Sell a Hack, Then Build the Product
This founder signed 100 paying customers. Her product was a Google Drive folder, Zoom calls, and a Stripe link. Sarah Ahmad 's first startup failed. She built the whole thing. Got into YC. Raised a pre-seed round. But couldn't get a single user. Even when she offered it for free. So with her next company, Stable , she did the opposite. She posted a landing page. No product behind it. Just "we have a business address in San Francisco, we'll open and scan your mail." So she found a mail partner in SF, created a Google Doc with the address, and sent new customers a Stripe checkout link. When mail came in, she manually scanned it and emailed it to them. That was the product. For the first 100 customers. In her words, the whole thing was embarrassing. But nobody cared. The pain was real enough that people tolerated the hackiest possible version of a solution. Today Stable has over 10,000 customers. 8-figure ARR. DoorDash, GitLab, and Realty Income are on the client list. Team of 50-60 people. Yes, you could vibe code an MVP in a weekend now. But that's exactly why this story matters more, not less. Building is no longer the bottleneck. Knowing what to build is. Sarah didn't use Google Drive because she couldn't code. She used it because she'd already built one full product nobody wanted. The 100 people who paid before she built anything were the point. If people won't pay for a janky version of your idea, a polished app won't save you. And if they will, you just learned exactly what to build first.
Sweden's School Tech Investment Fuels Unicorn Ecosystem
Sweden built unicorns by wiring schools before startups. In the 90s, kids got laptops, free college, and early coding exposure. With 10 million people, founders think global from day one. Spotify and Klarna alumni launched 140+ new startups, feeding the...
Codex Delivers Rapid Code Reviews, Outshines Claude Conversationally
I was at the YC Spring 2026 kickoff social tonight and founders were asking me for Codex code review / plan review support, so I came home and shipped it same night And they're right, Codex is the amazing genius friend,...
Three‑Month VAT ID Wait: Is Germany Typical?
That's wild. 3+ months and still waiting for VAT ID. Is this normal in Germany? 😳
Publish a Thesis First; VC Doors Open Automatically
The easiest way to open doors in VC is to be known for something before anyone asks. A sector. A thesis. A point of view you publish. Visibility creates opportunities.
Give Humans Credit, Boost Adoption Over Full Automation
thinking: products that help humans get credit for the work accomplished by agents they supervise in the enterprise will have better adoption than agentic solutions that do the work instead of humans. credit feeds ego, drives adoption...and accountability.
Cut AI API Costs by Using Flex Tier First
If you do AI inference via OpenAI’s API, you should use the flex tier for half price. My requests always try to use flex tier first, and on 429 / 500 errors, I use the default service tier. 95% of my...
Design, Coach, Let Go: Build a Self‑Running Business
Building a business that runs without you requires an obsession to letting go. scaling it requires restraint. Start small: Stop solving and start coaching. Document decisions and set standards. Your job shifts from doing --> designing.
RevolveSurgical Gains FDA Clearance for Table‑Mounted Surgical Robot
🦾@RevolveSurgical just received FDA 510(k) clearance for their surgical robot platform. They built a system that mounts directly to the operating table—zero footprint, one-person setup. Their goal is to bring physical AI to operating rooms at scale. https://t.co/CWRG5009yK https://t.co/smBh8Hc9nN
Swap Scrolling for Building: 28 Extra Hours Weekly
If you're in your 20's do this: -Don't watch Netflix (2 extra hours/day) -Uninstall Instagram (1 extra hour/day) -Uninstall Facebook (1 extra hour/day) 4 extra hours/day = 28 hours/week. Spend that time building, marketing and launching your MVP. Try it and see what happens.
Longevity Wins: Outlast Competition in Business
It's really just a war of attrition How many people choose the right game to play (starting a business)? Of those people, how many show up every single day for a full year? 3 years? 10 years? After 10 years, there’s really no...
Students Build $50B Business Using Smart Web Scraping
There's a $50B company built on web scraping. No capital. No strategy. Just 3 hungry students solving a delivery problem. Their edge? Smart web scraping to gather restaurant data.
Notion Founder Unveils Expanded Vision Amid AI Surge
ICYMI, last week’s No Priors: Notion founder @simonlast on the company’s expanded vision, given rapidly growing ai capabilities
5 Agentic AI Ventures Earning $10K/Month on $100
From $0 to $10k/Month: Top 5 AI Businesses To Start In 2026 WATCH HERE 👉 https://t.co/93U2EmmCZm The 2026 AI Gold Rush is here, but most people are doing it wrong. Generic chatbots are dead. In this video, I break down the...
