Michael Lee on Incentives in Services and Software

A short critique of how business incentives shape technology adoption.

MLMichael LeeGuest · CEO
Channel
No Priors: AI, Machine Learning, Tech, & Startups
Published
Sep 29, 2026
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1:00
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1 min
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SUMMARY

In 30 seconds

Lee argues that service and software providers may be rewarded for maintaining existing customer relationships and workflows.

  1. 1RetentionLee describes customer-retention incentives.
  2. 2IncrementalismHe argues these can encourage incremental change.
  3. 3Scalable workflowsSoftware vendors target common workflows.

Takeaways

  1. Service firms seek to retain and grow customers.
  2. Lee sees a bias toward incremental change.
  3. Software vendors often target common workflows.
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01

Services incentives

Sequence Holdings CEO Michael Lee argues that service providers have incentives to acquire customers, retain them and expand spending.

Sequence Holdings CEO Michael Lee argues that service providers have incentives to acquire customers, retain them and expand spending.

He says those incentives can favor incremental improvements rather than fundamentally redesigning a client’s business. This is his critique of the industry.

02

Software and existing workflows

Lee also argues that software vendors seek workflows shared by many customers so they can install and sell a product at scale.

Lee also argues that software vendors seek workflows shared by many customers so they can install and sell a product at scale.

In his view, this can lead products to accommodate existing workflows and organizational structures rather than rethink them.

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