have you personified your ai? i'll go first: -claude is a british man in his mid-to-late 30s -chatgpt is a 32 year old woman who reads every website's terms of service just for fun -grok is 22 and lives in a midwest basement -waymo is a guy in his 40s who owns a boat -gemini i cannot place and it's bothering me

Last Blueprint, 50 founders dropped everything and moved to SF. They built $1K humanoids, metal 3D printers and scent microfactories. This time, we’re investing $150K upfront. In every team! Starting September 30. Apps closed yesterday. We’ll still read yours if you get it in soon :) Reply “Blueprint” for the link.

One of my favorite moments in a founder call is asking what else they've built and realizing the current company is not even the most interesting thing they've made. Like wait. You built WHAT in high school? Why was that not in your application?? 😭

i spent the summer with 200 founders the word "cracked" is an understatement... • autonomous tuna boats • robots that fix other robots • on-demand CNC prototyping •brain-sensing wearables • cursor for hardware • AI-native biologics friday they're all demoing live. investors in sf, reply "demo" and i'll send you the details + 3 teams you should meet :)

Night Hack is back @fdotinc Fri July 24 · 6–11pm · Fort Mason, SF 5 hours to build, top teams demo live Ship something real in 1 night (no localhost) 80 spots. Credits + caffeine + cash prizes Tell me what you're building & I'll send the link

if a vc fell asleep on your call this week, that’s on them. but here’s how to make sure the next 50 meetings you take are with people who will actually fund you: don’t start til you’re ready. i review hundreds of founder applications a month, and most start fundraising too soon. if you’re using investor calls to figure out what you’re building, you’ll burn 4 weeks and come out more confused than you started. here’s the checklist i’d use to know if you’re actually ready to raise. you’re ready when: → you and your cofounder have shipped together 3+ months → something real exists. ugly demo off localhost counts → proof people want it. 5+ weekly users, LOIs, or a paying pilot → you can name your customer and their exact role in your sleep → one core metric moves weekly (and you know why) → you know your unit economics (CAC, payback, gross margin) → one channel works at small scale → your “why now” is sharp (tech shift, regulation, buyer urgency) → your materials are tight (deck, demo, metrics, milestones) → you have a process ready: target list, warm paths, 4-week calendar you’re not ready when: → you have a deck and nothing else → you’re raising to hire the technical cofounder you don’t have → your customer is “anyone with X problem” → you can’t explain why people churn → pricing is a guess → “we’ll go viral on x” is your channel plan → “AI” is your why now → the core is outsourced → no milestone plan tied to next round unlocks → you need the money to start learning 7+ from the ready list? run a tight 4-week process. don’t drag it out. fewer than 7? spend 30 days flipping 3 items from the “not ready” list first. don’t spend 6 months chasing money you could’ve raised in 6 weeks.

Every summer, you have a choice: • Play it safe: intern at a big company • Play it fun: go to Cancun with your friends • Or… the secret third option: chase your obsession Most people pick option 1 or 2. We back the ones who choose option 3. I’m writing $100k checks to help them do it. This summer, we're running Off Season II: • June 24 – August 7 • 6 weeks on campus at @fdotinc in SF • For students + recent grads building in AI/ML, hardware, robotics, or AR/VR Ends with Demo Day. Top teams get up to $250K in funding + $500K in credits. Apps close June 7. Tell me what you’re building in the comments and I’ll send you the link to apply.