The work that compounds isn’t loud
Consistency beats perception, every single time
Hey there,
Sometimes, it feels like everything in tech is about perception. Big funding numbers, shiny AI launches, billion-dollar “deals” that were never real in the first place. But the reality underneath is always the same: results come from the work you put in every day.
That’s something I’ve been reflecting on a lot. I’m obsessed with consistency, and I try to pass this on to my team as well: the hours we spend digging into a client’s business before a search, the collaboration we put into reviewing each profile, the daily discipline that makes sure every candidate we present is someone we’d hire ourselves. It’s the work no one sees, but it’s what makes the difference.
This week’s stories are perfect examples of that gap between what makes noise and what delivers. A PR stunt dressed up as a $34B deal. An AI lab admitting humans still matter. A government audit showing remote work isn’t just a perk, it’s a cost-saver.
Perception gets you attention. Consistency builds trust. And trust is the only thing that scales.
Let’s get into it.
🌐 News Shortlist
1. Perplexity’s $34.5B “offer” to buy Chrome
Recap: Perplexity AI, backed by Jeff Bezos, says it wants to buy Chrome for $34.5 billion. Investors “lined up,” and the whole thing was published across WSJ and CNBC.
Here’s the truth: this was never a genuine acquisition attempt. It was a PR play. And it worked. Everyone in tech spent the week saying “Perplexity” in the same sentence as “Google.”
Chrome is the most valuable surface on the internet. Whoever controls it doesn’t just own your searches. They own the way you experience the web.
And that’s the point. Perplexity isn’t trying to outspend OpenAI or Anthropic. They’re trying to establish an identity. If ChatGPT is for complex tasks, Claude is for writing, Gemini is for productivity, and Perplexity wants to own research. Making noise around Chrome is how you get people to pay attention.
As a founder, I get it. The way you’re perceived is everything. Sometimes you don’t need to buy the channel, you just need people to imagine you could.
Advice:
You don’t need a $34B stunt, but you do need clarity. If you can’t explain in one line what you’re the best at, people won’t remember you.
2. Anthropic is hiring a human editor
Recap: Anthropic, the company behind Claude, just posted a job for a managing editor. Not an AI prompt engineer. Not an automation role. A human editor.
It’s not a coincidence. A few weeks ago, Anthropic tried letting Claude run their blog. It lasted a week before they canceled the experiment. Now they’re hiring someone to own editorial calendars, coordinate across teams, manage freelancers, and make sure their content is accurate, consistent, and worth reading.
The irony is sharp: while media companies are firing journalists and replacing them with bots, one of the world’s top AI labs is doing the opposite. They’re paying six figures for someone with taste, judgment, and organizational skills. Why? Because they know that even in the age of generative AI, garbage in means garbage out. And trust is a human job.
It’s also a subtle signal about where the line is. AI can draft, summarize, and even help ideate. But deciding what to publish, how to say it, and how it reflects on the brand? That’s still human territory.
Advice:
Use AI tools where they make sense, but don’t replace your storytellers. If Anthropic (the company leaning on “safety-first” branding and AI innovation) thinks humans belong in the editorial loop, you probably should too.
3. California could save $225M by letting employees stay remote
Recap: A new state audit says California could save up to $225 million a year if state employees worked from home at least three days a week. The savings come from reducing office space needs by 30% across 5.5M square feet of state-owned buildings. Lawmakers requested the study after Governor Newsom pushed for employees to be in the office four days a week starting in March 2025.
The report also noted how telework improves recruitment, retention, and work-life balance. Unions praised it. The Governor’s office pushed back, saying the audit wasn’t “scientific” enough.
Of course, this isn’t just a California story. It’s the same discussion happening inside every big organization: leaders equating butts-in-seats with productivity, while the data points the other way. Remote work isn’t just an employee perk: it’s now a fiscal strategy.
California is a $4 trillion economy. If even they’re being told “your office obsession is costing hundreds of millions,” what does that say about mid-sized companies forcing employees to work on-site without running the numbers?
Advice:
If you run a business, look at your office space like any other expense.
If it drives real value, keep it.
If it doesn’t, put that money into better tools or better people.
The audit shows remote work isn’t just about flexibility, it’s about efficiency. Cutting back on office space alone could save California $225M a year.
Now take that idea a step further.
If governments can unlock that much just by rethinking where people sit, imagine what companies can unlock when they rethink where they hire. In Latin America, the same budget that lands you an average performer in the US can bring you an exceptional one, remote, aligned on time zones, and ready from day one. Interested? Let’s talk.
🔎 Remote Jobs Shortlist
These are the new openings my clients have this week.
Even if you’re not hiring, it’s worth seeing what roles great companies are opening and what that says about where things are headed. Check out the full list here.
1. AI Performance Strategist
This growth-stage startup is building some of the most advanced AI workflows in the market, and now they need someone to own how those models actually perform in the real world.
They’re hiring an AI Performance Strategist to monitor, optimize, and stress-test AI pipelines that already touch thousands of users. You’ll work cross-functionally with product, data, and engineering to define what “good” means, design experiments, and turn vague model behavior into measurable business outcomes.
You’re probably the kind of person who lives in metrics, knows when to trust a benchmark and when to rerun it, and can explain your findings to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. If you’ve tuned prompts, evaluated structured outputs, or shipped models into production and seen how messy it gets—this is your lane.
💵 $2,500 - $3,000 USD/month
📍Brazil Remote
2. Customer Service Representative
This role is all about first impressions. You’ll be the voice and face of a fast-growing youth sports and community business, helping families get the info they need and making sure every interaction feels clear, professional, and human.
You’ll handle registrations, scheduling, billing questions, and follow-ups—balancing friendliness with problem-solving. The systems are modern (Slack, Iclasspro, Tidio), but what matters most is how you listen, respond, and resolve.
Ideal fit: you’ve worked in customer-facing roles before, you’re fluent in English (C1), and you genuinely enjoy helping people. If you can multitask without losing composure and keep records spotless, you’ll do great here.
💵 $1,200 - $1,600 USD/month
📍Latin America Remote
3. Software Engineer
This startup is reshaping syndicated lending with smart contracts and distributed ledgers. They’ve already processed live trades with major institutions and are scaling quickly.
They’re looking for a frontend-leaning fullstack engineer to join their remote-first product team. You’ll build modern UIs in React/Typescript, connect them to backend APIs in Node.js/NestJS, and interface with a DAML-based smart contract system. Expect a mix of building user-facing features and making distributed systems run smoothly at scale.
If you’ve shipped frontend-heavy features before, worked in fast-paced startups, and like the idea of touching fintech infrastructure at a global scale, this is a strong match. Bonus points if you’ve played with smart contracts or AI coding tools like Copilot.
💵$6,500 - $7,500 USD/month
📍Latin America Remote
That’s it for this week.
At the end of the day, noise comes and goes. Headlines fade. The only thing that sticks is the work you’re willing to repeat: the consistency that builds trust over time.
That’s what I keep reminding myself, my team, and, yes, my readers. So thanks for reading, and for being part of the consistency that makes this worth it.
Until next time,
Joseph Burns
CEO & Founder, Lupa