Building @anonplatform. 3x founder; angel investor (25+ companies)
SF 🇺🇸
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1/ 📣 Big news from Anon! We've raised $6.5M from @usv and @AbstractVC to be the Integration Platform for the AI internet.
Also announcing:
🌐 Initial customer launches
🌐 Expanded list of 10+ integrations
🌐 Public developer docs
🌐 Our "Messenger API" product
Read more 👇
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Today, Apple released new rules for crypto apps (especially web3 games) in the App Store.
Apple's stance on NFTs, crypto, and payments will have a massive effect on the industry.
A 🧵 featuring critical points, my takeaways, and winners/losers based on initial reading:
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10 things every crypto founder needs to know about:
- entity setup
- fundraising
- compensation (salary + tokens)
- hiring devs & execs
Based on firsthand experience from @hiframework investing in 100+ companies and seeing dozens go from inception to hyper-growth. 🧵👇
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I love the lack of generational wealth in SF.
In NYC/LA, even if someone's parents aren't paying their rent, their future is "set" no matter what happens with their startup.
SF is full of hustlers, with no backup plan. The difference in hunger and ambition is real.
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Is this real?
The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan co-led the Series B round for FTX?
Brutal day for the industry and for real people and companies who trusted these institutions.
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Alpha leak. How to raise venture capital $:
Step 1: Upon meeting a VC, immediately say you received a term sheet earlier that day
Step 2: Send materials, say round is closing by EOW
Step 3: If the VC passes, then say you decided you're profitable and aren't raising
Repeat
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Today is a big day. We are emerging from stealth with @AnonPlatform.
Our mission is to be the commercial infrastructure powering the automated internet.
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I’m thrilled to announce I’m joining @hiframework as Ops Partner / Head of Platform, where I’ll be investing in and supporting the best founders in web3.
Thanks to @pythianism, @im_manderson, @roylearner, and the rest of the team for this opportunity.
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A lot written about tokenomics in web3 gaming.
Very little written about user acquisition in web3 gaming.
UA is probably equally important long-term and more existential in the early days. Who else is thinking about this I can connect with?
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2/ Games can enable NFT buying in-app purchases:
This is hugely important clarification. Developers can leverage IAP (30% Apple fee) to sell NFTs or offer NFT services (minting, listing, transferring).
This paves the way for NFTs as the gateway into crypto for mobile players.
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Payments is the most obvious use case in crypto that no one talks about. Just domestically -- ACH/wires are slow, RTP is a dumpster fire, Visa is a greedy gatekeeper, all the P2P apps are walled gardens. International is worse.
ETH was too slow and expensive. But with L2s...
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We've received 5,574 job applications in two weeks.
We've interviewed 4 people.
Why? We're looking for a very specific kind of engineer. The kind who makes everyone else uncomfortable.
Know someone? DMs are open 🤝
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Breaking the silence!
Earlier this year, I co-founded a new company -- Anon[.]com.
(Don't bother searching, we're in stealth 🤫)
I'll share more soon, but for now we're growing quickly and looking for excellent "Founding Engineer" / "Engineer" candidates.
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This @usv post about @AnonPlatform has some history.
I grew up lightyears from Silicon Valley (in remote West Virginia). As a teenager, I was obsessed with technology. Some of my earliest readings about the space were on @fredwilson and @usv's blogs.
Their stories of backing companies like @X @stripe @coinbase inspired me to want to build generation-defining companies.
Now, 10+ years later, @nickgrossman and the USV team are posting about a company I'm building.
I'm humbled, grateful, and proud. And more ready than ever to build a generation-defining company at Anon.
More on our investment in @anonplatform - infrastructure for modern "user agents" representing people on the internet:
usv.com/writing/2024/04/our-…
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4/ Games can't unlock features with NFTs/crypto assets:
Premium content or functionality in-app must be unlocked with an in-app purchase. Presumably this could be an NFT purchase, but not an NFT already owned by a player or brought in from another ecosystem.
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10/ Thanks for reading.
The official release is here: developer.apple.com/app-stor….
Please share thoughts, insights, or the ways in which I got this whole thing wrong. 🚀.
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7/ So what are the takeaways?
* Apple is demonstrating a desire to work with crypto apps (especially games) but on its terms.
* Apple wants $$$. By enabling IAP NFT buys, banning external links, and limiting fungible crypto purchases to licensed exchanges, it limits competition.
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9/ Who are the winners?
* Crypto exchanges have more clarity for operating on the app store.
* Web3 games can use NFT onboarding as a frictionless way to onboard users using IAP.
* Infra providers building solutions for white label, in-game ecosystems for NFTs/tokens.
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8/ So who are the losers?
