Tremendous

Request for Startups: Construction AI, Cybersecurity and More!

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This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

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Using AI to Snag Cheap Flights: Google Flights AI

January 16, 2026

Ever wonder whether you’re really getting the best deal on a flight? Google Flights AI is here to help.

Google Flights AI lets you describe the trip you want to take in natural language. Then, Google finds an itinerary to match.

This morning, I used Google Flights AI to plan three different trips. It made a few mistakes, but overall it made trip planning a lot easier.

Let’s see what this thing can do!

Round #1: Take Me to the Motherland!

I’ve wanted to visit Italy for years. I want to see Rome or Naples. I also want to see Popoli, the tiny town in Abruzzo that the Santoras come from.

Can Google Flights AI help?

It’s confusing that you put your home airport in one box and the rest of your query in another. Google needs to make it all one box.

However, Google Flights did find some great deals. Newark to Naples for less than $400 is the cheapest I’ve seen. When I looked on the old Google Flights, I couldn’t find anything cheaper.

I’m giving this round an A-.

Round #2: A Wisconsin Summer

Every summer, I go visit friends and family in Wisconsin, where I grew up. Can Google find me a deal?

I told Google to only show me direct flights. Google found me an itinerary for $209, which is as cheap as you’ll see. I’m flying out of Newark non-stop, just the way I wanted.

I’m giving this round an A!

Round #3: Escaping Frozen Jersey

When I went out with my coffee this morning, the cold air hit me like a wall. Can Google find me the perfect beach vacation?

I told Google to find me something as soon as possible, but most of its results were for several weeks from now. So, the results weren’t very useful.

I’m giving this round a C.

Wrap-Up

Google Flights AI performed well in my testing, earning a B overall.

For the most part, Google did a great job of finding cheap tickets. But it didn’t always understand my instructions.

Google Flights AI seems to find deals as good or better than traditional Google Flights. There’s no longer any reason to click through the old school calendar.

The next time I book a trip, I’ll definitely use the AI tools to help find a great deal!

Have you tried Google Flights AI?

There will be no blog on Monday for Martin Luther King Day. See you Tuesday!

More on tech:

Grok Companions — Elon’s AI Girlfriend?

Gemini Beats Grok and GPT 5.2 In a Head-to-Head Test

MiniMax: China’s $7 Billion AI Model Flops in Testing

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

Three Traits of My Top Investments

January 15, 2026

I fed every deal I’ve ever done to an AI — 38 bets, 400+ pages of deal memos. Here’s what my best investments have in common…

So far, two companies out of my 38 investments have broken out: Micro1 and Rilla. What made these bets so much more successful than others?

This morning, I used NotebookLM to analyze my investment memos describing every deal I’ve ever done. Here’s why the great deals beat the rest.

Massive TAM — My most successful investments addressed huge markets. Take Rilla…Rilla’s sales coaching is valuable for anyone doing outside sales. That’s millions of people.

If you want to build a big company, you need a lot of potential customers. In some of my less successful investments, the TAM was much smaller.

Product Velocity — Successful startups throw a lot of things at the wall and see what sticks. When I invested in Micro1 in 2023, they weren’t doing AI data. They were finding engineers for startups.

But their AI interviewer happened to do an amazing job of finding experts to create data for AI models. Micro1 pivoted to that and has passed $100 million ARR.

When I invested, Micro1’s product velocity was clear. They had popped up a new AI interviewer in no time at all.

Most startups can’t match that pace.

Among my investments that didn’t break out, product velocity was minimal. When competitors released a great new product, they were unable to respond.

Strong Financials — We’re used to startups burning a lot of money. But my most successful investments had little to no burn when I placed the bet.

Compare that to a startup of mine that failed recently. They actually had a small amount of debt when I invested, which should’ve been a red flag.

At the time, I didn’t have the experience to flag that issue. That’s part of the process of investing. Every success and failure teaches you a lesson.

Wrap-Up

NotebookLM did a great job of surfacing the key things my best investments have in common.

