u're here early. @payna_co | @calblockchain | @ycombinator
Joined November 2022
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aaron retweeted
In 12 weeks, we built a research facility that is run entirely by AI.
AI designs, executes, and observes experiments end-to-end across biology, chemistry, and materials science.
We’re introducing SciUniverse: a benchmark that measures AI’s ability to do real-world scientific research.
aaron retweeted
Everyone everywhere feels like they’re missing out on something right now.
The New Yorker feels they are missing the tech renaissance
The SF kid thinks they’re missing the equity gains of the big labs
The open ai employee thinks they’re missing out on life as it passes them by
Avoid the FOMO and bet the house on whatever makes you happy + puts love in your heart and do it extremely well.
Everything else will sort itself out.
Worked really hard, figured out stuff on the way, and excited to build.
Payna (@payna_co) gets companies licensed across MTL, lending, insurance, digital assets, and more in all 50 states. They're already live with companies operating on tens of millions of dollars each month.
Congrats on the launch, @Boewu_ & @7_hesong!
ycombinator.com/launches/PfJ…
wrapping up my 6 month journey in nyc and heading back to sf in Jan. Before this summer I was truly just some 18yr old kid that wanted to make movies.
But over this time I’ve:
1) lost my job then founded my own defi company in yc
2) make some money and then gets drained, roundtrip my nw
3) moved 4 times in nyc by myself and solo travelled to 4 countries
Needless to say I learned more than I can write in a tweet, but I owe a lot to the brilliant people I’ve met along the way.
Time in the market beats timing the market. And I fucking love every second of it
here's my full story:
I just withdrew from Berkeley after my freshman year.
2 months ago: 18, broke, jobless in NYC. Crashed 100+ Tech Week events. Backstage at runway shows, Columbia frat parties, met Eric Adams, @rauchg , Addison Rae, Benson Boone. No job, but the right rooms.
Then IC3 → @getaxal . Fastest hire ever. Only designer at an a16z startup. Designed and coded launch day. 7-figures in deposits now flow through my work. Business Insider feature. Shown on MoonPay, reposted by EF, pitched to billionaires. Now working full-time.
@ritualfnd Fellowship met the most cracked DeAI people, and paid my flights Shanghai <-> NY. IC3 paid Berkeley <-> NY. This month, getting flown to New Delhi + Singapore. I don’t pay for transportation anymore.
At ETHGlobal, built Amazon checkout w/ crypto w/ @cynthwangg + @hrishabhayush . 2 all-nighters. Out of 270+ teams, won finalist + $8K Coinbase bounty, building the next checkout layer for ecommerce.
Now: 19, living + working in NYC. Living my middle school dream, only way sooner.
“You have two lives, and your second starts when you realize you only have one.”
my second one just started.
this is the bridge we want to build. we connect the efficiency of defi with the reality of everyday life.
@paena_co can charge about 1 fifth of the fees while being about 2 times as capital efficient because blockchains remove operational overhead while trad-fi guardrails mitigate default risks that de-fi can't cover.
liquidity providers earn real yield. workers pay a fraction of the fees. everyone wins.
I got drained $12k+.
I was stupid and clicked on a phishing link, and lost a huge chunk of money I ever made in my life as a college student.
Was sobbing on the subway to work.
But there’s no time for me to play the victim and I treated this as an expensive lesson on security because I still love this industry and everything it gave me.
So a few weeks later yc wired me the 500k.
I need to lose to learn what it’s like to win.
aaron retweeted
Learn how this 19 year old college dropout (@Boewu_) willed his way into @ycombinator and @alliance.
PS - He picked YC.
Nice to chat with Aaron at the @eigencloud and @ethereumfndn Vault program in Buenos Aires.
