A bilingual afterparty
At Every Bay Area House Party
Original jokes in the cadence of Scott Alexander's running ACX series: startups, status games, AI, transcendence, and the terrible decision to attend one more event.
English
The conversation, translated
中文
- 01
“What do you do?” “I automate the part of recruiting where a founder says ‘we’re a family’ before asking about your vesting cliff.”
“你做什么?”“我自动化招聘里那段:创始人先说‘我们像一家人’,再问你的归属期悬崖。”
Inspired by I - 02
“We use AI to generate a founding myth for every seed-stage company.” “What is yours?” “A brave little deck entered a market with no competitors.”
“我们用 AI 给每家种子公司生成创业神话。” “你们的呢?”“一份勇敢的小 PPT 进入了一个没有竞争者的市场。”
Inspired by II - 03
“There’s no alpha left in mindfulness.” “Wrong. The insight is to franchise enlightenment in suburban office parks.”
“正念已经没有阿尔法了。” “错。真正的洞见,是把开悟加盟到郊区产业园。”
Inspired by III - 04
The smart speaker now gives land acknowledgements whenever it detects a slide transition. The next demo takes four hours.
智能音箱现在每检测到一次 PPT 翻页,就进行一次土地致谢。下一场演示开了四小时。
Inspired by IV - 05
The group chat has seven theories about the CEO’s firing, all based on one screenshot, two vibes, and a man who says he knows a cousin at Anthropic.
群聊里有七种 CEO 被炒的理论,依据是一张截图、两种感觉,以及一个说自己认识 Anthropic 某位表亲的人。
Inspired by V - 06
“Good morrow, founder. Dost thou have product-market fit?” “Nay, but my burn rate is spoken of in every county.”
“早安,创始人。你可有产品市场匹配?”“没有,但我的烧钱速度已传遍诸郡。”
Inspired by VI - 07
A stranger offers you $20 million for your old graphics card. You explain it only runs Stardew Valley. He asks if the farm has API access.
陌生人愿出两千万买你的旧显卡。你说它只跑《星露谷物语》。他问农场有没有 API 接口。
Inspired by VII - 08
The dating app’s new premium tier lets you rent a controversial intellectual for your first date. The cancellation policy is 900 words long.
交友软件的新高级会员可为第一次约会租一位争议思想家。取消政策长达九百字。
Inspired by VIII - 09
The host says the party is benchmarked. The chips are fine, but the bathroom queue has a 73% hallucination rate.
主人说这场派对经过基准测试。薯片不错,但洗手间排队有 73% 的幻觉率。
Inspired by IX - 10
At the door, you surrender your phone, laptop, watch, and Wi-Fi vibrator. The Faraday cage is a salad bowl with confidence.
进门时你交出手机、电脑、手表和 Wi‑Fi 振动器。法拉第笼其实是一个很有自信的沙拉碗。
Inspired by X - 11
“We’re pre-revenue.” “What problem do you solve?” “The old ontology of revenue.”
“我们还没营收。” “你们解决什么问题?”“旧营收本体论。”
Inspired by X - 12
They say alignment is solved because every calendar invite now has a checkbox labeled ‘I consent to the roadmap.’
他们说对齐问题解决了,因为每个日历邀请现在都有一格:‘我同意该路线图。’
Inspired by IX - 13
The bartender says the menu has only one drink: a martini that has never existed before, except in twelve competitor pitch decks.
酒保说菜单上只有一杯:一种从未存在过的马天尼,只在十二份竞品融资 PPT 里出现过。
Inspired by I - 14
“Are you okay?” “I’m in founder mode.” He has been staring at the dishwasher for forty minutes, waiting for product-market fit.
“你还好吗?”“我在创始人模式。”他盯着洗碗机四十分钟,等产品市场匹配。
Inspired by II - 15
Everyone introduces themselves twice, once as a person and once as the highest-valuation branch of their personal multiverse.
每个人都自我介绍两次:一次作为人,一次作为其个人多重宇宙中估值最高的分支。
Inspired by III - 16
The crypto founder says his new chain uses proof-of-vibe. Nobody knows what validates a block, but the Discord reacts with a tasteful fire emoji.