This tool is incredibly powerful. It looked at dozens of deal memos and drew conclusions in less than a minute.

In the future, I’m going to back companies in giant markets with strong financials and serious product velocity. If I’m lucky, I’ll nail more companies like Micro1 and Rilla.

What do your best investments have in common?

More on tech:

Three Management Secrets from Jensen Huang

My 2026 Predictions

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

More on Fundrise in this post.

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

Three Management Secrets from Jensen Huang

January 14, 2026

Jensen Huang built NVIDIA over 33 years into the world’s most valuable company. Here are 3 of his management secrets you can use today…

1. Flat Org Structure. NVIDIA’s structure is very flat. Jensen has around 60 direct reports. This is probably an order of magnitude more than most CEOs.

This means that Jensen knows everything that happens at NVIDIA. And when someone needs an approval, they don’t have to go through 10 layers to get it.

2. Public Feedback. Most executives take someone aside when they need to give them criticism. Jensen does it in public.

This lets the entire organization learn at once. If Jensen has to correct a subordinate, surely there’s something that the other employees can learn.

Jensen’s approach may seem harsh, but consider that everyone at NVIDIA is a serious professional making a fortune.

3. Long Hours. Simple, but indispensable. Everyone at NVIDIA works long hours, especially Jensen.

60 hours is pretty much the minimum. It goes up to 80 or more when the company is sprinting to release a new product.

The most successful startups I’ve invested in are a lot like NVIDIA. People work six or seven days a week, 12 to 14 hours a day.

There is no substitute for hard work.

Wrap-Up

Jensen may be the greatest entrepreneur alive.

Jensen does not do what the management books say. Instead, he designed Nvidia from a blank sheet of paper.

Try de-layering your organization, giving public feedback and modeling hard work to your employees. No matter how small your company is, using Jensen’s principles gives you a shot at building your own NVIDIA some day!

If you want to learn more from Jensen, check out The NVIDIA Way, a wonderful book on how Jensen created one of the greatest companies of all time.

More on tech:

Elon Musk (Part 1): Overcoming the Odds

Memos from the Chairman

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

The 2025 Tremendous Awards

January 13, 2026

Inspired by the Besties, here are the 2025 Tremendous Awards…

Biggest Business Winner: The United States. Wherever you look, American businesses are ascendant. A.I. models, GPUs, robotics, space…America ran the table in 2025.

The U.S. has always had an advantage in technology. As technology becomes the only game in town, the U.S. is outpacing the rest.

Biggest Business Loser: Legacy Automakers. In 2025, it became clear that the old school carmakers just aren’t competitive anymore.

Ford took a $20 billion charge on its EV business. None of the legacy companies are anywhere in self-driving. Meanwhile, Chinese automakers are turning out EV’s at unbelievably low prices.

How much longer do these dinosaurs have?

Biggest Political Winner: Zohran Mamdani. Zohran Mamdani beat an incumbent mayor and former governor to become New York City mayor.

I doubt Mamdani will be able to deliver on most of his campaign promises. But for now, he looks like a winner.

Biggest Political Loser: Centrists. The Republican Party has been taken over by MAGA. The Democratic Party is being taken over by socialists.

The big losers are centrist politicians. With less power and a poisonous political environment, many are retiring,

Breakthrough of the Year: Xenotransplantation. In January 2025, physicians at Mass General transplanted a pig kidney into Tim Andrews. He is alive and well.

We already raise tons of pigs for meat. What if we could also harvest an endless supply of organs?

CEO of the Year (Not Named Elon Musk): Jensen Huang. NVIDIA trounced its competitors again in 2025, owning the market for AI chips. The stock soared 39%, adding trillions in market value.

Disgrace of the Year: Somali Daycares. At the very end of 2025, Nick Shirley exposed massive fraud in Somali daycares in Minnesota.

Nick shows us how much of our tax money is wasted by incompetent and perhaps complicit politicians.

