Builder of things. Always curious.
Toronto
Joined January 2008
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Alex de Bold retweeted
This is the same mental model I’ve been using for the new companies I’m building
The “how” has increasingly become a commodity.
They why, the story telling, and ability to break through the noise is harder than ever.
.@balajis says every startup now needs a founding creator. Someone who speaks for the product before it ships.
"The founding engineer is the how... The founding creator is the why."
If you're outsourcing content, you're outsourcing your edge.
Alex de Bold retweeted
Wondering how to actually use AI in your day to day?
Our team @a16z asked some of AI's biggest names to nominate their favorite products of 2024 - this is a great starting point 👀
Here are their picks! ⬇️
For general AI assistants:
- Perplexity (@perplexity_ai) - AI search engine
- Anthropic (@anthropicAI) - general assistant, Claude
- ChatGPT (@chatgptapp) - for Advanced Voice Mode!
For help getting work done:
- Granola (@granola) - AI notetaker
- Wispr Flow (@WisprAI) - voice dictation
- Gamma (@gammaapp) - AI decks, docs, websites
- Adobe (@Adobe) - Acrobat AI PDF summarizer
- Cubby (@CubbyApp) - collaborative workspace
- Every Inc. (@every)- Spiral writing assistant + Cora email product
- Lindy (@getlindy) - AI agents to automate workflows
To build an audience:
- Delphi (@withdelphi) - AI clones
- HeyGen (@HeyGen_Official) - studio quality avatars
- Argil (@argildotai) - social media avatars
- Overlap (@JoinOverlap) - video editor
- Persona - agent builder for creators
- OpusClip (@OpusClip) - video editor
- Captions (@getcaptionsapp) - avatar generator + video editor
To build a product:
- Cursor (@cursor_ai) - AI code editor
- Replit (@Replit)- automated web developer
- Anychat - multi-model developer platform
- Codeium (@codeiumdev) - Windsurf agentic IDE
To get creative:
- ElevenLabs (@elevenlabs) - text to speech
- Playground (@playgroundAI) - graphics generator
- Suno (@sunomusic), Udio (@udiomusic) - music generators
- Midjourney (@midjourney), Ideogram (@ideogram_ai) - image generators
- Runway (@runwayml), Kling (@Kling_ai), Viggle (@ViggleAI) - video generators
- Krea (@krea_ai) - creative canvas
- Photoroom (@photoroom_app) - image editor
To learn or grow:
- Rosebud (@joinrosebud) - AI journal
- Good Inside (@GoodInside) - parenting app
- Ada Health (@adahealth) - health management
- Ash - AI counselor
- NotebookLM (@notebooklm) - learn anything w/ AI
- Particle (@particle_news) - personalized news
To have fun:
- Remix AI (@getremixai)- AI social platform
- Meta Imagine (@AIatMeta) - AI-first social tools
- Grok (@grok) - chatbot from xAI
- Curio (@CurioBeta) - AI toys
Alex de Bold retweeted
Some key takeaways:
1. Get comfortable with looking dumb, especially in public. The best way to learn is by asking dumb questions, trying new things, and failing in front of others. You’ll uncover truths that others won’t, and more often than not, you’re not alone in having those questions. Everyone else is just too scared to ask.
2. Pair programming is a secret weapon. If you’re not doing this yet, try implementing it in your team’s workflow. It doesn’t just improve code quality; it forces intense collaboration and leads to faster unblocking.
3. Weekly updates, even if they seem like a time investment, create momentum and urgency. Parkinson’s law is real—if you set a time limit for something, it will get done in that time. Regular reviews force you to keep things moving forward, identify roadblocks early, and correct course quickly.
4. Time spent eliminating unnecessary code is never wasted. A streamlined codebase is easier to understand, less error-prone, and quicker to navigate. Make it a habit to revisit and refactor regularly, cutting away complexity. In software development, simplicity often leads to faster, more reliable results.
5. Traditional interviews are poor predictors of success. Instead:
a. Use extended trials when possible
b. Focus on real work product over interview performance
c. Look at why candidates made career moves, not just what moves they made
d. Leverage internship programs as extended interviews
e. Make the interview process as close to the actual job as possible
Alex de Bold retweeted
The main challenge with Consumer is moats. AI 🤖 doesn’t necessarily solve that. The key challenge is finding data lock-ins that make switching hard.
