Teleportation — the kind of innovation everyone instantly…
Where the term comes from
In the channel's conversation with Nabeel Hyatt (Spark Capital), teleportation is one rung in a three-part taxonomy of innovation he borrows from Rory Sutherland [^videoId: aadbfc77-2045-528b-a149-9cf468b23383]: faster horses, teleportation, and Japanese toilets.
How the term is used
- Faster horses — making the existing thing go faster; most B2B SaaS AI products land here, and get arbitraged out of existence within a few years.- Teleportation — a Mars colony is the example: everyone instantly wants it once it is described, even though nobody currently knows how to get there.- Japanese toilets — the surprise you didn't know you needed until you use it.Hyatt's point is that teleportation describes an innovation that is instantly desired but unreachable with current means — which is exactly why he does not go looking for it. The products he explores are the Japanese toilets of AI: mostly new experiences, things that surprise you with the place that they're playing.
- Teleportation names the category of instantly wanted, currently unreachable innovation (e.g., a Mars colony).- In the source usage, it is contrasted with faster horses (incremental speedups) and Japanese toilets (surprising new experiences).- Hyatt hunts for the latter, not teleportation — the takeaway for anyone exploring AI products is to seek the surprising new experience rather than the distant dream.