Tremendous

An angel investor's take on life and business

  • How I Built a Slick Landing Page in 28 Seconds with Grok 4.5, Elon’s New Coding Agent

    Is your landing page getting a little stale? I just built a beautiful new one in less than a minute with Grok 4.5, Elon’s new coding agent. 

    Elon Challenges Dario On His Home Turf: Coding

    Claude has ruled the coding world for a long time now. But now that Elon owns Cursor, things are changing.

    The team just dropped Grok 4.5, their most powerful model ever. It was trained alongside Cursor’s model and is geared toward coding.

    Every startup needs a landing page. Let’s see if Grok 4.5 can help… 

    Setting up Grok 4.5 In a Couple of Clicks

    To use Grok 4.5, you need to be a X Premium Plus or Supergrok subscriber. That runs about $30 a month.

    Then, paste this code into your Terminal: 

    curl -fsSL https://x.ai/cli/install.sh | bash

    Go through a couple prompts and you’ve got Grok 4.5 running in your Terminal! 

    Building My Landing Page

    I gave Grok 4.5 a very simple and rather vague prompt:

    “Make a landing page for an angel investor based on my X profile.”

    I told it to use the same type of DOS-like interface you see on my blog.

    In 28 seconds, my page was ready…

    Grok saved everything to a little folder on my desktop. Let’s open it up…

    The Moment of Truth

    Gorgeous! I’m really feeling the reddish text on the black background. I think it looks even better than the amber text I use on the blog.

    Grok took some liberties with the page, telling founders to skip the deck if they want. 

    Ixnay, Grok! I want my deck.

    But it’s easy enough to re-prompt Grok and remove that.

    Just out of curiosity, I ran the exact same prompt in Claude. The landing page it produced was too crowded with irrelevant information. I liked Grok’s better.

    It’s Getting Ridiculously Easy to Build Things

    I used to make websites in the mid-90s using NetObjects Fusion. Even with that largely graphical interface, making a website could take hours. 

    They didn’t look as nice as what Grok made in under 30 seconds.

    I already have the blog, so I’m not going to take this landing page live. 

    But I’m still going to get use out of Grok’s work. I made this landing page my banner background on my X profile!

    I hope it will make me look cool. 😆

    Wrap-Up

    Grok 4.5 crushed it, delivering something every startup needs: a spiffy landing page. 

    Grok 4.5 can do a lot more than landing pages. You can make entire apps in minutes.

    But landing pages are an awesome place to start!

    If you’re getting bored with your startup’s page, try whipping up a new one with Grok. And let me know if your conversion jumps!

    Have you given Grok 4.5 a try yet? 

    More on tech: 

    You Finally Closed Your Funding Round — Time to Panic?

    Tasklet: The Easiest Agent Builder I’ve Ever Used

    Why Some Founders Raise Millions with a Text — And Others Can’t Get a Single Check: Traction vs. Track Record

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    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!

    Wispr Flow

    I used this app every single day to dictate to my computer, I’m even dictating this text using Wispr Flow! It’s way better than Apple’s native dictation.

    My productivity is up about 25% since I started dictating rather than typing. I’m also less tired and stressed.

    Get a free month of Wispr Flow Pro here!

  • Are You Pre-Revenue? Here are 5 Signs Your Startup Is On the Right Track. 

    You haven’t signed a customer yet. Is your startup on the right track…or heading off a cliff?

    Here are 5 signs you’re building a startup the right way, even if you haven’t made a dime yet.

    1. You’re Building Product. This is the most important factor.

    You don’t need a CS degree. But you do need to learn to build software, and it’s never been easier with AI.

    If you and your co-founders are all building, awesome! But if you’re surrounded by a bunch of “idea guys,” you’re in trouble.

    2. You’re Talking to Potential Customers. Say you’re thinking of making SaaS for architects. Have you talked to a bunch of architects?

    Maybe you don’t have a product built yet. Maybe your company has never made a dime.

    You still should be having these conversations. This way, you’ll build something they actually want!

    Once your product is live, they can be your first customers. 

    If you’re talking to potential customers every week, you’re on the right track. If you’re holed up in your bedroom and never speak to another soul, you’ve got problems. 

    3. You’re Sharing Your Idea With Everyone. Talk to as many smart people as you can about your startup idea. 

    If you’re learning from others, you’re winning. But if you hide what you’re working on because you’re afraid someone will “steal your idea,” you’re not going to make it. 