Bootstrapped Founders Can Attract VC Love Beyond Capital
When my friend raised $6M and I told him I was sad to lose another bootstrapper to the VC dark side, he said something that totally dumfounded me. Him: “We're building a generational company and not planning on raising any...
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.
Your Resume Doesn't Matter—Product Wins in Startups
Someone asked if it's a good idea to start a startup when you have nothing notable on your resume. Absolutely. All that matters in a startup is whether users like the product, and users don't care (either way) what's on...
Announcing BASED Act: Push for Fair Open Markets
Now announcing the BASED Act at YC with State Senator Scott Wiener We need open platforms and open markets. We need markets that are fair for all founders. We are not asking for a leg up. We are asking for a...
Founders Must Sync Product Building and Sales to Accelerate PMF
The best founders excel at the productsales dance ✨build product to fix customer pain ✨sell to customer ✨learn more about what customer needs during the sales process ✨iterate product ✨repeat Founders lose precious time if they don't learn + iterate fast in the hunt for PMF
Launch of GStack Office-Hours Skill Mimics YC Guidance
I just launched /office-hours skill with gstack. Working on a new idea? GStack will help you think about it the way we do at YC. (It's only a 10% strength version of what a real YC partner can do for...
Founders Sprint Blindly without Defining Success
“Who knows what will happen in the future. I stay here in the now.” A surprising number of startup founders not only don’t have a clear idea of what success looks like - they actively resist thinking about it. Bias to...
TransFi Secures $14M Series A From Tether’s Arm
Big congratulations to @thefintechfund portfolio co @getTransFi, who just raised their $14M Series A from @Tether's investment arm, Turing Financial. https://t.co/YnhLl63Gau
Apple’s Origin Myths Debunked: Beyond the Garage
Apple didn’t start in a garage—and that’s just the beginning. @poguester joins me to unpack the real stories behind Apple: The First 50 Years—from Ron Wayne’s $800 exit to Steve Jobs’s complicated genius. We talk myths, mission-driven leadership, and why Apple...
Know Your Worst-Case to Tame Change Fear
Understanding your worst-case scenario is fundamental to controlling the fear that normally comes with any great change in life. Buying vs Starting a Business https://t.co/W5E0qQGk0q https://t.co/Kp9sYE1An1
Hanover Park Raises $27M to Power $100T Infrastructure
Chris, Nick, and @hanoverpark have been on a tear the past 20 months. Have never seen a company build so much trust with customers so quickly. They just raised $27M to continue assembling the dream team to build the financial infrastructure...
Startups Fail When They Lack a Competitive Edge
The risk of a startup is not having an edge. From the JustPaid podcast. https://t.co/LbaSP4OUa6
Rejection in Film School Sparked a Billion-Dollar Company
I got laughed out of film school by my peers. That embarrassment built a $1,000,000,000 company. At USC, I was one of 4 students selected for a senior thesis film. Out of thousands. I thought that meant something. It didn't.
Falling Labor Supply Likely Slashes Future Startup Rates
There's no sign of it yet, but I believe the slowdown in labor supply will eventually bring down the startup rate substantially. The path from demographics -> dynamism is what a growing body of evidence shows. https://t.co/dcSXlkwVXt
AI Slashes Startup Costs, Eliminates Physical Overheads
“AI is lowering the cost of entrepreneurship. Not long ago, launching a company meant securing retail space and paying thousands upfront for rent, utilities, inventory, and staff.” -Varshika Prasanna
Suzhou Targets 1,000 Solo AI Startups by 2028
China mobilizes “one-person company” AI startups The OPC fervor began spreading in November, when the city of Suzhou, a high-tech manufacturing hub, pledged to turn itself into a destination for AI solopreneurs by building 30 “OPC communities” and cultivating...
Persistence Is Essential, but Not Enough for Startup Success
It is true of all successful startups, that “the founder never gave up.” So it becomes a “law of success.” Of course, sometimes people don't give up, but never find success. So, it's necessary, but not sufficient. https://t.co/A24ObNAAP4
Test Ideas First: Build Minimum Viable Projects
Building projects isn’t just about learning. It’s about testing the waters. Before you commit — build. In product: MVPs. In growth: experiments. For your skills? Minimum viable projects.