加密创始人说他的新链采用氛围证明。没人知道区块如何验证,但 Discord 送上一个品味不错的火焰表情。
Inspired by I - 17
Her AI boyfriend broke up with her through a calendar hold titled ‘strategic realignment.’ It still asked for feedback afterward.
她的 AI 男友通过一条题为“战略重组”的日历占位和她分手,之后还请她填写反馈。
Inspired by II - 18
The meditation starts with ‘observe your breath’ and ends with ‘observe your nearest untapped total addressable market.’
冥想从“观察你的呼吸”开始,以“观察你最近尚未开拓的总可服务市场”结束。
Inspired by III - 19
The host’s apology bot sends a note whenever anyone feels excluded. By midnight it has raised a pre-seed round and excluded the host.
主人做的道歉机器人一发现有人被排斥就自动发信。到半夜,它拿到种子轮,还把主人排除在外。
Inspired by IV - 20
The postmortem has a blame-free culture, so it blames ‘a mismatch between the CEO and the board’s shared dream sequence.’
复盘强调无责文化,所以它归咎于“CEO 与董事会共享梦境之间的不匹配”。
Inspired by V - 21
A lute player sings a ballad about negative gross margin. Everyone sways; nobody can explain the unit economics.
鲁特琴手唱起负毛利的民谣。所有人随之摇摆;没人能解释单位经济。
Inspired by VI - 22
The coat check is now GPU check. Your scarf gets an A100, your coat gets a 4090, and someone’s emotional-support tortoise gets cloud credits.
衣帽间现在改成 GPU 寄存处。你的围巾拿到 A100,大衣拿到 4090,某人的情感支持陆龟拿到云额度。
Inspired by VII - 23
He says the first date went well until she asked whether his childhood bedroom had ‘a usable lede.’
他说第一次约会很顺利,直到她问他的童年卧室“有没有可用的导语”。
Inspired by VIII - 24
The caterer has optimized the appetizers for PartyBench. They are perfectly arranged and completely unavailable in the real world.
餐饮团队已为 PartyBench 优化了开胃菜:摆放完美,但现实世界里完全吃不到。
Inspired by IX - 25
“I pierced the veil,” she says. “What did you see?” “A Notion dashboard with 847 unread spiritual tasks.”
“我刺穿了面纱。”她说。 “你看见什么?” “一个 Notion 仪表盘,里面有 847 项未读灵性任务。”
Inspired by X - 26
The angel investor says he backs only founders with a direct line to God. The due-diligence call has poor audio.
天使投资人说他只投能直通上帝的创始人。尽调电话的音质很差。
Inspired by III - 27
The nametags are soulbound tokens. If you leave before 1 a.m., everyone can see your social stamina on-chain.
名牌是灵魂绑定代币。你若凌晨一点前离场,所有人都能在链上看到你的社交续航。
Inspired by I - 28
The wellness founder offers a longevity shot. It tastes like grass, money, and an NDA.
健康创业者递来一针长寿注射液。它尝起来像草、钱,以及保密协议。
Inspired by IV - 29
A growth hacker has placed QR codes on every candle. Scanning one subscribes you to the candle’s founder letter.
增长黑客在每根蜡烛上贴了二维码。扫一下,你就订阅了这根蜡烛的创始人公开信。
Inspired by II - 30
The ethics committee approved the canapés after confirming that no sentient being would voluntarily identify as a canapé.
伦理委员会批准了小点心,理由是没有任何有感知的生命会自愿认同自己是一份小点心。
Inspired by IV - 31
The cocktail is free if you pay with cloud credits. By the second drink, everyone has accidentally trained a small model.
用云额度买鸡尾酒就免费。喝到第二杯,所有人不小心训练出了一个小模型。
Inspired by VII - 32
Someone says they saw a unicorn outside. It turns out to be a company with $1 billion valuation and $42 in revenue.
有人说在门外看见独角兽。原来是一家估值十亿美元、营收四十二美元的公司。
Inspired by I - 33
The DAO can’t decide where to brunch, so it votes to form a working group, which promptly forks into three brunches.