    4. You’re Keeping Expenses Down. This is important even for the biggest companies. John D. Rockefeller used to count the number of drops of solder on each barrel of oil.

    If the richest man on the planet needs to watch his expenses, so do you!

    Especially early on, expenses should be cut to the bone. 

    No fancy office. No expensive events. 

    Talk to customers, build, ship. Anything else is a waste of time and money. 

    5. You’re Incorporated Properly. If you’re planning on raising money, you need to be a Delaware C Corp. 

    That doesn’t have to happen on the first day. But you do need to get this squared away before you raise money. 

    I wrote a whole article on why startups need to be Delaware C Corps, which you can read here. 

    Wrap-Up

    The best part? Every single thing on this list is within your control.

    You can start building software today. You can contact 10 potential customers, even if you don’t have any money.

    Stay focused on what matters: team, product, customers. If you can do that, the revenue will come.

    More on tech: 

    You Finally Closed Your Funding Round — Time to Panic?

    Why Some Founders Raise Millions with a Text — And Others Can’t Get a Single Check: Traction vs. Track Record

    From Cold DM to Wire in 5 Days: Why I Move Fast on Great Startups

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    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!

    Wispr Flow

    I used this app every single day to dictate to my computer, I’m even dictating this text using Wispr Flow! It’s way better than Apple’s native dictation.

    My productivity is up about 25% since I started dictating rather than typing. I’m also less tired and stressed.

    Get a free month of Wispr Flow Pro here!

  • SaaS Trading at 3x Revenues — Is This the End of the Category?

    Public SaaS companies are trading at 3.2x revenues — the lowest in 14 years. Is SaaS finished?

    Some SaaS companies are slowly dying. But others are growing faster than they have in years. 

    The difference: product velocity. 

    The Good Bucket and the Bad Bucket

    I put SaaS companies into 2 buckets…

    Good Bucket

    1. Shipped an agent AND
    2. Revenue growth accelerating

    Bad Bucket

    1. No agent shipped OR
    2. Revenue growth flat or declining

    Most SaaS companies have shipped some form of AI agent product by now. Those few that haven’t, stick a fork in them.

    But is their agent any good? We should be able to tell from the revenue growth.

    If the new agent is super useful, it will drive new customers and expanding ACVs at existing customers. If not, people won’t pay for it.

    The Good Bucket: Twilio

    Twilio is a Good Bucket company. They’ve shipped some awesome tools that let agents make calls and send text messages using Twilio’s technology. 

    Developers are building tons of cool new products on Twilio. And sure enough, Twilio’s revenue growth has nearly doubled.

    The market recognizes Twilio’s good work. The stock trades at 6.2x revenues. Not a huge multiple, but a lot better than the market multiple of 3.2x.

    Let’s see what happens when you don’t ship a popular agent…

    The Bad Bucket: ZoomInfo

    ZoomInfo powers agents from Salesforce and others with its data.

    But it hasn’t shipped its own popular agentic product. Annual revenue is flat going back to 2023. 

    Compare that to hungry startups like Gojiberry. In just a few months, they’ve popped up a GTM agent that automates outbound. They’ve quickly scaled to millions in ARR.

    If ZoomInfo shipped that fast, maybe they wouldn’t be trading at 0.7 times revenues! 

    ZoomInfo still has great data. But it’s fading into the background, nothing more than a boring “system of record.” 

    How long until someone replaces it entirely? 

    Wrap-Up

    If you’re not growing, you’re dying.

    Ship agentic tools customers want, and you’ll win new business. 

    Fail to ship anything compelling, and the corporate technology spend goes to someone else. Revenue growth slows, then stops. Investors leave your stock for dead. 

    The SaaS market is brutal right now. But the opportunity has never been bigger.

    What are you going to ship today?

    More on tech: 

    You Finally Closed Your Funding Round — Time to Panic?

    Why Some Founders Raise Millions with a Text — And Others Can’t Get a Single Check: Traction vs. Track Record

    Tasklet: The Easiest Agent Builder I’ve Ever Used

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    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!

    Wispr Flow

    I used this app every single day to dictate to my computer, I’m even dictating this text using Wispr Flow! It’s way better than Apple’s native dictation.

    My productivity is up about 25% since I started dictating rather than typing. I’m also less tired and stressed.

    Get a free month of Wispr Flow Pro here!

  • You Finally Closed Your Funding Round — Time to Panic?

    A founder on Reddit just closed his $1 million pre-seed. Jealous? Don’t be. He’s waking up at 3:00am, panicking…

    Before he raised money, this was a fun project. Now, people are counting on him and there’s serious money at stake.