B2B is a lot more natural at that because businesses have a lot of data to compute with.
Alex de Bold retweeted
At Llama Lounge, the event series I run, 10 startups are selected to demo.
3 slots min are reserved for Women AI founders, often we're at parity.
Our data indicates only 5-10% of submission are Women founders.
We seek more Women founders to apply. We proactively reach out. Please spread the word.
It's important we have gender representation in AI, or we will have industry collapse in the mid-term.
Alex de Bold retweeted
Let fires burn
Vlad Loktev (@vladimirloktev) taught me more about product management than anyone else I've ever worked with, and his mentorship was directly responsible for the biggest inflection in my PM career.
Vlad spent 10 years at @Airbnb where he started as an IC PM and quickly advanced to lead product, and then GM the entire Airbnb homes business, managing over 1,000 people and reporting directly to CEO @bchesky. He recently left Airbnb and joined @IndexVentures as their newest partner. Prior to Airbnb, Vlad spent a year at @Zynga, where he helped grow Words with Friends to over 14 million daily active users.
In our conversation, we discuss:
🔸 Insight into Brian Chesky’s leadership style
🔸 Why success as a PM is all about impact, impact, impact
🔸 Why chaos can be good
🔸 Why as a leader it’s OK to let some fires burn
🔸 Why you should learn to “poke the bear”
🔸 Balancing product release speed with quality
🔸 Lessons on prioritization, decision-making, and organizational design
🔸 Advice for founders on building company culture
🔸 Much more
Listen now 👇
- YouTube: youtu.be/apfL7ULrQ-I
- Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/5Gv…
- Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…
Alex de Bold retweeted
I explain this to founders -
Any decent piece of software takes 2 years to build to the point where customers can actually use it.
Why?
First of all business complexity - modern workflows are complex and sophisticated and to capture them correctly, to reflect the nuances takes time.
Secondly, if it was easy to build then your startup wouldn't exist -- there would be million copies.
The fact that it is hard, complex is a good thing - this means that it is worth building.
Lastly, what you hear that AI will just build this in 10 seconds is complete and utter nonsense.
So, founders, ignore the noise, and keep building!
Build beautiful correct software that captures workflows and solves real problems and you will win big.
Alex de Bold retweeted
Product Management is not about:
- Asking customers about the requirements.
- Writing detailed specifications.
- Creating prototypes and wireframes.
- Assigning tasks to developers.
- Verifying and accepting the work of others.
(1/10)
Alex de Bold retweeted
I’ve been in the tech industry (all living in Silicon Valley) for five waves:
-DotCom
-Web2
-Sharing economy
-Web3
I’ve never seen a wave as large, as fast, and as impactful as the AI movement.
-Immediate productivity
-14k startups in 1.5 years
-Disruption to big tech
-Job losses
-Job gains
Alex de Bold retweeted
The atomic unit of a company: meetings + decisions.
Get better at meetings and decision making, and everything will improve.
Joe Hudson (@FU_joehudson) is the founder of Art of Accomplishment, a transformational coaching program that has helped tens of thousands of people, including many tech executives and founders from companies like Apple, OpenAI, and Google. His unique method of transformation comes from over 25 years of exploring neurological, psychological, and spiritual traditions, tested against real-world challenges. I've implemented a number of suggestions from this episode into my life and they really work.
In our conversation, Joe shares:
🔸 Why the critical voice in your head is always wrong
🔸 The importance of embracing all of your emotion
🔸 Why authenticity trumps self-improvement
🔸 How to create more enjoyable meetings
🔸 The power of gratitude in transforming your life
🔸 Practical tips for personal growth
🔸 Much more
Listen now 👇
- YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=DYkE1gf3…
- Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/7ir…
- Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…
Alex de Bold retweeted
I told Fast Company that no one is safe from AI --even the tech giants like Google.
Two years ago, it would have been unthinkable that the $2 trillion Google would be threatened by a tiny startup.
Last week, OpenAI launched SearchGPT, which helps users get all the answers from one user interface, without having to traverse "ten blue links" and an endless sea of ads. This is a direct threat to Google.
