Discussion

• @hassankhan @hassankhan on x

  I do not think the Apple EV case is instructive about *industrial capabilities.* Apple is a *high margin hardware business* and it's more likely they saw that EVs were a ~zero margin business given intense Chinese competition. Why scale capex for a business with no returns?

• @ericnewcomer Eric Newcomer on x

  “I wish that the tech world could learn to present broader cultural appeal. I hope that Silicon Valley could learn some of the humorousness of New York (or at least LA.) It's unfortunate that any show or movie made about Silicon Valley is full of awkward nerds; by contrast,

• @mikeelgan Mike Elgan on x

  Claim of the moment: “One way that Silicon Valley and the Chinese Communist Party resemble each other is that both are serious, self-serious, and indeed, completely humorless.” https://danwang.co/...

• @hassankhan @hassankhan on x

  Many great lines in this letter (the crack on Europeans and ACs my favorite) but this observation is something I feel viscerally [image]

• @zhengdongwang Zhengdong on x

  Highlight of my break since I found Dan's letters in 2019 causing me to shamelessly copy him since 2022. I guess Bush did not misspeak https://www.youtube.com/... Another question is, are the British bad engineers because they are funny?

• @buccocapital @buccocapital on x

  A few things I enjoyed reading as we head into the new year Dan Wang's Annual Letter: These are always great, but I appreciated this one even more after reading his book Breakneck this year. Which you should also do if you haven't. Lots of great insights on how China and the US

• @nabeelqu Nabeel S. Qureshi on x

  Enjoyed this snippet from Dan Wang's latest annual letter: before publishing, he retypes the whole thing start to finish. [image]

• @birdyword Mike Bird on x

  .@danwwang's annual letter is a real treat as ever. I'm glad to have made a footnoted contribution, always important to stay on message. [image]

• @zdch Zac Hill on x

  This is worth reading in its entirety. Dan is super perceptive about way way more than China/US dynamics, though his command of that lens causes him to appreciate many other nonobvious truths across domains.

• @eric_is_weird Eric Gilliam on x

  Re Dan Wang's letter, I'm happy he pointed out that many in SF simply don't say bad things about those the “herd” has gotten behind. E.g. recently, in SF, some people got uncomfortable when I noted a minor character the herd liked lied, and that's bad Iirc I said something like: …

• @s8mb Sam Bowman on x

  This whole letter is fantastic, not least because it recognises how important it is for people to have a sense of humour. [image]

• @rtylercrown Tyler Crown on x

  Worth a read! Good difference between public and private market investors.

• @discoplomacy Sam on x

  Articulating complex technological, political and philosophical ideas is a true art. In this sense, reading Dan Wang's annual letters is like walking through a visiting exhibition you have waited for 12 months to see. Each insight perfectly framed, each point measured with [image…

• @sbanjo Shelly Banjo on x

  This is the part I think many Americans get wrong about business/tech in China: [image]

• @phequals7 @phequals7 on x

  always look forward to his annual letters.. a bit sad to see india only being mentioned in the footnote for a moment but that's honestly our current standing - maybe not being in the limelight is also a good thing [image]

• @rmcentush Ryan McEntush on x

  there are very few analysts who I feel seriously engage with the complexities of china's industrial ecosystem. @danwwang and @kyleichan are among the best I've discovered over the last year. highly recommend reading Dan's letter below + subscribing to Kyle's substack.

• @kevinakwok Kevin Kwok on x

  There is no lovelier tradition to return to than reading Dan Wang's annual letters over the holidays The is one of his best. with too many gems to count Dan most shines in his ability to stare hard at SV and China in the fullness of their beauty and horror. It's a thing I hope

• @mattzeitlin Matthew Zeitlin on x

  Tech has a “everyone is contrarian in the same way” issue, at least among the poster types

• @renesellmann Rene Sellmann on x

  Superb letter by @danwwang. Below are some notes I took while reading it: 1⃣ Both Silicon Valley and the Communist Party project seriousness and humorlessness, reflecting cultural dominance that suppresses playfulness and dissent. “It's nearly as dangerous to tweet a joke about

• @mylesudland Myles Udland on x

  This brings to mind the discussion of the broken Silicon Valley contract, bc the incentive for being more herdlike is that you work at a startup that gets bought, you get some money, and investors from that startup back your own project bc your total commitment to the first one

• @chr1sa Chris Anderson on x

  @danwwang 14k words and well worth it! I was struck by your phrase “everything is now drone”. Aside from them having electric motors and batteries, like a lot of other things, what did you mean by that? [image]

• @stevehou Steve Hou on x

  Interesting observation. I love character analysis like this. So true!

