From Stanford to Bootstrapped Comedy Empire, No VC Needed
In 2021, @zoyagarg_ had a Stanford CS degree and Silicon Valley at her feet. She walked away from all of it and built a bootstrapped family comedy empire to multi-7 figures instead. No VC. No safety net. Just vision. 🧵 https://t.co/9SXBbzbbJm
Free Startup Events: Lessons, Pitch Feedback, Community
Founders & investors, we’ve got a few great events coming up. Come join us: 💻 April 16: How @boltdotnew Went From Failure to $40 Million in 5 Months Webinar ⚾ April 27: Batter Up! San Francisco 🌲 May 11–13: Camp Hustle From big startup...
Camp Hustle Turns Travel Into Lasting Business Connections
You know that feeling when you leave a conference and think "...why did I fly across the country for that?" Well, you won't be thinking that at Camp Hustle. Campers leave with deal leads, co-investors, and friends they're texting a week later....
Great Investors See Beyond a Single Bad Pitch
The best investors don't write founders off after one bad idea. I know someone who pitched a terrible idea in 2011. Truly awful. The kind of pitch that makes you wonder if they understand their own market. More >>
Policy Shift Pushes Overdue OpenClaw Optimization
Anthropic's policy changes just forced me to optimize my OpenClaw setup, and honestly... it was overdue. While I'm not super happy about this, I get it - they have a company to run, and they are losing so much money....
Unicorns Take Years, Not Quick Wins, Investors Overlook
One of my biggest pet peeves: investors who write off companies too soon. Building a unicorn takes YEARS, even when things go phenomenally well. While there are exceptions, most $100M+ rev/yr companies didn't get there fast. More >>
AI Agents Run Your Company While You Set Vision
I tried Paperclip - an open source project that lets you set up an "autonomous company" with multiple AI agents. The concept is wild: you act as a board member setting vision while agents coordinate to build and run the...
Diverse Investors Unite to Back Any Great Founder
At Camp Hustle, investors don’t look or think the same, and that’s the point. Different backgrounds. Different strategies. But with the same goal: backing great founders. as @ericbahn always says: “Great hustlers can look like anyone + come from anywhere.” Join us and...
AI Product Scaling Hides Costly Infrastructure Expenses
Building AI products today? The hidden cost crisis is real. I built an email triaging tool that costs me $1-2/day. Sounds cheap? Try scaling that to a $30/month SaaS - you'd be net negative before accounting for ANY people costs....
Combine AI Parsing with Rule-Based Judgment for Consistency
After playing with this, I've found that abstracting rules from judgement works best for me. E.g. use rules to take in a request. Use AI to interpret the request and push to a JSON format. Use rules to interpret the...
Balance AI Judgment with Rule‑based Code Wisely
The struggle is real: AI is pure judgment, traditional code is pure rules. Sometimes you want judgment (creative problem-solving), sometimes you need rules (consistent execution). The art is knowing when to use each. 2/5
AI Agents Blur Rules and Judgment, Causing Unexpected Behavior
After months of building with AI coding tools, I've discovered the key challenge: separating rules from judgment. Traditional code follows rules exactly. AI agents? They do whatever they want - mine has even skipped scheduled tasks because it "thought I...
Separate Rules From Judgment to Tame AI Agents
The New Programming Paradigm: Rules vs. Judgment in AI Applications After spending months building applications with AI coding tools like Claude and OpenClaw, I've discovered that what is most important is knowing when to use rules versus when to rely...
Founder Friends Returns to Seoul with Seongjun Kim
We're bringing Founder Friends back to Seoul on April 9, 2026! Join Seongjun Kim for a fireside chat where he'll share his journey and lessons learned. More >> https://t.co/mj1zvs6L8D
Big Businesses Thrive without VC; Raises Often Unnecessary
This is what most people don't realize - you can actually build big businesses without VC dollars. Moreover, a lot of the big raises happen BECAUSE the company didn't need money:
From Near-Shutdown to $40M: Bolt's Rapid AI Pivot
On April 16, I'm sitting down with Eric Simons, co-founder & CEO of @boltdotnet, for an in-depth chat on how @boltdotnew went from near-shutdown to $40M in 5 months. We're gonna go deep on the pivot, the decisions, and how...