I provided Fast Company with this quote (link in comments):
“OpenAI is preparing to siphon Google’s billion-dollar advertising revenues by making it easy for users to stay within the OpenAI suite to get answers,” says Blitzscaling Ventures general partner Jeremiah Owyang. “Users no longer need to use antiquated search methods to trudge through websites to find the answers they want. Instead, OpenAI’s generative AI search will bring the answers right to the user.”
Yes, OpenAI is a tiny startup with approximately 2k employees today. They have recently taken over the old Uber building and will grow their team. Google has 180k employees, but I don't think that number includes contractors. OpenAI is just 1% the size of Google, and already showing a threat.
The good news for Google is that they are innovating quickly, (I watched their GenAI announcements) and last week's earnings were slightly above analyst estimates. They must fight (to the death) for the search market.
fastcompany.com/91163194/ope…
Alex de Bold retweeted
My vision: Over the next few years, AI is going to significantly change the internet in a few ways:
1- AI agents will become the dominant entity, conducting the laborious tasks on the web that we don’t want to do. The info will come to the user, not the user surfing the web.
2- Websites will cater to these agents and offer an Agent API to provide them with instant information.
3- If a human does decide to visit a website, the site may be AI-generated and personalized for that individual.
I will succinctly deliver this vision tonight in my opening remarks at the sold out Llama Lounge to 575 AI founders and VCs.
Alex de Bold retweeted
The Series A $1M ARR is a myth
What investors want is a model that's starting to work - consistent price points, similar ICPs, and a GTM motion that's repeatable
I've had companies well above AND well below the $1M mark raise Series As - chase a strong GTM engine, not a number
Alex de Bold retweeted
We polled more than 20 of the sharpest AI product builders and investors asking them for the most counterintuitive and surprising things they’ve learned about building AI products.
A huge thank-you to @eladgil @scottbelsky @saranormous @Padday @clairevo @rahulvohra @themaninblue @randomjohnnyh @gmharhar @JoelKwartler @dsiroker and everyone else who contributed their advice ❤️🔥
Here's what they had to say: lennysnewsletter.com/p/count…
Alex de Bold retweeted
Since launch, Gemini 1.5 Flash has seen millions of queries from developers through the Gemini API. Fast and cost-efficient, the model is built for non-complex, frequent tasks.
Check out these exciting use cases that the community has created. 🧵
Alex de Bold retweeted
At @Instacart, I had the privilege of being part of $2.4 billion in equity capital financings over eight years.
We raised money in various market environments – sometimes with great metrics and many times with terrible performance but a great story.
We worked with firms across venture capital, growth equity, crossover funds, and asset managers.
We also raised money at key moments from important strategic partners – including some of the best grocers and consumer packaged goods firms in the world.
Here’s what I learned:
- Your investors might be around much longer than most of your employees and even you as the founder.
- It’s critical to bring a diverse set of investors to the table so that you get diverse perspectives, but perhaps just as importantly, so that they can balance each other during moments of contention.
- Investors can be extremely beneficial, but you have to engage them thoughtfully and understand that they are also people – with egos, aspirations, and personal goals.
If you treat them poorly when you have leverage, do not expect them to treat you well in your moments of need.
- Investment firms and the partners within them have vastly different styles, priorities, objectives, and biases.
While different firms have distinct brands/cultures, you cannot easily predict the experience you will have with a given investor just based on the firm they work for.
- Investors should never run your company, but their advice, connections, and perspective can amplify your energies far beyond just providing capital.
I shared my thoughts on "picking the right capital partners" in a recent series of blog posts.
The links are shared in the comments below.
Alex de Bold retweeted
“If you don’t like capitalism you have very limited career choices… academia, journalism, not-for-profits. So no surprise this where anti-capitalist ideas are most popular”.
OH from a smart person
Alex de Bold retweeted
If you are a black founder/have a team with a black founder, and looking to raise money at <10M post, I have a someone looking to meet you.
A friend of mine is a black founder of a Series A startup, and he is looking to write $25K checks into pre-seed/early seed startups that have at least one black founder on the team.
If you know someone with a great company that meets those criteria for stage/team makeup, feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected] with the title "Team raising: open to $25K checks" and include:
-Blurb
-Deck/deck link
-Points on traction/what's compelling
I'll send them all along to my friend!
Thanks,
Mike