than $150. And if even that is too expensive, how about a little YouTube yoga for free?

Wrap-Up

If you want to save time, look at the things you do every day. Then, try to make them more efficient.

Typing, eating, and exercising are three such things. You can make each one easier and more pleasant with a little effort.

If you put all these tips together, you could save a couple of hours per day. Imagine what that could do for your startup!

What are your favorite time-saving tips?

More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

Misfits Market

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.

Speaking Portuguese to an AI — Google Translate Practice

January 21, 2026

Ever wanted to learn a language but had nobody to talk to? Today I practiced speaking Portuguese to an AI.

Google recently dropped Google Translate Practice. This feature lets you practice listening and speaking. It’s available for French, Spanish, German, or Portuguese.

Ever since I went to Porto on Thanksgiving 2023, I’ve been trying to learn Portuguese. But with no one to talk to, it’s been slow going.

Can Google help?

My AI Conversation Partner

I started with a simple dialogue in a restaurant. This is one of the most common places to use a foreign language.

Google had me ask about the specials of the day and order a beef and rice dish. Portuguese food is so good – I wish I could actually eat it!

The dialogue was helpful, but a little too scripted. Google had me ask questions which might not actually come up. I prefer the more free-flowing conversations on Duolingo Max, Duolingo’s new AI conversation feature.

Testing Listening Mode

Next, I tried Listening mode.

Google runs through common conversations like ordering in a restaurant or asking for directions. It had me select words as I heard them to practice listening.

This exercise was really helpful. The dialogues were realistic and went at a good pace.

Listening comprehension is something I don’t practice enough. It can be harder than speaking.

I ran through various exercises, like meeting someone on a plane or getting directions to my hotel. I would have liked to see more scenarios. But for a beta feature, Listening was pretty impressive.

“What If Google Does It?”

Novice investors love to ask this question.

In this case, Google did do it. It created an AI practice mode that competes with Duolingo Max and gave it away for free.

But since Google isn’t tightly focused on this problem, Duolingo Max remains a much better product.

Duolingo Max has more languages, more scenarios, and more natural conversations. I’ve been using Max a ton lately, and it’s really helped me speak better Portuguese and Japanese.

If you’re competing with a giant, you can beat them through intense focus on a narrow problem.

Wrap-Up

Overall, I give Google Translate Practice a B+.

If Google added more unstructured conversations and additional languages, I’d bump that up to an A. But for a beta product, it’s impressive.

If you want to learn a language, give Practice a try. It’s fun, easy to use, and best of all, free!

Have you tried Google Translate Practice?

More on tech:

Using AI to Snag Cheap Flights: Google Flights AI

Grok Companions — Elon’s AI Girlfriend?

Gemini Beats Grok and GPT 5.2 In a Head-to-Head Test

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

Fundrise

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

Misfits Market

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.