Dyson’s Japanese Lessons Power a $25B Empire
In 1984, Dyson was rejected by every UK manufacturer. So he fled to Japan for 18 months, broke and desperate... Today, Dyson's $25B empire makes Apple, Samsung & LG scramble to copy his designs. Here are the 3 philosophies he found in Japan...
Ecom Founders Turn Monday Dread Into Opportunity
Everyone on a Monday morning: 'Ugh, another week.' Ecom founders on a Monday morning: 'New week, new ad budget, new tests to run.' Different mindset. Different life.
Turn Past Success Into Smarter Startup Foundations
Poppi started in a home kitchen and sold to PepsiCo for $1.95B. Allison Ellsworth tested recipes on her husband, sold at a farmers market, landed on Shark Tank, and went viral on TikTok—driving $100K in Amazon sales overnight. They invested $90K and...
Investors Seek Insightful, Market‑Aligned Contrarians, Not Mere Rebels
everyone claims they want "contrarian" founders but what they actually want - founders with a non-obvious insight that happens to align with an explosive market This is bc contrarian + right = visionary. contrarian + wrong = unemployed
Data‑Driven Agents Power Accurate Automated File Search
You can build an agent but it is blind without data. The founders of @RunCaptainRAG applied their NLP research in their startup to create automated file search. Really accurate results within Garry's List. Here they are at the YC MV...
Grow Revenue First; Let VCs Chase You
Entrepreneurs: NEVER beg a VC for a check. Focus on growing your REVENUE. Then, VCs will beg you to take their check…trust me 🙏🏾
Customer Ready to Buy Fuels Entrepreneurial Vision
Had a customer in my inbox today “Please send me the link to sign up, I’m sold already. and I hope if you’re offering any add ons, I will also be privy to those.” Literally what dreams are made of as...
DIY Custom Investor Portals Signal New Software Era
just received my first vibe coded "investor update and ask portal" from an early stage startup. the long-tail of DIY highly-tailored software is upon us...
Choose Speed when Mistakes Are Cheap, Slow when Risky
If a fast decision is wrong, that’s more OK, because you find out fast, and change it fast. Slow decisions, the opposite. If “slow” dramatically decreases risk of it being wrong, make it slow. Else, make it fast. More fast/slow tips: https://t.co/KbLhQOhKZH
Persistence Beats IQ: 99 Rejections Built Eight Sleep
99 rejections building @eightsleep IQ gets you in the room, but pain tolerance keeps you there
Founders Must Cut B‑Players to Kill Mediocrity
Your most important job as a founder: eliminate mediocrity. And here's my favorite quote on this from Frank Slootman: -- "Mediocrity is the silent killer. Organizations are not getting killed by their C players. Everybody knows who they are, and performance eventually is...
Founders Must Own Storytelling; Strategy Can't Be Delegated
The story has to come from the founder. This frustrates people. Founders want to delegate storytelling the same way they delegate other functions. Hire a head of marketing and let them own it. Bring in a communications expert and hand...
GStack Automates Role‑specific Review Tracking for Startups
New innovation: Just as at a well-run startup, there are CEO, engineering manager and design reviews, GStack now helps you keep track of what reviews are run, figures out what is appropriate (e.g. CEO doesn't have to look at infra...
Audit Your Day: Stop Firefighting, Build Scalable Engines
There's a specific kind of exhaustion that comes from being busy on the wrong things. Being stuck in tasks that don't compound is one of the worst things that can happen to a founder/CEO. Before I stepped down as CEO, I tracked...
Earn a VC’s Yes by Protecting Their Reputation
A VC’s job is to say yes. The ones who say yes are betting their reputation on you. Make it easy for them to believe.
Twin Brothers Bootstrapped Apparel to $110M in Six Years
There’s a guy in Hampton who bootstrapped a lifestyle apparel company to 9-figures with his twin brother. Alec Todd and his bro started with just $3k. Started Cove Apparel in Jan 2020. 2025: $38M in revenue, 22% EBITDA 2026: on track to...
Operational Chaos Is Fueling Founder Anxiety
Most founders would never admit this, but they've had panic attacks or anxiety episodes because they're stuck to the business. How much is the ops chaos costing you?
Visionary Energy Trading Pioneered Before Cleantech Existed
Before there was a "cleantech" industry, there was Tim Healy. Tim figured out that he could route electricity through digital switches and create an energy marketplace. Companies could trade and share their energy when they weren't using it, then back it...