@sbcatania

product @Simile_AI. formerly @NotionHQ, @StanfordDaily.

 San Francisco
sbc.me
Joined January 2017
  • Tweets1.5K
  • Following1.5K
  • Followers2.4K
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Sam Catania retweeted
Ryo Lu
@ryolu_Sep 24
efficiency, productivity, speed we keep worshipping these words like they are what we live for ship faster merge more manage more agents compress every loop remove every pause turn every hour into output but what is the point of endless production if there is no time left to think deeply? not react not optimize not summarize not clear the queue think to sit with a question long enough that your real intention starts to appear to find the purpose underneath the motion to ask whether the thing being accelerated should exist at all ai could be a new canvas a way to make strange things personal things impossible things tools, worlds, poems, games, interfaces, films, languages, rituals things that let more people touch the shape of their own imagination but instead, so much of it is becoming slop factories more content more funnels more tickets more fake work pretending to be value you can merge 2000 prs you can manage 500 agents you can wake up to dashboards proving that the machine kept moving while you slept but what is the point if you only sleep 5 hours a day? what is the point if you stop talking to other humans? stop learning about the past? stop playing? stop wandering? stop being surprised? what is the point if your whole life becomes optimizing the system that is consuming you? speed is not meaning scale is not wisdom automation is not freedom if it only makes everyone run faster and where are we running? toward what? a world where every person becomes a manager of machines, and every machine produces more things no one had the time to truly want? the danger is not that ai makes us lazy the danger is that ai makes us endlessly busy that it gives us infinite production before we have found intention infinite execution before we have developed taste infinite motion before we have learned how to be still maybe the real frontier is not more speed maybe it is discernment knowing what not to make knowing when to stop knowing when the most productive thing is to sleep, read history, call a friend, play with a cat, walk without tracking it, or stare at the ceiling until the false urgency dissolves tools should give us more life not turn life into a tool if ai is going to matter, it should not just help us produce more it should help us become more human more imaginative more free otherwise, it’s the same old factory just without humans
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new sf run club called “pacing the frontier”
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Sam Catania retweeted
Simile
@simile_aiSep 2
Most big decisions are some version of a “what-if” question. What if we launched this? What if we raised the price? What if we didn’t? At Simile, we’re building a What-If Machine to simulate those decisions before making them for real. But getting the answer right requires understanding both what people do and why they do it. @msbernst explains what it takes to build one. simile.com/blog/what-if-mach…

Building the What-If Machine | Simile

Why accurate human behavior simulation requires understanding both what people do and why, and how Simile builds trustworthy models for what-if decisions.

simile.com
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we built an AI that is provably very good at telling you if you can trust your other AI
Simile
@simile_aiAug 25
Anyone can simulate the future. But the simulation only matters if it’s trustworthy. At Simile, we train two types of models: simulation models and confidence models. Our first research blog post explores the origin of our proprietary confidence model, which predicts the accuracy of our population simulations and, in turn, makes them actionable. simile.com/blog/confidence?v…

Building confidence in Simile

Behind the scenes into Simile's proprietary confidence model.

simile.com
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i asked frontier AI models to write a eulogy, with no other context, as an experiment. they handle it remarkably differently - chatgpt: goes right for it, fill-in-the-blank for the name - claude: omg im so sorry for your loss, if you're feeling up for it, let me know some details - grok: asks questions, but much lighter on the nice-ities which model handles this best? worst?
screenshot of a chatgpt chat that reads: user: "write me a eulogy" chatgpt: "# Eulogy for a Loved One Today, we gather to remember and celebrate the life of someone who meant so much to so many of us. It is difficult to put an entire life into words. A person is more than a collection of dates, accomplishments, or memories. They are the way they made us feel, the lessons they taught us, the laughter they brought into a room, and the small acts of love and kindness that we may not have fully appreciated until now. [Name] had a way of leaving an impression on the people around them. Whether it was through their kindness, humor, strength, generosity, or simply their presence, they made the lives of others richer. They reminded us that some of the most meaningful moments in life are often the simplest ones: a conversation, a shared meal, a familiar joke, a helping hand, or just knowing that someone was there when you needed them. For those of us fortunate enough to... (continues)"

