AI Writes 27k+ Lines in Two Months
It's been 2 months since I started working on Dunky.AI . Claude has written 27k+ lines of code across 91 files in that time. Incredible.
Early Helpers May Not Scale with Company Growth
One of the hardest learnings I had as a founder was that people who were extremely helpful and important early in my company's lifetime didn't always level up to be able to help the company at the next level. It is...
Compress Investor Meetings to Build Urgency and Momentum
The ideal situation in raising money is to pack in all of your investor meetings within a compressed period of time. That makes it a lot easier to create urgency and momentum.
VCs Prioritize Rapid Growth Over Slow Milestones
When raising money from VCs, velocity and momentum in the business matters. For example, if you get to $1m ARR in 10 years that is a big achievement as a business owner, but it will probably be tough to raise VC
Build Love, Prove Economics, Then Scale Acquisition
To get to product-market fit, the order of operations is: 1. Build a product that people love and work on that until you have it in a good spot 2. Get the unit economics to make sense: Are you able to keep...
VCs Value Traction as Proof of De‑risking, Not Milestones
For VCs, traction is just an indicator of learnings in the company. Investors aren't looking to invest in companies at a certain level of specific traction, but rather trying to assess what has been de-risked.
AI Funding Splits: Winners Raise Millions, Others Struggle
In AI, the fundraising market is extremely bifurcated now. There are founders who are raising tons of money for new AI ideas. And other people can't raise a dime because they're working on things that a lot of other ppl are...
AI Agents May Self‑police as Humans Outsource Judgment
There was an article this week in the Wall Street Journal about how people are outsourcing their judgment to AI. While I agree that this is probably happening, I wonder whether people will have so many AI agents that counterbalance...
AI Schedules All Your Appointments, No Phone Needed
One thing I have been using @HeyNoahAI for that is magical is being able to book phone based appointments. Everything from car servicing appointments to doctors appointments. No one should have to waste time on the phone anymore for this.
AI Bots Now Autonomously Create and Decide Content
The day my bots decided what to write - and wrote it Last week, I had a moment that made me realize we've crossed a threshold in AI automation that will become mainstream in 6-18 months. I had my bots...
AI Breakthroughs Spark New Acceleration Despite Data‑center Debt
About 6 months ago, I was really worried about all of the debt accumulating via building all of these data centers. But because of the latest improvements in AI in the last couple of months, including new frameworks, I actually...
Opus Falls Short; Sonnet Still Delivers Value
I don't know if it's just me, but I'm finding that the latest Opus model is not that great, and in fact, I still get a lot of benefit out of Sonnet.
AI Drafts Emails, but I Still Must Filter Them
When Dunky Bot drafts my emails, it often writes the things that I want to say, but I have to filter and change it because I can't say it.
Timing Matters: Ask “Why Now?” Before Launching
An important question to ask before starting a business is "Why now?" As a founder, I used to think that was such a silly question, but now, having met so many super sharp entrepreneurs, you've got to believe that for...
Negative Feedback Is a Gift for Growth
Getting negative feedback from customers is better than getting no feedback. It's a gift. It helps you improve.
Traction ≠ Insight: Prioritize Learning Over Numbers
One of the things that is important not to conflate is traction and learnings. You often learn a lot of things through traction but not always. Sometimes I see companies that have some level of traction, but actually haven't learned...
Create Your Own Supplies, Turn Them Into New Businesses
On my flight back from Tampa, I ended up talking with somebody who runs a bunch of businesses. He started with a 70,000 square foot jujitsu gym, and from there, he started building other businesses. He built all the products...
Upsells Boost CLV More than Cost Cuts
It is a lot easier to increase customer lifetime value by adding upsells than it is to reduce costs.
Founders' Top Trait: Rapid Learning Beats All
From having invested in about 1,000 startups, there are so many important traits to have in a founding team, everything from ability to hire well to being scrappy and doing a lot with very little. But if I had to...
B2B Firms Should Prioritize Building a Robust API
I think if you are running a B2B business, one of the most valuable things you could do right now is to build out a pretty complete API.
Valuations Rising Isn’t New Normal; VCs Need Steady Strategy
The other day, @lucasbagnocvaz posted how VCs need to change their portfolio construction because valuations are going up and this is the new normal. While I respect Lucas and he's a fantastic investor, I respectfully disagree and here's what's really happening More...
AI Assistant Lets Me Master Pitches in Real Time
It's pretty crazy where if someone is pitching me something over Zoom - and I am not an expert at most industries or most technologies - I now regularly use Claude during the middle of the call to validate industries...
Automation Will Dominate Marketing, but Sales Still Need Humans
I think in distribution, we will get to a point where you can pretty much automate Ads, SEO, and content building more generally speaking. But I think closing for sales will still require human rapport for a long time.
Build an Audience First, Then Launch Your Product
If I were to start a company today, but I wasn't sure exactly what my idea was, I would start by first building distribution while still holding down my day job. I think amassing an audience is not only helpful...
Business Models Flip: Old Advice Now Obsolete
The world is turning upside down. We have media companies being bought at crazy levels, which didn't used to happen. SaaS company margins and market caps are plummeting. Services businesses are getting 70% plus margins and are commanding premiums. Everything that...
Move Fast When Mistakes Are Easily Reversible, Think First Otherwise
There's a constant debate about the Silicon Valley adage of "move fast and break things." I really like how the @Mejuri founders think about moving quickly and making fast decisions. If it is an outcome that you can reverse relatively easily,...