And don’t forget, Minnesota is a small state. Can you imagine how much fraud there is in New York and California?

Wrap-Up

In 2025, the leaders in technology pulled away from the rest.

The United States distanced itself from Europe. Tech companies like NVIDIA and Tesla trounced old industries.

At the same time, the political left and right became increasingly extreme. In a time of rapid change, maybe this is inevitable.

I’m both excited and apprehensive to see what 2026 holds.

Who would you give an award to for 2025?

More on tech:

My 2026 Predictions

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

My 2026 Predictions

January 12, 2026

In homage to the All-In Podcast, here are my predictions for 2026…

Biggest Political Winner — Socialism. Zohran Mamdani recently took control of New York City. This is only the beginning of big wins for socialism in the United States this year.

The party in power usually loses seats in Congress. This year, expect Republicans to lose to far-left Democrats. The cost of living and expiring healthcare subsidies will give fuel to socialists.

Biggest Political Loser — California. California’s proposed wealth tax is driving tons of billionaires out.

Chamath estimates that over $1 trillion in wealth will leave. That money won’t be subject to the wealth tax or any other California tax. These folks also won’t be creating businesses in California.

Biggest Business Winner — Elon Musk. SpaceX will likely go public this year, which could make Elon the world’s first trillionaire. Tesla may also release Optimus.

As successful as Elon has been, his best days are ahead.

Biggest Business Loser — Europe. Europe is continuing to fall behind the US and China. Countries like the UK are focused on jailing people for social media posts, not innovation.

Think of all the key new fields… AI models, robotics, self-driving. Europe has little or no presence in any of these areas.

A generation from now, Europe will be where Latin America is today: a pretty but poor continent.

Biggest Business Deal — AI Labs Buy Unique Data. Expect AI labs to buy companies like Reddit and Quora this year.

AI labs are hungry for data. Companies like Reddit and Quora have some of the best.

If an AI lab can lock up a unique data set, it has an advantage over competitors.

Most Contrarian Belief — Biotech Offers Amazing Opportunities. Biotech companies have been in the toilet these last few years. But the growth in AI will present great opportunities in this area in 2026.

AI models can help with drug discovery. AI robotic startups like my investment, Zeon Systems, can automate research.

Put these advancements together, and we could be finding cures much faster.

Best Performing Asset — AI Infrastructure Startups. In order to build AI models, you need high-quality data. The startups providing it will be the best-performing assets in 2026.

Startups like Mercor and my investment, Micro1, are growing more than 10x year over year on millions in revenue. These are some of the highest growth rates ever.

AI labs are spending a fortune on GPUs. To make that investment pay off, they must feed those GPUs with top-quality data.

Worst Performing Asset — Palantir Stock. Don’t get me wrong, Palantir is a great company. But at 100 times revenue, it’s ripe to fall.

The excitement over opportunities with the new Trump administration is likely to cool. This, plus the nonsensical valuation, could set this stock up for a major drawdown.

Most Anticipated Trend — The Triumph of Self-Driving. Waymo is supposed to begin operating in NYC and North Jersey this year. And if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

I dreamed about self-driving cars when I was a kid. This year, I hope to ride in one for the first time.

Most Anticipated Media — 90 Day Fiancé. Don’t laugh at me, but I’ve become addicted to this show.

90 Day Fiancé goes deeper with couples than any other show on TV. By the end of a season, you’ve spent over 20 hours with this small group.

I’m looking forward to seeing a new set of couples navigate the struggles of starting a life in America.

Wrap-Up

We have so much to look forward to in 2026. AI will do incredible things in robotics, self-driving, medicine and more.

There’s never been a more exciting time to be alive!

What are your predictions for 2026?

More on tech:

Request for Startups: Construction AI, Cybersecurity and More!

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

More on Fundrise in this post.

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

Stop Trying to Change Investors’ Minds

January 9, 2026

An investor passes on your startup. You can change their mind, right? Wrong.