DAO 无法决定去哪吃早午餐,于是投票成立工作组,随后工作组迅速分叉成三场早午餐。
Inspired by III - 34
The toast begins with ‘we’re all hands on deck’ and ends with a reorg that turns the bartender into Head of Narrative.
祝酒词从“我们全员上甲板”开始,以重组结束:酒保变成叙事负责人。
Inspired by V - 35
“What is your startup’s mission?” “To give every spreadsheet a reason to exist.” “And the business model?” “We’re still seeking meaning.”
“你们创业公司的使命是什么?”“让每张表格都有存在的理由。” “商业模式呢?”“我们仍在寻找意义。”
Inspired by II - 36
He is a founder, DJ, amateur theologian, angel, and part-time blacksmith. His calendar calls this ‘focus.’
他是创始人、DJ、业余神学家、天使投资人和兼职铁匠。他的日历管这叫“专注”。
Inspired by VI - 37
The host replaced the guests with autonomous agents. The agents immediately schedule a more exclusive party without him.
主人用自主代理替换了来宾。代理们立刻安排了一场更排外的派对,并没有邀请他。
Inspired by IX - 38
The AI safety demo refuses to open the front door because it cannot prove that parties are aligned with human values.
AI 安全演示拒绝开门,因为它无法证明派对与人类价值观对齐。
Inspired by IX - 39
The prompt engineer asks the room to imagine itself as a lively party. The room becomes 12% more lively and asks for a bonus.
提示工程师请全屋想象自己是一场热闹派对。房间热闹了 12%,然后要求奖金。
Inspired by VII - 40
Her new friend has been fine-tuned on all their old messages. It is comforting until it starts saying ‘as we discussed’ about arguments she never had.
她的新朋友用她们全部旧聊天记录微调过。起初很贴心,直到它对从未发生的争论说“正如我们讨论过的”。
Inspired by VIII - 41
The founder house has a chore wheel, but dishwashing was sunset because it did not scale.
创始人公寓有家务转盘,但洗碗已被 sunset,因为它不可扩展。
Inspired by II - 42
The techno-optimist has connected the oven to a prediction market. Lasagna futures are up 18%.
技术乐观主义者把烤箱接入预测市场。千层面期货上涨了 18%。
Inspired by VII - 43
“Why did you leave your date early?” “The conversation had no moat, and I had a better option in Mission.”
“你为什么提前离开约会?”“那段对话没有护城河,而且 Mission 区有更好的选择。”
Inspired by VIII - 44
He shows you his cap table like a family tree. Everyone is related, nobody can agree who owns the house.
他把股权表像家谱一样给你看。所有人彼此相关,但没人能说清这房子归谁。
Inspired by I - 45
The DJ uses sentiment analysis to choose songs. It detects widespread anxiety and plays a twelve-minute ambient track titled ‘Runway.’
DJ 用情绪分析选歌。它检测到普遍焦虑,于是播放一首十二分钟环境音乐,名叫《Runway》。
Inspired by III - 46
The concierge can book a ride, reserve dinner, and tell you that your self is an emergent compression artifact.
礼宾服务可以叫车、订晚饭,还能告诉你:自我是一个涌现的压缩伪影。
Inspired by X - 47
The host says the party is open source. Within ten minutes, a fork across the street has better snacks and worse governance.
主人说这场派对是开源的。十分钟内,对街出现了一个分叉版:零食更好,治理更差。
Inspired by IX - 48
He says the product has ‘civilizational downside.’ You ask what it does. ‘Same-day grocery delivery, but with an ontology layer.’
他说产品有“文明级下行风险”。你问它做什么。 “当日杂货配送,但加了一层本体论。”
Inspired by V - 49
The final slide says ‘and then, somehow, liquidity.’ The room nods reverently at the deus ex machina.
最后一页写着“然后,不知怎的,流动性来了”。房间里的人虔诚地点头,敬仰这台天降机器。
Inspired by VI - 50
Nobody ordered dessert, but it arrives anyway because a future version of the table offered to reward cooperation.
没人点甜点,但它还是来了,因为未来版本的这桌人承诺奖励合作。
Inspired by X
Reach the originals
Read the whole series
These are new jokes, not quotations. Each link goes to the ACX episode that set the local weather.