    He’s not alone.

    One of the most successful founders I’ve ever invested in spoke publicly about having panic attacks. They started right after closing his pre-seed. 

    I was a small investor in that pre-seed. I had no idea about the tough times he was having until years later.

    I am very grateful to these wonderful entrepreneurs for caring so much about us investors.

    But let me be clear: this money means very little to us.

    I’ve got 42 investments. Each one is a tiny percentage of my net worth. For VC funds, it’s the same story: dozens of investments, each just a small portion of the fund. 

    If an investor bet more than they can afford to lose, that’s their problem — not yours.

    By all means do your best! But don’t make yourself sick worrying about investors. 

    If I give you a check and you lose my money, that’s okay! All I expect from you is to do your best and keep me updated.

    And one more thing…

    When you start your next company, I want to be the first person you contact. You never know, this new startup could be the big one.

    More on tech:

    Why Some Founders Raise Millions with a Text — And Others Can’t Get a Single Check: Traction vs. Track Record

    38 Words Got This Founder on My Calendar — Here’s the Cold Email Formula That Wins

    I Left $157,000 on the Table: How I Missed a Great Investment

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    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!

    Wispr Flow

    I used this app every single day to dictate to my computer, I’m even dictating this text using Wispr Flow! It’s way better than Apple’s native dictation.

    My productivity is up about 25% since I started dictating rather than typing. I’m also less tired and stressed.

    Get a free month of Wispr Flow Pro here!

  • Tasklet: The Easiest Agent Builder I’ve Ever Used

    Tasklet was one of the hottest companies in YC P26. This morning, I used it to build an agent that preps me for my founder meetings. The hype is justified!

    Automating One of My Most Annoying Tasks: Meeting Prep

    Digging through emails to find information on the folks I’m meeting is an annoying task. 

    Where did that message go? How many customers did they have?

    I want to see all the information in one place. This lets me focus on actually talking to the founder.

    I built an automation to do this in Grok Projects. It works okay, but sometimes misses important information.

    Can Tasklet do better? 

    Building My First Tasklet Agent

    Tasklet has a very simple interface. You just type in a prompt, like ChatGPT.

    Tasklet whips up an agent to follow your instructions. You don’t need to write a single line of code.

    I told Tasklet to look through my Google Calendar and Gmail and prep me for each day’s meetings. I told it to use info from the open internet to supplement its research.

    I had it send a message to my Gmail with the information at 7:00 am each day. I also had it send a test message now.

    The Moment of Truth — Does It Actually Work?

    I’ve got three meetings on Monday. Let’s see how Tasklet did…

    For my first meeting, Tasklet had a lot of emails to go on. It collated them beautifully. 

    It would have taken me at least 20 minutes to do it this well. Tasklet did it in seconds.

    For my second call, Tasklet wasn’t able to find much info about the founders. I thought Tasklet screwed up.

    But when I Googled the founders myself, I couldn’t find anything either!

    Turns out, Tasklet was working just fine. Sometimes, there’s only so much data out there.

    My final meeting was the best test…

    Tasklet had a couple emails to go on, but not much more. Still, it summarized my conversations with the founder in a very readable format.

    Verdict: Tasklet Is the Real Deal

    My days of getting frustrated searching through emails are over! 

    What struck me most about Tasklet is how easy it is to use. It isn’t any different than typing a prompt into ChatGPT or Grok. Tasklet handles the API connections and task scheduling. 

    Best of all, it formats its outputs beautifully. They’re very easy to read. 

    I’ve tried a couple of different agent builders. Tasklet is definitely the best I’ve seen.

    Will the Base Models Win the Agent Race?

    As a user, Tasklet is fantastic. But I wondered: is this something foundational models are going to do soon?

    You can already build agents with tools like Claude or Grok. They don’t work as well as Tasklet does. With Grok for example, I have to prompt and re-prompt, being very specific. 

    But with the enormous resources of the AI labs, I expect them to catch up.

    Agent builders is a brutally competitive market. But whoever wins, users like me benefit. 

    Wrap-Up

    Tasklet is a great product!

    My new agent makes sure I’m well prepared for meetings. No more frantic searching and scribbling. 

    If you’re a intimidated by the idea of building an agent, don’t be! If you can type, you can build an agent on Tasklet.

    AI is automating the frustrating parts of our jobs. This frees us up to do the fun stuff!