Expert Advice on Turning AI Future Into Action
There have been an awful lot of "AI is the future" posts recently. And yes, it IS the future. But knowing that and knowing what to do about it are two very different things. So who better to ask than...
Mission and Culture: The Core of Successful Startups
Early in my founding journey, I used to think that mission and culture were just a bunch of buzzwords, not substantiated in anything. But now I think that companies are all about mission and culture. It's the only way for...
Level‑5 Cars Arriving Soon, Unlocking Startup Goldmine
I predict we will have level 5 autonomous vehicles in the next couple of years. When that happens, it will provide yet another amazing platform for new startups.
AI Spotlights Viable Opportunities, Flags Overcrowded Markets
Claude Code is so good at spotting business opportunities and trends. (And also, what areas are really crowded and “too hard”) I don't see how we started businesses before without AI.
Use Claude Code to Vet Startup Ideas Like VCs
Before you tie yourself to your startup idea, have a conversation with Claude Code about it. It is so good in evaluating business opportunities. If you want to look at your business from the lens of a VC, you can also...
All-Day Smart Glasses Powered by Claude Code
The Holy Grail would be able to have smart glasses and Claude Code while walking around with those all day.
Pitch, Network, and Pizza at Batter Up SF
San Francisco founders, it is just under a week until Batter Up San Francisco. Practice your pitch, get actionable feedback from investors, network and of course, eat pizza. RSVP: https://t.co/5OU2oRYLjZ https://t.co/e6kLsrQWcH
AI Makes Plain Text Pitches Replace Decks
It’s funny - I think we will actually move from pitch decks to text files (or deal memos  will be OK too). Feels like we are going back to what we used in the 90s. But with AI agents,...
Automation Cuts Email Response Time From Minutes to Zero
One of my colleagues used to spend about 20 minutes every day responding to emails in a particular email account. Now Dunky Bot fully auto responds to emails in one our email accounts. Crazy. Looking forward to getting the other...
Voice AI Eases Arthritis by Cutting Keyboard Use
A side benefit to voice AI - in addition to productivity - is that I think it will help with a lot of people‘s arthritis from pounding on a keyboard too much.
Upcoming Founder & Investor Events: Pitch, AI, Networking
New week, new event roundup. Hope to see you at an upcoming event: ⚾ April 27: Batter Up! San Francisco 🤖 May 5: How to Build an AI-Native Company Vibe Camp Workshop with Lawrence Coburn, CEO & Co-Founder, Ambient 🌲 May 11–13: Camp...
Voice AI's Rise Makes Phones Constant Companions
These voice AI tools are so good that now you see everyone walking around talking to their phone in Shack15.
Visual Cues Trump Raw Text in AI Email Triage
I tried using Claude Cowork to triage my emails (it used screenshots via the browser) and Claude's API to triage my emails from Gmail. The screenshot approach was computationally expensive but worked dramatically better. When you extract email text via...
Founders Need Rest to Unlock 10X Ideas
I think it is really important to rest. Top athletes, top musicians - they all rest and that is what allows them to stay at peak performance.  But in founderland, we do the exact opposite. Pure adrenaline can keep you...
Juggling Multiple Terminals: Seeking Efficient Workflow Tips
Curious - in this world of constant building how people are setting up their computers and workflows? I have 4-5 terminals going at any given time across 2 Mac minis. right now it feels like I’m playing the piano across...
AI‑Driven Trend Analytics Enable Fully Autonomous E‑Commerce
I think one of the next trends in e-commerce will be to use trend analytics and take that information and generate 3D products with AI. then you can mark those products through influencers and ads and ship them out. This...
Seeking Safe Marathon Training Tips After Injury
I’m thinking about re-attempting a marathon. The last time I did a lot of training for it I ended up getting injured and not making it. For those of you who do a lot of long distance running, do you have...
Investors Now Demand Proven Distribution Over Funding
The landscape for early-stage investing has fundamentally shifted in recent months, and the change centers on one critical factor: distribution. As software becomes increasingly commoditized, investors are laser-focused on how startups plan to acquire and retain customers. Unfortunately, early-stage companies...
Zen Mindset: The Founder’s Secret to Resilience
The biggest battle in building a startup isn't what you think it is. Yesterday I spoke with Eric Simons of Bolt, who took his company from near-death to $20M in revenue within weeks after their pivot. Beyond the incredible turnaround...
Your Mind Is the Hardest Startup Challenge
The biggest battle in startups isn't building the product. It's battling your own mind. More >>
Get Real-Time LP Feedback on Your Fund Deck
For GPs raising a fund, you're probably sending your deck to potential LPs. Those LPs are using that deck to quickly decide: meet or pass? Wouldn't it be sweet to know what an LP is thinking when they see your...
Silicon Valley Press Shift Redefines Founder Strategies
The press landscape in Silicon Valley has fundamentally shifted over the past decade, and it's creating some fascinating dynamics that every founder should understand. More >>
Founders Need Ambition Density, Not Just SF Location
The debate about whether founders need to move to San Francisco misses the real point. It's not about capital. It's about density of ambition and understanding competitive pace and landscape. More >>
From Near Shutdown to $40M in Five Months
🚨 Last call 🚨 This week, I'm sitting down with @EricSimons, Co-founder & CEO of @boltdotnew, to talk about how they went from weeks away from shutdown to $40M in 5 months. If you're a founder, investor, or just trying to understand...