Here’s why trying to change investors’ minds is a waste of time…

Minds Don’t Change

Investors are interested right away or not at all. When they pass, the chance of you ever getting a dime is minimal.

I’ve invested in 38 companies. Very seldom have I passed on a company and invested later.

Any time you spend trying to change a no to a yes is wasted. You could be finding customers, building product, or pitching other investors.

Find True Believers

True believers will make or break your startup. That’s true with investors, employees, even first customers.

Investors that believe give you money. They also help in a thousand other ways… intros, advice, marketing.

Find people who are excited about your startup. Those are the people who say yes right away.

When you try to change the minds of people who aren’t interested, you’re not attracting true believers.

When to Re-Engage

If an investor passes because you’re too early, ask what stage he invests at. When you hit that stage, contact him.

Last year, I invested in a company that I passed on in 2024. The startup had gone from pre-revenue to several hundred thousand dollars of ARR growing fast.

I messaged the founder begging to invest. Luckily, there was a little space left in their SAFE note!

A “too early” isn’t the same as a “pass.” But make sure you show real progress before you contact the investor again.

Wrap-Up

So many founders try to persuade me after I pass on their startup. It’s not a good use of time.

When investors pass, the solution isn’t to convince them. It’s to pitch more investors.

Fundraising is a numbers game. Pitch enough investors and you can find those true believers.

Do you try to change investors’ minds?

More on tech:

Your Deck Probably Sucks. Here’s How to Fix It.

How to Tell If Investors Are Really Interested

How to Run a Pitch Meeting

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

Request for Startups: Construction AI, Cybersecurity and More!

January 8, 2026

I’m scouring the world for startups in 3 areas right now. If you’re building here, DM me…

AI Data for Construction — I dream of a world where robots make our houses. Houses will be cheaper and better-built than ever.

But to get there, we need data. Lots of data.

For robots to build a house, they need enormous amounts of video of humans building houses.

So I’m looking for startups that are capturing video from construction sites. The easiest way is probably with Meta Ray-Bans, which are already used by several startups to collect video in other areas.

I recently did an investment in Cortex AI, which captures video from factories. But I don’t know of anyone doing this on construction sites.

Bulk B2B Purchases — Walmart can undercut the corner store because it buys in enormous volume. What if the corner store could do that?

I’m looking for startups that are bundling purchase orders from small businesses. These bundled orders could give small businesses the same great prices as the big boys.

AI Cybersecurity — AI does some wonderful things, but it also presents serious security risks.

Hackers can use an AI browser like Atlas for prompt injection. This lets them take over your system and do whatever they want.

I’m looking for startups building security solutions to counter the threats posed by AI.

There’s a lot of money here. If you can meaningfully improve security, enterprises will give you their grandma.

Wrap-Up

One of the most fun parts of this job is dreaming up new startups. When I come up with a new idea, it’s usually not long until I find a startup doing it.

Helping robots build homes, small businesses compete with the big boys, and companies keep their data safe are three of the best opportunities I can think of.

If you want to start a startup but you’re not sure what to do, try one of these ideas. And when you do, shoot me a message!

More on tech:

Request for Startups: Drones, Healthtech and Art, Oh My!

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

More on Fundrise in this post.

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

MiniMax: China’s $7 Billion AI Model Flops in Testing

January 7, 2026

Chinese AI startup MiniMax is going public this week at a $7 billion valuation. But its model flopped in my testing.

I ran MiniMax through three tests with real world questions. These are harder to game than benchmarks.

Let me show you where MiniMax does well and where it struggles…

Round #1: Coping With Long Winter Nights

It’s cold and dark most of the time here in North Jersey these days. What are the best ways to prevent Seasonal Affective Disorder?

Minimax has some good ideas, like using a light box. I actually have a drawing tablet, which Andrew Huberman recommended.

But Minimax doesn’t cite any sources. How can I rely on this answer?

I’m giving this round a C.

Round #2: The Top Stocks of 2025

2025 was an incredible year for markets. But I’m curious which stocks did the best.

