YC’s Quick Vetting Means Fraud Isn’t Their Fault
It's not fair to blame YC for backing apparent frauds like Delve. They only spend 10 minutes with founders over zoom before investing. It's a cursory screen. They're not trying to deeply vet founders -- they're trying to give as many founders as possible a launching pad.
All Our Allies Now Aligned with Our Greatest Foe
They've managed to push all of our major allies into the arms of our biggest adversary. Remarkable. https://t.co/MtFDnFiwkm
San Francisco: Unmatched Era for Builders Today
In all of human history, there’s never been a better place or time to be a builder than San Francisco right now.
From 5050 Support to $400K Daily Revenue
A portfolio founder we initially supported through 5050 pre-company just shared revenue has grown to $400,000. A day. Nothing more satisfying than seeing a sparkle in a founder's eye grow into a real company creating impact at scale.
Prototype Fluidics System Thrives Overnight at 50Y HQ
Came in to find this prototype @cephlainc fluidics system running on the kitchen table at @fiftyyears. Part of an overnight reliability test. The energy at 50Y HQ is unbeatable. https://t.co/eOyN8nBXd9
Immigrants Powered Moon Landing and Modern Chip Revolution
"We were doing just fine without immigrants" is a commonly repeated trope. Just to to take the examples listed and the immigrants who made essential contributions... Landing on the moon: Wernher von Braun (Germany) → Chief architect of the Saturn V rocket, the...
More Powerful AI Increases My Drive to Work
Counterintuitive: The better AI gets at doing work, the more work I want to do. Because the leverage of each minute of effort keeps rising.
Hardcore Team Grinding Late Night on Progress and 5050
Friday night 8pm. @moxon is editing Progress. @Aleborda21 & @aniascigalska are perfecting 5050. Our team is hardcore. https://t.co/4TPG20n56L
Defending Innovation: Supporting Anthropic in Court
.@fiftyyears is going to court. We've joined this amicus brief in support of Anthropic. American innovation depends on companies being governed by the laws Congress passes and the Constitution. Proud to stand up for this principle with @JoinFAI and others.
Cuts to Civilian‑protection Team Lead to Tragic School Bombing
They gutted the team that operationally helps the US military avoid civilian casualties during war. Then we killed over 150 schoolgirls by accidentally bombing their school. This administration is torching American soft power.
Israel's Lebanon Bombings Displace 13.5% of Population
Israel's bombing of Lebanon has displaced 800,000 people. 13.5% of the population. That would be like 47 million people being displaced in the US. The population of Maryland, Colorado, Minnesota, South Carolina, Louisiana, Kentucky, Oregon, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Utah combined.
Deep Tech Expertise Was Wise Before It Became a Meme
Backing deep tech was smart 5 years ago when it wasn't the meme, you say? It's important to have deep tech expertise, you say? Key is to have built an edge in deep tech, you say?
Fast Loans and Direct Payroll Integration Ensure Employee Pay
At @fiftyyears we gave fast loans and even connected our personal bank accounts to portfolio companies' payroll systems to ensure they could pay their employees.
Hire for Purpose, Not Just Hype, to Retain Talent
Empty calories. All Cluely stood for was being hyped and hot. When things got tough, the team jumped ship because they recruited people only interested in being part of a hyped and hot startup. When it was no longer was, they...
Data‑Creators, Not Just Coders, Will Own AI Future
Companies with technology to to uniquely generate the data needed to train and fine tune models can create enduring value in the age of AI. The best AI companies may be those building in atoms and not just bits. Create...
Seed VCs Act Like Traders, Not True Company Builders
Most seed VCs these days act more like traders than investors or company builders. It's not good for anyone, least of all founders.
Success Attracts Talent; Failure Repels Potential Partners
In this case, the founders achieved something pretty remarkable. So imagine what he would do if the founders actually failed. Who would want to work with someone like that? https://t.co/mCAucKKUoo
Guard Your Cap Table: Success Attracts Detractors
Founders, know that even if you build a world class product and achieve an outcome most can only dream of, there will still be people that try to tear you down. Be very careful with who you allow onto your...
California's Wealth Tax Threatens Innovation, Yet I Stay
The California wealth tax as currently written would be really bad for the state and its innovation economy. That said, even if it passes I'm not going anywhere. California has helped me create more wealth than I could imagine growing up on...
