We were promised AGI and flying cars.
Instead, we got self-pleasuring AI chatbots.
Tyler Cowen was right.
In 2011, economist Tyler Cowen diagnosed a big problem: The Great Stagnation. Despite our technological advances, productivity growth has been on a decline ever since the 1970s.
What's the root cause?
"Silicon Valley has lost its way." - Alex Karp
In 1990s, something changed.
The decades of rapid technological progress and economic growth that had defined the post-war era began to slow. Technological innovation started to predominantly be centered on the consumer internet, shaping how we communicate, shop, and entertain ourselves.
This useless self pleasuring brought us services such as The Facebook, but it did something far worse: it changed the perception of young technologists what "success" in startups looks like.
As a result, while the digital revolution brought us smartphones, social media, and e-commerce, vast sectors of the economy remained trapped in the 20th century. Construction productivity has been flat for 50 years. Healthcare costs continue to rise while outcomes plateau. Education costs more but delivers less.
The consequences of this stagnation are all around us:
- - Housing that costs too much and takes too long to build
- - Infrastructure projects that take decades instead of years
- - Healthcare that bankrupts families while failing to cure diseases
- - Core Banking systems running on decades-old technology, stifling financial innovation
The question is not whether we have the technology, but whether we have the vision and will to *productize* it where it's needed most.
That's where Layerup comes in.
Our Mission
Productize advanced technologies in laggard industries.
The pace of innovation has slowed dramatically in critical sectors of society. We need to change that.
Banks still run on software written in COBOL. Teleco companies have yet to transition to cloud. Hospitals are still using spreadsheets. Insurance companies have a whole host of tasks that are outsourced to BPOs.
Learn our approach to building softwareThe bottleneck isn't invention—it's institutional inertia.
There's a difference between simply inventing technology and productizing it for critical industries.
The latter requires both deep R&D and an excruciating amount of will. And it is the will that is lacking.
A new way of building enterprise software that delivers 100x outcomes.
Highly energetic and talented people building yet another marginally better consumer app is the biggest waste of human resources on the planet.
The second biggest waste of human resources is "cargo cult programming" that led to modular enterprise software promising to do everything for everyone while doing nothing for no one.
Pre-LLMs, companies like Salesforce, Oracle, and Microsoft had to ship as little code as possible for as many customers as possible. This was primarily done because the cost per unit of code written was high before LLMs. The issue is that it was primarily done to favor margins for the software company - not to solve problems for customers. These systems are deliberately generic, requiring extensive customization to meet specific requirements. This approach creates a dependency on consultants and integrators, locking businesses into ecosystems that prioritize vendor profitability over user empowerment.
Moreover, modular systems encourage a one-size-fits-all mentality. Instead of fostering creativity or enabling businesses to develop custom solutions, they enforce conformity. Businesses end up adapting to the software rather than the software adapting to their needs. This homogeneity not only limits the scope of innovation but also entrenches inefficiencies.
1—Opinionated industry-specific software
The rise of modular platforms has led to an environment where low-conviction management teams favor cargo cult programming over software that actually transforms an enterprise. Instead of building generic systems that require endless customization, we need software built from the ground up with industry-specific challenges in mind. This approach leverages LLMs to deliver bespoke solutions on top of knowledge ontology to truly address user needs.
2—Engineering leads end-to-end Implementation
The era of cookie-cutter development is over. LLMs will make it cheaper and cheaper to ship software. Instead of pandering to low-code shortcuts, engineer-led customization for each customer will define the next generation of enterprise software. This will be the true beginning of "software as a service."
3—Custom UX and features during implementation
Off-the-shelf, low-code platforms may promise quick fixes, but they force companies to conform to rigid, generic interfaces. Companies end up adjusting to the software instead of the other way around. Rather than pandering to low-code shortcuts, our philosophy champions building robust, high-quality systems from first principles.
Agentic UX requires deep customization: 0.1% change in the UX can be the difference between augmenting labor and replacing it. Consequently, this small shift can also be the difference between a $10M ROI vs a $100M ROI for customers.
Layerup's Master Plan.
Basecamp-1
Onshore BPOs/outsourced labor with AI Agents. Add 5-20% per year to the US GDP.
Basecamp-2
Productize industry-specific AI agents in laggard industries.
Basecamp-n^n
While scaling the above, consistently keep pushing the S curve by productizing new technical breakthroughs in critical industries.