ALT screenshot of a chatgpt chat that reads: user: "write me a eulogy" chatgpt: "# Eulogy for a Loved One Today, we gather to remember and celebrate the life of someone who meant so much to so many of us. It is difficult to put an entire life into words. A person is more than a collection of dates, accomplishments, or memories. They are the way they made us feel, the lessons they taught us, the laughter they brought into a room, and the small acts of love and kindness that we may not have fully appreciated until now. [Name] had a way of leaving an impression on the people around them. Whether it was through their kindness, humor, strength, generosity, or simply their presence, they made the lives of others richer. They reminded us that some of the most meaningful moments in life are often the simplest ones: a conversation, a shared meal, a familiar joke, a helping hand, or just knowing that someone was there when you needed them. For those of us fortunate enough to... (continues)"

screenshot of a claude chat that reads: user: "write me a eulogy" claude: "I'm sorry — if you're writing a eulogy, you're likely going through something hard. I'd like to help you write something that actually sounds like the person, not a template. To do that, could you tell me a bit about them? Even scattered thoughts are fine: Their name, and who they were to you A few things they were known for — habits, sayings, what they cared about, what made people laugh One or two specific moments you remember The setting and roughly how long you have to speak If that feels like too much right now, just give me whatever comes to mind and I'll draft something from that. We can shape it from there."

ALT screenshot of a claude chat that reads: user: "write me a eulogy" claude: "I'm sorry — if you're writing a eulogy, you're likely going through something hard. I'd like to help you write something that actually sounds like the person, not a template. To do that, could you tell me a bit about them? Even scattered thoughts are fine: Their name, and who they were to you A few things they were known for — habits, sayings, what they cared about, what made people laugh One or two specific moments you remember The setting and roughly how long you have to speak If that feels like too much right now, just give me whatever comes to mind and I'll draft something from that. We can shape it from there."

screenshot of a grok chat that reads: user: "write me a eulogy" grok: "I'd be glad to help write a eulogy. To make it personal and meaningful, could you share a few details? Who is it for (name, relationship to you)? Key aspects of their life, personality, achievements, or stories you’d like included? Tone you’re aiming for (warm and celebratory, reflective, humorous, formal, etc.)? Any specific length or particular messages you want to convey? Once I have that, I can draft something tailored for you."

ALT screenshot of a grok chat that reads: user: "write me a eulogy" grok: "I'd be glad to help write a eulogy. To make it personal and meaningful, could you share a few details? Who is it for (name, relationship to you)? Key aspects of their life, personality, achievements, or stories you’d like included? Tone you’re aiming for (warm and celebratory, reflective, humorous, formal, etc.)? Any specific length or particular messages you want to convey? Once I have that, I can draft something tailored for you."

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Sam Catania retweeted
Simile
@simile_aiJul 30
We’re building a future where people make better decisions today, by simulating how people will think, decide, and behave before ideas meet the real world. Read more about what we're building in today's @nytimes. Thank you, @srimuppidi. nytimes.com/2026/07/30/busin…

To Know What Your Customers Think, Just Ask Their A.I. Twins

Simile, a fast-growing start-up, says it can provide companies with accurate insights by surveying millions of A.I.-generated consumers.

nytimes.com
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A belated announcement... I joined @simile_ai in April to lead core product! Our goals are ambitious and the people here working on them are incredible. It's a rare group who can train frontier models, build beautiful products, and do whatever it takes to make our customers successful, all under one roof. Simulation is hard. We humans do weird and unpredictable things. But in a world of headlines increasingly dominated by automation and fear, understanding ourselves as a species has never been a more important project to work on. This book is just getting started, and we have a lot of chapters to write. If you're interested in writing some chapters, we're growing our team quickly to catch up to our customer demand, and are hiring across all functions. simile.com/careers
Simile
@simile_aiJul 30
Today we’re announcing our Series B. We’ve raised $200M at a $2B valuation from Greenoaks with participation from Index Ventures, Hanabi, A*, Bain Capital Ventures, CVS Health Ventures, and Definition. Our mission is to simulate all eight billion people on earth, accurately.
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Sam Catania retweeted
Joon Sung Park
@joon_s_pkJul 30
Five months ago, we launched @simile_ai with the belief that simulation would become a new way for the world to make decisions. Today, that belief feels less like a thesis and more like the beginning of a new category. Incredibly proud of my team. We are just getting started.
Simile
@simile_aiJul 30
Today we’re announcing our Series B. We’ve raised $200M at a $2B valuation from Greenoaks with participation from Index Ventures, Hanabi, A*, Bain Capital Ventures, CVS Health Ventures, and Definition. Our mission is to simulate all eight billion people on earth, accurately.
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TIL i use SO MANY hand motions when i talk 💀
Varadh Jain
@varadhJun 17
Context Conversations If you have ever tried @NotionHQ and are curious on how you can get the most out of it, you'll enjoy this behind-the-scenes! @sbcatania has one of the best personal and workplace setups: - A personal dashboard for his docs, meetings, customer insights - 1-click flows for engineering to join customer calls - Custom agents that help file directly into Linear from Slack, powered by Notion Workers I've been at Notion for for 95 days now and the biggest opportunity is the gap between how most people use the product vs. how powerful it can be. Closing the gap is now a sidequest of mine :)
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it has been exciting to watch amy go on this journey over the past many months as her friend!
Amy Deng
@amydeng_Jun 16
I’m an AI researcher turned brain tumor patient, and recently I used the models to crack my mystery fatigue faster than my PCP could. I believe everyone can do the same with their own symptoms. Here’s how:
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my friend @tab_delete’s riveting book “HOW TO RULE THE WORLD” came out today. it was an honor to be theo’s editor while he wrote for @StanfordDaily. i hope you enjoy theo’s consequential and fiery behind-the-scenes story of silicon valley and stanford
Theo Baker
@tab_deleteMay 18
Stunned and honored by this rave review in @nytimes. “Baker’s first book, HOW TO RULE THE WORLD is a rigorous, self-assured, propulsive, at times terrifying portrait of a dweebocracy that ‘sets the agenda for the planet.’”
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well well well look who is parked illegally
an sf parking enforcement vehicle parked illegally