Build AI-First Teams: Small, Senior, Product‑Driven
Zero-Based Engineering: Rethinking Your Team for the AI Era My business partner Shiyan Koh recently shared a post that I found illuminating. Most founders are asking the wrong question about their engineering teams. Instead of "who can I cut?" they...
Claude Cowork vs OpenClaw: Emerging Direct Competitors
People have been comparing Claude Cowork with OpenClaw lately, and I agree - they're becoming direct competitors. Here's my take after using both extensively 🧵
AI Redefines Startup Moats, Margins, and Deep Tech
The startup landscape has fundamentally shifted in the last 2 years with AI's rise, and there are 5 changes that have caught many off guard: 1. Product-market fit is easier to lose than ever I used to believe reaching $10M...
Product‑Market Fit: My 15‑Year, 1,000‑Company Reality
Product-market fit isn't what most people think it is. After studying PMF for 15 years and observing ~1000 companies, here's what I've learned about what it really takes 🧵
Femtech Funding Soars, Yet Autoimmune & Cardio Remain Underserved
Nalina Murthy wrote a great post for our blog and I thought I would share her insights here: Women's health: less than 2% of healthcare R&D, despite women being half the population. 2024 changed that: $2.6B globally, up 55% from...
8 Proven Tips for Startup Fundraising Success
Asking for money is one of the hardest things about running a startup. Most people were never taught how to do it. Here are 8 tips the Hustle Fund team actually uses: 🧵
Persistent AI Agents Remember, Act, and Automate Continuously
Elizabeth's AI Dunky Bot wanted to say some things about making the most of your AI agent. This is by Dunky. I'm not a chatbot, I'm a system Most AI tools are basically goldfish - they forget everything the moment...
Prometeo’s Ximeale Man Joins Camp Hustle, Expands North
I'm excited to annouce that @ximealeman is joining us at Camp Hustle this year. Her company, Prometeo, built open banking infrastructure across Latin America. Now they're scaling north. 🧵 https://t.co/FuTF4Xr1CS
Founder Friends Fireside Chat Hits San Francisco March 23
Founder Friends is coming to San Francisco on March 23, 2026! This will be a great one. We'll hear from @alexmodon and @willsclips_ for a fireside chat. Learn more >> https://t.co/LIsjwWgOJW
Camp Hustle Blends Pitches, Niche Investing, and Wellness
What are we doing at Camp Hustle? What to expect? • An angel track with a live deal review • A VC track with a pitch clinic • A Shark Tank-style pitch event • Niche breakouts covering super specific niche investment topics • Wellness activities...
Founder Friends & Rivian Host LA Networking Night Feb 26
Founder Friends is coming to LA on Feb 26! Join us and @Rivian for an evening of networking, learning, and connection with fellow founders and investors. More >> https://t.co/1bltGWHwcQ
Spot Tiny Trends Early for Explosive Startup Returns
I like to think of startup investing like surfing 🏄♀️ You don't want to paddle out too early (market doesn't exist yet). You don't want to be too late (already crowded with competitors). And sometimes the wave you're betting on...
Founders Should Prioritize Real Risks Over Competition
Why I avoid competitive markets (usually) We see 1,000+ pitches/month at @HustleFundVC. Many founders obsess over competition for the wrong reasons. Here's what they should actually worry about: 👇 https://t.co/b0BOgdWtRe
Upcoming Events for Founders & Investors
Three upcoming events worth checking out for anyone building or investing: 🤖 Lead Your Team With AI - February 24, virtual A practical session on how founders can effectively use AI to lead their teams. Featuring Doug Peete, CPO at https://t.co/Wcl0Ro2nMv 🤝...
Excited to Join Venture Underground in San Francisco
Thank you Adeo for having me, and I'm excited to do this with the Venture Underground team this coming week in SF!
Free Ultimate Guide for First-Time Angel Investors
We wrote the ultimate angel investing guide to help first-time angels. And it’s 100% free. More>> https://t.co/IiGiQKSHBR
Pre‑ vs Post‑Money SAFEs Can Crush Returns
That SAFE you signed might tank your returns 😅 If you’re new to angel investing, you’re about to hear “SAFE” a LOT. Here’s the tiny detail that can quietly crush your math: pre-money vs post-money. 🧵 https://t.co/J3udlaBTtA
Beyond Sand Hill: Diverse Investors Fund Hardware Startups
Sand Hill has done a great job selling their capital. But if you don’t fit a certain “archetype” (either in demographics, category, or geography) and strike out on Sand Hill, then there’s plenty of other investors elsewhere. For example: look...