    Give Tasklet a shot and build something to make your life easier.

    Have a great weekend everybody!

    More on tech: 

    The Simple Automations That Let Me Meet More Awesome Founders

    My Top 3 YC S26 Startups So Far: Robot Maids, AI Health Insurance, and AI-Proof Security

    China’s GLM 5.2: The Most Powerful Open-Source Model Yet — But Does It Deliver in Real Life?

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    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!

    Wispr Flow

    I used this app every single day to dictate to my computer, I’m even dictating this text using Wispr Flow! It’s way better than Apple’s native dictation.

    My productivity is up about 25% since I started dictating rather than typing. I’m also less tired and stressed.

    Get a free month of Wispr Flow Pro here!

  • I Looked at 431 Startups to Write 1 Check — Here’s What Actually Gets Founders Funded

    Here’s how my latest deal came together: 431 companies, 74 meetings, 1 check. Raising money is brutally competitive. Here’s how to win…

    A Look Inside My Deal Funnel

    I wired for a new investment on June 29th. To find it, I looked at over 400 companies and did 74 Zoom meetings. 

    Finding great investments is not easy. Neither is raising money for your startup.

    Founders start thousands of startups in America every year. Only around half successfully raise a seed round.

    Bottom line: there’s too many startups chasing too little money. 

    Investors Are Dying to Eliminate You

    Investors are looking for a reason to eliminate you. They say no to hundreds of people for every check they write.

    Founders not builders? Pass.

    No revenue? Pass.

    No product built? Pass.

    Any obvious problem gets you disqualified instantly. 

    It’s harsh, I know! But that’s the way the market works.

    Before You Raise, Ask Yourself “Am I Fundable?”

    Don’t get disqualified right off the bat. Before you go out to raise, make sure you’re fundable.

    Do you have these 3 key elements?

    1. Team of builder founders
    2. Launched product
    3. Couple of customers

    If you have those 3 things, you’re ahead of 90% of startups. You’re going to get meetings, and you should grab at least a few checks.

    Putting Your Fundraise on Pause 

    Not getting anywhere with your fundraise?

    Put it on pause. Go out and sign three more customers.

    You don’t need funding for that. You just need to message leads, show your value proposition, and close them.

    Then, try raising again. Watch how much easier it gets.

    Wrap-Up

    To raise that round of funding, you’ve got to beat hundreds of people. 

    Be undeniable.

    Assemble a team of builders. Launch a product. Get paying customers. 

    With those 3 elements in place, you can start to bank some real cash.

    More on tech: 

    What Actually Counts as Traction When Raising Money

    Why Some Founders Raise Millions with a Text — And Others Can’t Get a Single Check: Traction vs. Track Record

    38 Words Got This Founder on My Calendar — Here’s the Cold Email Formula That Wins

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    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!

    Wispr Flow

    I used this app every single day to dictate to my computer, I’m even dictating this text using Wispr Flow! It’s way better than Apple’s native dictation.

    My productivity is up about 25% since I started dictating rather than typing. I’m also less tired and stressed.

    Get a free month of Wispr Flow Pro here!

  • What Actually Counts as Traction When Raising Money

    “Get back to us when you have more traction.” Bet you’ve heard that before! But what the heck is “traction,” anyway? 

    Traction is evidence your company is succeeding. 

    Traction comes in many forms. Some types of evidence are more persuasive than others.

    Here are 6 common types of traction, from most compelling to least…

    1. Recurring Revenue

    This is the gold standard.

    Top-tier seed stage deals today usually have between $500,000 ARR and $1.5 million ARR. That’s a lot higher than when I started doing this. A couple of years ago, $200,000 would have been quite impressive.

    But everything is accelerating with AI. Like it or not, standards are going up.

    2. Paid Pilots

    This is still real money. But it’s valued lower than recurring contracts because pilots typically end after a few months.

    Still, paid pilots are a lot better than no revenue at all! Just be clear that they’re pilots, not normal contracts.

    A couple of paid pilots could get you into an accelerator. You might even be able to raise a pre-seed round. 

    But a full seed round isn’t likely unless you have a killer track record 

    3. Unpaid Users

    This is very relevant for consumer startups. For everyone else, it doesn’t matter.

    If you’re building a new consumer social app, monthly active users and retention are going to be key metrics. But if you’re building a SaaS app, paying customers are what count. 

    4. Launched Product

    Maybe you don’t have any revenue yet. But just launching a product puts you above most startups.