ALT an sf parking enforcement vehicle parked illegally

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Sam Catania retweeted
Akshay Kothari
@akothariApr 8
You can now take the N train in San Francisco to go from Notion office to the Notion Way 🙃 (h/t @akm_io)
Akshay Kothari
@akothariApr 7
At @NotionHQ, we're admirers of timeless tools. And what's more timeless than a city street name :) Delighted to support this incredibly fun project by @rtwlz, @_patrickhult and @theombl. Come hang out at The Notion Way in the Sunset District! paintastreet.com/auction
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I just wrapped up @NotionHQ! From starting to use the product in 2020, to joining ~3 years ago and building lots, I’ve loved it all. I’m sad to leave… but can’t wait to be a customer again! Thankful to @ivanhzhao, @akothari, @mschoening and many others for believing in me every step of the way, even on the way out. Notion really cares about its people and it shows.
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Sam Catania retweeted
Ivan Zhao
@ivanhzhaoMar 30
The loudest story about AI is a lonely one. One person with an army of chatbots. Other humans are friction. That gets the future wrong. The best things aren’t built alone. In a moment of change, we want to remind the world (and ourselves) what Notion stands for: — Think Together
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was able to sync 5 years of budget data into @NotionHQ from @ynab last night in under 15 minutes. now, I can: - make any charts or views of this data I want - use it as context for AI search over my life - trigger automations + custom agents from it
Anthony Accomazzo
@accomazzoMar 25
Excited to announce Notion Workers now support syncs! Sync any data into a Notion database with a single JavaScript function, from a team roster in a spreadsheet to all your opportunities in Salesforce. Write the function, deploy to Notion, and we'll handle the rest.
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bts of one of my recent projects!
Stephen Wu
@wustepMar 13

Building Notion dashboards

Article · @wustep
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me and my coworkers on twitter:
meme of obama giving himself a medal, giving himself a medal, giving himself a medal, giving himself a medal

ALT meme of obama giving himself a medal, giving himself a medal, giving himself a medal, giving himself a medal

Esteban Balderas
@EstebanBalderaMar 12
Replying to @pifafu @wustep @sbcatania
I'm enjoying so much the interaction you all are having in the posts, comments, etc. It makes me feel more connected to Notion as a company (thinking about real people working together on something exciting). Thank you for letting us have fun with you!! @laurasideral @brian_lovin @zachtratar @ivanhzhao @akothari and many more!
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Sam Catania retweeted
kathy
@pifafuMar 12
i wanted to ship something at Notion before tweeting too much, and now that dashboards shipped, i just wanna say - i feel so lucky to work here. i'm growing, i'm supported, i'm pushed. the designers are funny, i laugh so much every day. the leadership is really incredible, and the office is really beautiful. i'm excited to go to work in the morning. that's ikigai!
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Sam Catania retweeted
Laura Sandoval
@laurasideralMar 11
For the past few months, we've been building a new way to interact with Notion — a standalone Notion AI app. We'd love for you to try it 🖤 This is my first project at @NotionHQ and it's been sooo much fun!! Only the beginning :) Give it a try: testflight.apple.com/join/m2…
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