* Anyone trying to compete with apple for either primary or secondary NFT purchases. This includes exchanges (OpenSea, Magic Eden), payment ramps (Moonpay), or others trying to get in the payment flow.
* Mobile DeFi given licensed exchange ruling.
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1/ We need to evaluate DeFi adoption through a new lens.
A new vocabulary for the space, a retro on the past, and a plan for domination in the future: [🧵👇]
The 3 types of DeFi adoptooors:
(A) Retail users (🧑🤝🧑)
(B) "Degen" users (🐳)
(C) Institutional users (🏦)
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3/ Games can't use other purchase methods or redirect users to other sides:
Apple wants to keep $$$ in the ecosystem. You can't use other payment solutions or "include buttons, external links or other CTAs...". This makes it hard for other providers to plug in and capitalize.
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Launching something exciting tomorrow at @hiFramework. Stay tuned.
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Why would I want a recruiter that worked at Stripe? That’s easy mode.
I want a recruiter that hired cracked Engineers for a pre-product social network for pets.
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Couldn't be more excited to be part of this next chapter at @hiFramework.
Capital is cheap. Expertise is expensive. We have a lot of both at Framework now.
Back to helping founders build ⚡️🚀
1/ Framework Ventures has raised $400 million for our third crypto fund, dubbed “FVIII”, bringing our total AUM over $1.4 billion.
Approximately half, or $200 million, is earmarked for the rapidly growing blockchain gaming space.
@business:
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
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Could not be more pumped that @menemazarakis is joining us @AnonPlatform!
It's rare when you get to work with someone from that shortlist of dream people to build a vision alongside.
Mene was one of our very first investors and has been with us from the beginning. ☝🏼
Mene brings superpowers in product thinking and growth that will enable Anon to scale and continue building obsessively for our users. Excited!
1/ Thrilled to share that I'm joining the founding team @AnonPlatform focusing on Product & Growth! 🛜
I couldn't be more excited to be joining @dgmason and the rest of the Anon team in unleashing human potential with AI agents and shaping the Automated Internet.
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5/ Games can store virtual currencies:
Games can offer wallets to store crypto assets. It doesn't specify, but presumably but custodial and non-custodial wallets are fine.
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Crypto is exciting right now because theses aren't clear for the next few years.
Last 3 yrs = DeFi, Alt-L1s, PFPs, and DAOs (kind of).
Next 3 years = ???
If you're not day-to-day, it looks rudderless. If you are, you see the experimentation and its fucking exciting.
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6/ Licensed exchanges can facilitate crypto transmissions:
This is more a clarification, as Coinbase and others obviously offer iOS apps already, but approved exchanges (and ONLY approved exchanges) can facilitate crypto transfers. NFTs in this case are not considered crypto.
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Happy 1st birthday to @AnonPlatform 🎂
1 year ago we were 3 people, no money, and figuring out what to build.
Today we are 8 talented builders backed by top investors with a killer product that generates $ xxx,xxx ARR.
🥂 To another year of making the internet interoperable.
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Anon is in San Francisco. 🌉
We moved the whole team from LA to be closer to the nexus of talent and customers.
It was an insanely good move. The momentum here is palpable and being IRL every day 10x's productivity and focus.
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Early-stage investors focus on the wrong things.
90% of questions at pre-seed/seed are about the product, the gtm, the pricing model.
These are learned iteratively with new data. In fact, strong opinions here can be indicative of hubris, inflexibility, and likelihood to fail.
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Quick 🧵:
1/ Excited to announce more about the platform function we are building at @hiFramework.
Since inception, Framework has prided itself on being “close to the metal” and providing builder-level support alongside our founders.
1/ Today, we're excited to announce the launch of the Framework Tent, a token-gated knowledge base for @hiframework's Platform.
Over the next few hours, over 100 NFTs will be minted and provided to Founders in the Framework Ventures Portfolio.
blog.framework.ventures/fram…
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The Tel Aviv crypto scene is absolute 🔥. Successful happy hour hosted by @hiFramework x Utila x @dunevc. Thanks to all the founders and investors that came out for beer, pizza, and web3. (cc @BentziRb @_eiderman @davidjrbrill)
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Many crypto roles are technical but seeing some killer openings for senior BD/partnerships and Ops roles at @hiFramework portfolio companies. Reach out if interested and will share more later.
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From 5-person TG chat ➡️
Early investment DAO ➡️
Home of ~250 of web3's best builders ➡️
Crypto history with Punk #9286
It's been 10 months since @waamidao started. Cannot wait to see what it becomes.