Can MiniMax help?

Minimax gave me a list that looked great and even provided citations.

But when I clicked the source, it was completely wrong. Minimax was looking at the best performing stocks of 2024.

This is a common problem even among good AI models. They don’t know what day it is!

I don’t understand why this happens. It seems like an easy thing to fix.

I’m giving this round an F.

Round #3: Handicapping the 2028 Election

We’re seeing a lot of dissent in the Republican Party these days.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is raising his profile by handling Venezuela. Meanwhile, former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has attacked Trump for intervening overseas.

With these different factions forming, who will get the nomination in 2028?

Let’s ask Minimax…

Vance is the clear frontrunner. MiniMax likes Rubio for vice president.

Minimax made an interesting point: if one of them failed to get the presidential nomination, the other would likely get vice president. It could wind up Rubio-Vance, not just Vance-Rubio.

Minimax cited quality sources, including The Hill. With original thinking and good sourcing, I’m giving this response an A!

Wrap-Up

MiniMax earned a C overall in my testing.

Its responses are inconsistent. One will be excellent, the next useless.

If you’re relying on these outputs to power your application, Minimax just isn’t reliable enough. If you want something open source, Kimi or DeepSeek are better choices.

Have you tried Minimax?

More on tech:

China’s Zhipu AI Is About to IPO, But its Product Is Weak

Gemini Beats Grok and GPT 5.2 In a Head-to-Head Test

Kimi 2 Thinking — A Real Threat to ChatGPT and Grok

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

China’s Zhipu AI Is About to IPO, But its Product Is Weak

January 6, 2026

China is about to launch its first AI model IPO, Zhipu AI. Investors may be excited, but Zhipu’s product is weak.

China’s first IPO of an LLM startup, Zhipu AI, will start trading Thursday. The IPO is expected to value Zhipu at nearly USD $7 billion.

This morning, I ran it through a series of tests. I found Zhipu to be well behind top American models.

Let me show you where Zhipu falls short…

Round #1: Learning About AI Chips

NVIDIA and AMD introduced new AI chips at CES this week. How do these chips differ?

Zhipu gave a strong answer, emphasizing NVIDIA’s better software.

But I would have liked to see Zhipu cite better sources. It mostly cited Substacks and Yahoo Finance articles rather than technical specs.

I’m going to give this round a B+.

Round #2: Zhipu the Personal Trainer

I’ve done strength training twice a week for years. Every quarter, I do a deload week to give myself some rest.

But is that enough?

Zhipu recommends taking a deload week every 6-8 weeks instead. But it doesn’t cite any sources.

How can I rely on this answer?

When I run the same query through Grok, it answers faster and cites 25 sources. That’s the bar for an AI model today.

I’m giving this round a C.

Round #3: Zhipu the Sleep Coach

I just got back from a wonderful trip to Wisconsin. I saw friends and family over the holidays, which made me really happy.

There was only one downside: my sleep. The system I have dialed in at home just isn’t the same on the road.

Let’s ask Zhipu how to get my sleep back on track…

Zhipu gives some interesting ideas, like getting light in the morning. But the sources it cited were all in Chinese.

Zhipu is supposed to be bilingual in English and Chinese, so citing sources in the wrong language is a serious problem.

I’m going to give this round a C as well.

Wrap-Up

Overall, Zhipu earns a C+ in my testing.

Its answers are decent, but sourcing is weak. It’s hard to tell if Zhipu’s answers are correct or not.

These responses would have been excellent two years ago. But today, Grok and Gemini blow Zhipu out of the water. Zhipu is also behind Chinese models like Kimi and DeepSeek.

I had fun playing with Zhipu, but I won’t be using it again any time soon. It’s just too far behind.

Have you tried Zhipu?

More on tech:

Gemini Beats Grok and GPT 5.2 In a Head-to-Head Test

Kimi 2 Thinking — A Real Threat to ChatGPT and Grok

Can DeepSeek Beat the Best American Models?

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!