Mission
End Stagnation by productizing advanced technologies in laggard industries.
The stakes couldn't be higher.
Stagnation isn't just an economic problem. It's an existential threat to humanity. It's a roadblock on our journey on the kardashev scale.
When critical industries fail to innovate, we all pay the price. History teaches us this lesson in stark terms: the collapse of the Roman Empire was not solely due to external pressures, but also the result of internal decay—a failure to innovate and adapt. Just as Rome fell prey to its own inertia, our modern systems teeter on the brink when they cling to outdated practices.
The cost of inaction.
What happens if we fail to end the Great Stagnation? The consequences extend far beyond economic metrics:
Housing Crisis
The average American home now costs 7x the median annual income, up from 3x in the 1960s. Construction productivity has remained flat for decades while costs have soared. Without technological transformation, homeownership will become a luxury reserved for the wealthy few.
Banking and Financial Services Breakdown
Our financial system—the very backbone of modern civilization—runs on technology from the 1960s. Banks still depend on COBOL mainframes older than most of their employees. This isn't just about long hold times or branch visits-it's about a financial infrastructure that's dangerously out of sync with the speed and complexity of modern commerce. The cost of maintaining this technological debt isn't just measured in dollars—it's measured in lost opportunities, stunted innovation, and increasing vulnerability to both cyber threats and operational failures.
Manufacturing and Industrial Stagnation
Industrial productivity has plateaued, even as global competition intensifies. Outdated manufacturing processes and resistance to change stifle growth, jeopardizing job creation and economic resilience. The failure to modernize these sectors will leave us trailing in the race toward a sustainable, advanced economy.
Healthcare Collapse
Healthcare costs continue to grow faster than GDP, consuming an ever-larger share of our economy. Administrative overhead alone accounts for 25% of U.S. hospital spending. Without transformation, we face a future where healthcare is both unaffordable and inadequate.
Infrastructure Decay
America's infrastructure is crumbling. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives U.S. infrastructure a C- grade. Major projects take decades to complete and cost multiples of similar projects in other developed nations. Without transformation, our physical environment will continue to deteriorate.
National Security Risk
When critical industries stagnate, our national security is compromised. Defense systems take too long to develop and deploy. Supply chains become vulnerable. Critical technologies remain undeveloped. Without transformation, we risk falling behind in an increasingly competitive global environment.
"Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder."
The Layerup Mafia.
If you like to stare in the eyes of hardcore problems - technical or otherwise, we want to hear from you. Layerup is a place you will get to grow and learn in ways otherwise not possible at any other organization on the planet. We are starting by building AI Agents for banking and financial services. In the future, you can expect to build for many other critical industries.
Join us.
We are building Layerup to be a 100+ year company. We bring together a team of obsessive technologists, thinkers, and doers who like to build and move fast.
If the idea of taking agency over your work and attacking hard problems across large institutions sound interesting to you, then we want you at Layerup.
Join us to End StagnationLayerup's culture.
Ending the Great Stagnation requires a unique combination of purpose, philosophical bedrock, skills, and an incredible commitment to the mission. Here's why you should or should not join Layerup:
Ultra hardcore
Layerup is for the top 0.000001%. If you are not prepared for a level of intensity greater than anything you've experienced before, then don't apply. Revolutionalizing industries isn't for the faint of heart. This is the kind of place that produces the people who will define the *entire* tech industry a decade from now — The next Larry Ellison. The next Elon Musk. The next Henry Ford.
Push until it hurts
Great people constantly make things difficult for themselves. If you're not ready to push yourself to the edge, do not apply to Layerup. Constantly pushing yourself is uncomfortable for many. But, so is growth. Growth does not happen in comfort.
Extreme people get extreme results
We believe in the power of paranoia, hustle, and hard work. Extreme people get extreme results and normal people get normal results. When you bring extreme energy to the table, you get extreme outcomes.
Self-belief, risk-taking, and thinking big
Self-limiting beliefs is the biggest crime one can commit against the gifts that God has given them. If you're in your 20s or 30s, you have 1500 productive weeks of your life left. Think about how fast last week went by - that's 1 out of 1500 weeks gone. We dream big dreams and have the guts to go after it with full passion - life is short.
Objective Thinking
We view the world from an objective lens. We question every requirement. Just because something has always been done a certain way doesn't mean it should be.
If you want to transform laggard industries instead of optimizing clicks or building self-pleasuring consumer AI chatbots-we want to hear from you.