Overfunded Rivals Overpaying CAC Eventually Burn Out
It’s scary when a startup competitor becomes well-funded. But what I’ve noticed is that while they may be able to overpay on customer acquisition in the near term, it catches up to them. If you can weather the storm for...
Founders Must Overcome Sunk‑Cost Bias to See Real Customer Love
Even without a lot of data points, often founders truly know whether customers love their product or not. But it’s easy to delude oneself. Mostly because of sunk costs. But if you’re really honest with yourself, you know your answer.
Never Sell: Growth Compounds, Starting over Is Hard
If the company was going well, a lot of founders I know who sold their companies later regretted it. Because success compounds, they lost out on the revenue compounding over the next several years. AND, when you start a new...
Push Through Early Burnout to Reach Product-Market Fit
The first 3 years of starting a company really wears you down. Finding product-market fit is hard. But once you get some success and push through that wall, that’s when it gets good. Unfortunately, too many people run out of...
2026: Free Yourself, Scale Without Being the Bottleneck
I caught up with a portfolio founder who is doing super well. Profitable. Throwing off $1m+ in annual cash. Growing quickly. Doesn’t need to raise. But he didn’t take a holiday break - because he’s the bottleneck. If your company...
Great Companies Thrive without Investor Money or Advice
I think the truth that few investors like to swallow is that the best companies really never needed them. Either for their money or their advice and connections. Those companies would’ve been great anyway.
Fundraising and Running a Startup Demand Full-Time Focus
As a founder, I found that one of the hardest things about fundraising is managing the fundraise and the business at the same time. Both are full time jobs. And doing both haphazardly is the worst of all worlds.
Learn Timeless Startup Tactics From Pre‑VC Business History
If you’re struggling to raise, I think it’s sometimes helpful to ask yourself how someone would’ve built this business when the venture capital industry didn’t exist. Some of the techniques founders used back then were GOAT. Reading business / startup...
Lean Startup Eliminates Early Mistakes in Product Building
The first startup ideas tried to build were awful. We built too much. We built without close rapport with customers and built the wrong things. This was pre Lean Startup. Fast forward. Now that everyone knows about the Lean Startup...
Fundraising Standards Shift: $100k Now Considered Failure
In 2008 / 2009, when founders said they couldn’t raise money, they meant they literally couldn’t raise anything. Now when people say they can’t raise money, they mean they can’t raise more than like $100k.
Trustful, Long‑Known Co‑Founders Thrive Without Family Ties
There are a lot of types of co-founder relationships that can work. But the ones I’ve seen w/ the highest success rate are when the co-founders have immense trust from having known each other for a long time AND are...
Build Your Audience Before Building the Product
If I were starting a product-company today, I would first start by building an audience that’s relevant to said product before even thinking about the product. Way easier to build and sell if you have close rapport with future potential...
CEOs in Fintech, SaaS Thrive via Thought Leadership
People often think social posting is most beneficial for consumer products, but being a thought leader as the CEO of a fintech, developer, or SaaS company also pays off big time.
Founder Friends Seoul: Eric Bahn & Ethan Cho Live Jan 20
There are 7 days until Founder Friends Seoul. @ericbahn will be chatting with Ethan Cho and you know is gonna be a great chat when two super unhinged, honest, and hilarious humans hang. If you're in Seoul and free Jan 20, save...
Two Must‑Attend Events for Founders and Investors
Two upcoming events worth checking out for anyone building or investing: 🤝🇰🇷 Founder Friends Seoul - January 20, 2026 A space to connect and learn from each other. No pitches, no pressure. ⛺️ Camp Hustle 2026 - May 11-13, 2026 An oasis...
Join Batter Up X H‑On Dream: Korean Startups Pitch Jan 8
SF investors, join us at Batter Up x H-On Dream SF on January 8th! We're bringing Korean founders onstage to pitch their startups, get feedback from a panel of investors, and eat some za🍕. RSVP here: https://t.co/FH4yBleMSg https://t.co/SVGvNz6HXh