Code Skips the Design Step
Cordell Ratzlaff@cordell
The idea
I believe coding tools are starting to skip the design step entirely, with software handling work that used to need a separate design layer. So this take owns the companies behind those coding tools rather than the design tools being displaced: a tight basket of big-tech names with their own coding tools and major stakes in leading AI labs, plus the company that owns Cursor outright. No single stock dominates, cash is kept aside to add on weakness, and this is meant to be held for years, not traded on headlines.
What it owns
- These three own popular coding tools and large stakes in private companies making the rest, positioning them to benefit as engineers skip design steps. · Microsoft CorporationIt owns GitHub Copilot and holds a large stake in OpenAI, so it gets paid when engineers use coding tools to go straight from idea to working product without a design step., Alphabet Inc.It builds Gemini coding tools and holds a big stake in Anthropic, whose Claude tools are among those pulling work away from design apps., Amazon.com, Inc.It is Anthropic's biggest backer and sells its own coding tools through its cloud, so smaller teams leaning on software to do the work feeds both businesses.67%
- A coding tool widely used by engineers to build products without a designer is now owned by a company known for advancing space and automotive technology. · Space Exploration Technologies Corp.It owns Cursor, one of the purest coding tools engineers use to skip design, though most of the stock can swing on launch news unrelated to this shift.20%
- Cash13%