Prioritize Importance and Neglect, Expect Controversy
The only two things @alexblania asks when choosing what to work on: What will be most important? What is neglected? @MollySOShea will correct you on one thing. He doesn't like controversial things. It just so happens that important + neglected often = controversial. Proud...
Engineers: Build Real-World Companies Now with 5050
Enough AI slop. Enough gambling apps. There’s never been a better time for engineers to build companies that reshape the physical world. Start one with 5050. Apply now. Early bird deadline Feb 15. https://t.co/giXwZLE8uX
Early Investors McCauley and GarageCapital Celebrate Groq Success
One of the unsung winners from the $20B Groq deal: @mmccauley and @GarageCapital. They invested in the first round and several since. Incredibly kind, incredibly humble, incredible investors. Always great to see the good guys win.
VC Firm Publishes Complete Data on All Portfolio Startups
We're the most transparent in VC in history. So we're sharing full information on all the startups we've backed. Investment size, valuations, current revenues, everything. Including for startups still in stealth. https://t.co/fD3p3Tdaux
Portfolio Company Posts $334M ARR, 117% Growth
Nothing beats a one on one catch up but damn it's cool to hear a portfolio founder update via a live earnings call. $334M annual run rate. 117% YoY Q3 revenue growth. 70% gross margins. GAAP profitable company-wide. What a company. https://t.co/2SlwkNCLz0
Solugen Slashes Six-Year Process to One Month
Took a process that typically takes 6 years down to 1 month. Solugen is bringing software timelines to the chemicals industry.
Mission‑First Investing: We Match Founders’ Pace
At @fiftyyears, nothing matters more than the mission. So we don't operate like most investors. Not many OOO auto replies over the holidays. No weeks long trips to Aspen. No long summer vacations. We try to match the pace of our founders....
Software Will Be Free; Value Moves to Scarce Hardware
One-to-many software companies might not exist in 3 to 5 years. Software production is en route to becoming abundant and free. When one component of production becomes abundant and cheap, value accrues to what remains scarce scarce and difficult (e.g. those...
Purpose‑Driven Founders Outperform Fame‑Seeking Entrepreneurs
This is my single biggest disagreement with YC. Starting a startup to get famous, or to do better than those around you, or for vanity, or yes even just to get rich, is worse for society and worse for founders. It's...
AI Generates Ready-to-Use Antibodies in Weeks
Push button, get antibody therapeutics. The future of AI x Bio is here, folks. Nabla Bio unveiled JAM-2, a model capable of generating de novo, developable, antibodies against extremely hard, novel targets. With no lead optimization! These are zero shot therapeutics...
VC Values Revealed by the Startups They Fund
If you want to know the values of a VC firm, look at the companies they choose to back.
A16z Talent Wanted: Join FiftyYears to Support Purposeful Founders
If you're at a16z and want to back honest and courageous founders who care for the common good and ask themselves how they're making the world a better place, @fiftyyears is hiring. DMs open.
Two Portfolio Wins: Nasdaq IPO and Time Cover
One @fiftyyears portfolio company IPOed on NASDAQ the same day another appeared on the cover of Time. Pinch me.
Mission‑First Biotech Thrives on Science and Execution
10 out of 10. Would recommend. BillionToOne is a wonderful example of what's possible when you take on the most important, hardest problem you can. Oguzhan and David didn’t set out to “start a startup.” They wanted to solve a globally important...
Few Dared, Now AI‑bio Partnerships Finally Thrive
Many biologists called hubris on entrepreneurs looking to reinvent bio with AI. Many in AI deemed bio too messy, refusing to touch wet labs. A small few saw the potential and built. Grateful to be partners to many now hitting their stride.
ManifoldBio Lands $55M AI‑bio Deal with Roche
What AI x bio winter? @ManifoldBio inked the largest AI bio platform deal in ~4 years. $55M upfront, potential for $2B in milestones and royalties. With Roche. Using their massively scaled in vivo tech to find shuttles to bring therapeutics across the...
Future AI Breakthroughs Will Rely on Adaptive Learning, Not Size
If Adaption Labs is right, the next leap forward in AI won’t come from trillion parameter models, it’ll come from systems that learn on the fly. https://t.co/t4EXiWHf8Z
From Bench Space to S‑1
Surreal to see an S-1 from a company we backed when it was just the founders sharing bench space. https://t.co/YkVATB5C0b