    A launched product may be enough to get you into an accelerator. But a product alone probably isn’t enough to raise a full funding round.

    5. Prototype

    A prototype and a strong team in place is usually enough to raise a seed round for a deep tech startup. Last summer, I invested in an awesome robotics startup with just a prototype. 

    For software startups, the bar is higher. You probably need to launch a product and get a few customers before you can raise money.

    6. Team in Place

    You don’t have any revenue. Your product isn’t finished.

    Do you at least have a team of builders in place?

    That’s a form of traction. Strong builders working full-time on the startup is one of the key things I look for.

    Having a good team in place could get you into an accelerator. But unless you have an incredible track record, you’re probably too early for a full funding round. 

    I’ve done 42 investments. I’ve never written a check without at least a prototype. 

    Wrap-Up

    Honestly assess what traction your startup has today. 

    Do you have several hundred thousand in ARR? You might be ready for a seed round.

    Do you have a solid team of builders but no product yet? Try an accelerator.

    Being realistic about traction will save you months spinning your wheels. Put that time into building product and getting more customers.

    When customers are flocking to you, raising money is a lot easier. 

    More on tech: 

    Why Some Founders Raise Millions with a Text — And Others Can’t Get a Single Check: Traction vs. Track Record

    From Cold DM to Wire in 5 Days: Why I Move Fast on Great Startups

    38 Words Got This Founder on My Calendar — Here’s the Cold Email Formula That Wins

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    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!

    Wispr Flow

    I used this app every single day to dictate to my computer, I’m even dictating this text using Wispr Flow! It’s way better than Apple’s native dictation.

    My productivity is up about 25% since I started dictating rather than typing. I’m also less tired and stressed.

    Get a free month of Wispr Flow Pro here!

  • Why Some Founders Raise Millions with a Text — And Others Can’t Get a Single Check: Traction vs. Track Record

    Some founders raise millions with a single text. You’re struggling to get one check. The reason? It comes down to traction or track record…

    Track Record

    We’ve all heard crazy stories of founders raising millions in a weekend without even a deck. Behind those headlines, you’ll usually find a founder with an incredible track record.

    Maybe they sold their last company for $500 million. Maybe they were an early employee of a top startup.

    Last year, I invested in two founders who had co-founded billion dollar companies in the past. Founders like that go to the top of any investor’s list. 

    Sometimes, track record comes in unexpected places. 

    Demis Hassabis, the founder of DeepMind, was the second ranked chess player in the world as a teenager. This isn’t an accomplishment in business, but it still shows exceptional ability.

    Traction

    So what about the other 99% of founders? To raise money, you need to show real traction. 

    Think $500k-$1M ARR in the first 1-2 years. Founders with traction like that can raise a multimillion dollar seed round. 

    Traction looks different for different sectors. 

    In deep tech, a good prototype and a strong team can be enough. For consumer social, investors are looking more for user numbers than revenue.

    Wrap-Up

    Traction and track record are two sides of the same coin. 

    Track record proves you’ve won before. Traction proves you’re winning now.

    I’ve bet on unknown entrepreneurs with incredible traction many times. Some of them have become huge wins.

    There’s nothing wrong with being unknown. You just need to bring more to the table.

    If you’ve racked up huge wins in the past, let investors know! If not, go all out to show explosive growth in the company you’re building now.

    Show you’re extraordinary, and investors will start chasing you.

    More on tech: 

    You’ve Got Your First Customer. Now, How Do You Raise Money?

    From Cold DM to Wire in 5 Days: Why I Move Fast on Great Startups

    Is Y Combinator — Gasp! — Actually a Bargain Now?

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    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!

    Wispr Flow

    I used this app every single day to dictate to my computer, I’m even dictating this text using Wispr Flow! It’s way better than Apple’s native dictation.

    My productivity is up about 25% since I started dictating rather than typing. I’m also less tired and stressed.

    Get a free month of Wispr Flow Pro here!

  • The Simple Automations That Let Me Meet More Awesome Founders

    I want to meet as many awesome founders as I can. So I’m automating the busywork. Here are the automations I’ve got running my investment business…

    Summarizing Decks

    I built a great little tool in Grok Projects to summarize decks in the exact format I like:

    • Vision in one simple sentence
    • Team
    • Traction 

    Instead of paging through a 40-slide deck, Grok finds this info in a few seconds. 

    Grok Projects are great. They’re basically an elaborate, saved prompt. But they work a lot like an agent. 

    If you haven’t experimented with them, I really recommend it. 

