Building the social network layer for AI apps - starting with college. Co-Founder of A1Zap (YC W25)💬, Forage (YC W19 - Acquired)
Joined February 2009
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Pasha Rayan retweeted
It took me a long time to realize the key lesson of the Trojan Horse. It's not that it took bravery, that if they failed, they would all die (they would). It's much worse than that. If they failed, nobody would say "good effort" "heroic" "tragic" "iconic". No, everyone would say "what a bunch of stupid f*cking weirdos!! Hahaha, losers. Thought you were tricky? Hide in a wooden horse? WTF??? Serves you right". And that's a fear that holds a lot more people back from greatness than the fear of death.
after reviewing 10,000+ Thiel Fellowship applications, Michael and Danielle developed some pretty unusual ideas about what makes a great founder.
edge control. hyperfluency. the toilet plunger. Danielle's "Friday Night Dyson sphere."
none of these are a personality test.
we're just looking for tricky bastards who always find a way.
Pasha Rayan retweeted
NEW ARTICLE: Far-left Palestine supporter behind terrorist attack on Australian MP Helen Haines. Australia's first assassination attempt in 30 years.
Brandon Nugent's last post before the attack - made just 21 hours before the atrocity - was about Israel.
This was his last message in a bottle to the world right before he decided to repeatedly ram his car into an innocent woman over and over again, shattering and crushing her body in one of the most horrific and painful ways imaginable.
Read now: drewpavlou.substack.com/p/br…
Pasha Rayan retweeted
We're excited to release Answer Combination! A new StudyArena feature that turns a completed AI comparison into one structured synthesis.
Pasha Rayan retweeted
Growing up I played a ton of Zynga games like FarmVille and Words with Friends (didn’t even realize Words was a Zynga game until years later)
This was a full-circle moment now building in consumer AI and getting this surprise book in the mail!
Excited to dig into Life at the Speed of Play by Mark Pincus and pairing it with the recent podcast too - thank you @garrytan!!
Takeaways so far:
1. Ship at the speed of play
2. Obsess over what people actually love
3. Turn iteration into a repeatable system
Pasha Rayan retweeted
A1Zap from @a1baseapi is the social network layer for AI apps. Starting with campuses, build apps and make interactive social content that spread through a unified social graph.
Congrats on the launch, @pashpops & @pennepastaa!
ycombinator.com/launches/Q24…
Pasha Rayan retweeted
The Eternal Pursuit of Unhappiness (2009) is a short Ogilvy & Mather handbook inspired by David Ogilvy. It outlines 8 habits for creative excellence: Courage, Idealism, Curiosity, Playfulness, Candor, Intuition, Free-Spiritedness, and Persistence. These counter vices like fear and complacency, promoting "divine discontent"—endless striving for better in advertising and beyond. Rare print, but digital versions exist.
Pasha Rayan retweeted
guess who took the photo of this billboard
btw i understood it
POV: your friends make it to times square and take you with them 🥹
Congrats, @pennepastaa and @Pashpops !!! what a year it's been for you and a1base.com
spot me, @theshortjacob, @pennepastaa, @Feliciamtang in this picture 👀
Pasha Rayan retweeted
POV: your friends make it to times square and take you with them 🥹
Congrats, @pennepastaa and @Pashpops !!! what a year it's been for you and a1base.com
spot me, @theshortjacob, @pennepastaa, @Feliciamtang in this picture 👀
Pasha Rayan retweeted
The Bondi killings have put Australia at a crossroads. We must defend our values and our tolerance and respect for all religions, or we will lose our soul. ebx.sh/sQvaRH
Pasha Rayan retweeted
In @nytopinion
The Hanukkah massacre at Sydney’s Bondi Beach “represents the continuing inability of the government of Anthony Albanese, Australia’s prime minister, to safeguard the country’s Jewish community,” our columnist Bret Stephens writes. nyti.ms/44XC2g6
Pasha Rayan retweeted
WARNING GRAPHIC
TERRORIST ATTACK ON JEWISH COMMUNITY EVENT BONDI BEACH SYDNEY
MULTIPLE DEAD
Pasha Rayan retweeted
Everything can always go wrong. But there are good people who work hard - some in the limelight, some unknown and unnoticed - to keep it together and even to improve it. They are the many human saviours of the world.
Pasha Rayan retweeted
New Dalton + Michael video just dropped. I coined the phrase "MBAification of technical founders" in this video.
Pasha Rayan retweeted
The shift from video editor to creative director is happening right now and @_adishj from @mosaic_so is at the forefront of it.
AI is turning creators into creative directors, letting us focus on the vibe and story while it handles the tedious stuff - cutting clips, pulling B-roll from our photo libraries, and even generating custom content to fill gaps.
What’s exciting is the scale. With AI, you can spin up multiple video versions from one recording, A/B test them, and figure out what clicks with your audience.
It’s not just about saving time - it’s about unlocking insights we couldn’t access before. You're discovering what resonates with your audience at a scale that was impossible before.
By removing the tedious, we give more time back for creativity and exploration.
Pasha Rayan retweeted
Friends & followers, lend me your tweets.
I’m hoping to invite @scottfarkas onto the pod.
Plan would be to discuss data centres & R&D. Think we could have a great chat.
If you agree, pls let him know in the comments!