• @conorsen Conor Sen on x

  Something the Dan Wang letter makes me think about: There are potentially two successful economic models: -deep manufacturing infrastructure, which has to be obsessed with streamlining regulations and minimizing labor costs (Dems hate this) -shareholder primacy (Dems hate this)

• @ctbeiser Chris Beiser on x

  @danwwang For one more example of the “total Dan Wang Cultural Victory,” the top comment on a tiktok I got about choosing the right Chinese city to manufacture your product. Stellar as always, and a happy New Year! [image]

• @joshdcaplan Josh Caplan on x

  “I have a hard time squaring the poor prospects of Europe over the next decade with the smugness that Europeans have for themselves.” https://danwang.co/...

• @danwwang Dan Wang on x

  My annual letter: https://danwang.co/... This year I discuss corgis, compute, and Cold War; the Texas State Fair; DSA; Neue Sachlichkeit; disfiguring the physical past and the end of history; Germanic obedience; Antichrist; wisecracks; Pascal's Wager; romantasy; and croissants.

• @greg_ip Greg Ip on x

  The annual letter/essay of @danwwang, an extraordinarily astute observer of China+tech, gifted writer and author of Breakneck, is not to be missed. A few of my highlights from this year's https://danwang.co/...:

• @richardhanania Richard Hanania on x

  “I find it charming that a San Francisco home that is poorly furnished and strewn with pizza boxes could be owned by a billionaire who can't get around to setting up a bed for his mattress.” https://danwang.co/...

• @jchengwsj Jonathan Cheng on x

  .@danwwang: “On AI, China is behind the US, but not by years. There's no question that American reasoning models are more sophisticated than the likes of DeepSeek and Qwen. But the Chinese efforts are doggedly in pursuit.” https://danwang.co/...

• @mattzeitlin Matthew Zeitlin on x

  “Tech titans don't look ready to plan for later steps in leading the whole-of-society effort into deploying AI everywhere. The Communist Party lives for whole-of-society efforts. That's what Leninist systems are built for.” https://danwang.co/...

• @richardhanania Richard Hanania on x

  “It's never worth forgetting that at the dawn of the Cold War, the US deported Qian Xuesen, the CalTech professor who then built missile delivery systems for Beijing.” At least then there was a Cold War. Today we do this just due to chud hatefulness. https://danwang.co/...

• @bgurley Bill Gurley on x

  I really enjoyed @danwwang year end letter - and highly recommend a read. Here is my favorite paragraph: https://danwang.co/... [image]

• @gnat Nat Torkington on bluesky

  Exquisitely thoughtful essay about China and Silicon Valley. danwang.co/2025-letter/ I particularly liked “Chinese and Americans are the most alike people in the world.  They both are driven by a yearning for the future.  They feel the draw of better times ahead.”  Lots to ponder…

• @frankpasquale Frank Pasquale on bluesky

  “Since the US is much more services-driven, Americans may be using AI to produce more powerpoints and lawsuits; China, by virtue of being the global manufacturer, has the option to scale up production of more electronics....”  —  danwang.co/2025-letter/

• @conorsen Conor Sen on bluesky

  This is how I learned I'm a better fit for finance culture and tech culture.  You only succeed in tech culture by fully embracing the Current Thing and being all-in on it: danwang.co/2025-letter/ [image]

• @yiningkarlli@mastodon.gamedev.place Yining Karl Li on mastodon

  I thought this was a great read.  For the past 15 years I've visited China a lot to see family and such, and I've built up an impression of China that lines up pretty much exactly with what Dan has written here.  He hits the nail on the head, with fantastic and coherent writing. …