    Meeting Prep

    My volume of meetings was getting heavy in June. So I built another Grok Project to prep me for my whole day. 

    I connected this project to my Gmail so it can see all my messages with each founder. It pulls info on each company’s team and traction. It even gives me some great ideas of questions to ask. 

    Making the prep work easier lets me focus on the actual meetings!

    Wispr Flow Snippets

    Do you find yourself saying the same thing over and over to different people? I know I do.

    So I built some wonderful Wispr Flow Snippets to make it easy.

    Snippets are saved blocks of text you can trigger with a single word or phrase. I have Snippets asking founders to send their deck to my Gmail, Snippets explaining I only invest in Delaware C corps, and a lot more.

    This lets me get through my messages in half the time.

    Fathom Video Recording and Note Taking

    I used to scribble like crazy during meetings. But for the last year, I’ve been using Fathom instead.

    I’ve tried every meeting note tool, and Fathom is by far the best. It takes notes, generates a transcript, and even records the video of the entire meeting.

    Fathom frees me to actually have a conversation. I still take a couple of notes on paper for key points. 

    When I’m researching a company more deeply, I’ll re-watch the whole meeting. 

    Wrap-Up

    Every one of these automations is incredibly simple. But put them together, and I’ve sped up every element of my investing.

    Messaging, reading decks, prepping for meetings, documenting meetings — everything is moving faster. I’m planning to add more complex automations over time. 

    When my entire business runs faster, I can meet more great founders. It only takes one Travis Kalanick or Brian Chesky to change everything. 

    What automations are you using that I should try? Leave a comment and let me know!

    More on tech: 

    My Top 3 YC S26 Startups So Far: Robot Maids, AI Health Insurance, and AI-Proof Security

    From Cold DM to Wire in 5 Days: Why I Move Fast on Great Startups

    You’ve Got Your First Customer. Now, How Do You Raise Money?

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    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!

    Wispr Flow

    I used this app every single day to dictate to my computer, I’m even dictating this text using Wispr Flow! It’s way better than Apple’s native dictation.

    My productivity is up about 25% since I started dictating rather than typing. I’m also less tired and stressed.

    Get a free month of Wispr Flow Pro here!

  • My Top 3 YC S26 Startups So Far: Robot Maids, AI Health Insurance, and AI-Proof Security

    YC S26 kicked off last week. 56 startups have already launched. Here are my top 3 so far, from robot maids to cheaper healthcare…

    Prescience

    Just this morning, my Christian health share emailed me. My discount for staying fit? Gone. 

    Traditional insurance is even worse. Premiums through the roof, no increase in quality. 

    Prescience is fixing this mess. 

    Prescience runs employee-funded health plans. They use AI to prevent illness and lower cost.

    Prescience pulls data from wearables, gets you doctor visits same-day, and even prescribes GLP-1’s proactively.

    If this company succeeds, the upside is unlimited.

    Nori Robotics

    What if you could buy a robot maid for $1,300? That’s the vision for Nori Robotics.

    These are robots on wheels, rather than legs. On my recent trip to Tokyo, wheeled robots brought my breakfast at my favorite diner. Wheels are stable and practical.

    Best of all, when you teach Nori a new skill like pouring a drink, that skill becomes available to everyone.

    Rock-bottom price. Network effects. I love everything about this business.

    Nebula Security

    Ever since the Anthropic Mythos announcement, the technology industry has been terrified of hackers using AI to break into their systems. Nebula Security may be the company to stop it.

    Founder Eten Zou and the team recently found a critical exploit of Android. These guys have serious cybersecurity chops.

    As AI finds one security hole after another, there will be a mad race to patch them. Nebula is the right company at the right time.

    Wrap-Up

    I’ve got cold messages out to all three of these startups. I’m itching to learn more about what they’re doing! 

    We can whine about YC’s valuations. But who else is backing so many ambitious companies in so many areas? 

    I’m excited to see more awesome S26 startups launch. I just might find my next investment…

    There will be no blog tomorrow. Have a wonderful July 4th and Happy 250th Birthday, America! 🇺🇸 

    More from the blog:

    You’ve Got Your First Customer. Now, How Do You Raise Money?

    Is Y Combinator — Gasp! — Actually a Bargain Now?

    From Cold DM to Wire in 5 Days: Why I Move Fast on Great Startups

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    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!

    Wispr Flow

    I used this app every single day to dictate to my computer, I’m even dictating this text using Wispr Flow! It’s way better than Apple’s native dictation.

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