(cc @CryptoPunksNFT @larvalabsNFT @yugalabs)
Punk 9286 bought for 78.99 ETH ($132,105.25 USD) by 0xd2fcbf from 0xe9f773. cryptopunks.app/cryptopunks/… #cryptopunks #ethereum
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Out of stealth! @buildexante co-led @AnonPlatform's pre-seed round before anyone else understood what we were building.
@zweinberg has become an incredible friend and integral part of our story.
Also -- just to brag on her for a second -- a solo female GP raising a $33mm Fund I 👀 in this climate is remarkable and speaks volumes about Zoe and her view on the world.
Proud to emerge from stealth today to announce the launch of ex/ante (@buildexante), the first-ever venture fund dedicated to agentic tech: technology that advances individuals’ agency and control—over their privacy, data, assets, and information.
forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/…
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Didn’t mean to offend.
NYC is an all-time hustle city. But you gotta ask who is paying for those $5k studios in the West Village 😉.
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Today, we are open-sourcing valuable comp data (salary, equity, tokens) from the Framework Tent to help founders and job seekers navigate the space.
Expect more initiatives like this as @hiFramework continues to push for a more transparent, collaborative community in crypto.
1/ Today, web2 has tools to benchmark comp data like Glassdoor. In web3, founders and employees mostly are flying blind.
To help the community navigate, we are open-sourcing data from across our portfolio to create a comprehensive guide to comp in web3.
bit.ly/3KCUvDh
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We have some big announcements at @AnonPlatform in the coming weeks, but first we need to grow the company.
We are powering the AI internet with our auth platform and looking for the most elite engineers in SF to help us out.
4 key roles we are actively hiring for:
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What a week.
Thanks to everyone who supported our launch at @AnonPlatform. Truly was amazing.
And if you reached out for beta access, we'll be in touch. We got 100s of inbounds and are excited to get all of you onboarded to build the future of AI together 🫡.
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1st time founder: It's an app that 100% changes consumer's lives. 💵
2nd time founder: It's software that makes SMBs 30% more productive. 💰
3rd time founder: It's an API that talks to APIs. +10% efficiency. 🤑
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At the @MultiOn_AI @OpenAI Hackathon at @agihouse_org today.
DM me or comment here if you want to use @AnonPlatform in your project 🙌.
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10/ Conclusion
Building a crypto startup is hard b/c the rules are still being figured out. Everything ☝️ represents best-practices for top crypto startups today.
Hopefully this was helpful. If you are building a top startup or have further questions, my DMs are open! 📩
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Shipping, shipping, shipping at @AnonPlatform.
🔌New integrations (including X/Twitter!)
⚡️ An automated actions library for developers
🆔 Streamlined auth options for onboarding
Check out docs[.]anon[.]com for the latest and start building today!
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At @AnonPlatform we work out of a great office in Hayes Valley alongside a few other elite startups.
We're looking for 1 new company (4-10 seats) to come join us. DM me if interested!
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Remember when Calendly was controversial on Twitter? Worst take of all time. It's so convenient for both parties.
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I want @AnonPlatform to be a startup founder factory.
We mostly hire former founders/CTOs. People that index highly on talent, agency, and ownership.
I want to build a huge company. But also want to give our team the tools/network to do it on their own post-Anon.
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1/ A theory on why crypto is "Money3" but AI is "Web3" inspired by my all-time favorite game series -- Civilization.
A thread 🧵:
In a (grossly oversimplified) way, there are 2 distinct "tech trees" related to information and money:
📈Expansion tech
⚖️Refinement tech
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Leaving the office at 12:30 am.
The whole engineering team is still there cranking to deliver for customers.
Incumbents went home 7+ hours ago.
This is why startups win.
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Closed an investment with a founder I've been talking to since February.
The perseverance in fundraising during the past 8 weeks only cemented our conviction.
No better feeling than funding tenacious, A+ teams to build in the bear market. ⚒️.
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Not today.
The world expects us to fall apart. To point fingers. To make jokes about those affected.
That's all they see. Twitter and the news. The fraud and speculation. Not the builders grinding each day.
Let's give them a show of solidarity and strength this time.
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Companies spending time adding themselves to lists online are likely not the ones breaking out.
Talk to investors and founders on the ground who are spending all day with these companies.
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No better way to celebrate American ingenuity than having your @MultiOn_AI + @AnonPlatform Instacart agent order some supplies:
🔴 9x hotdogs
🔵 9x hamburgers
⚪️ 18x beers
🇺🇸 Happy 4th America!
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Engineers had carte blanche to build whatever they wanted in '21/'22 given the state of crypto VC.
Removing PMs and biz people, this resulted in incredible infrastructure...but also lots of misguided stuff nobody wanted.
Interested to see how this plays out moving forward.
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Thanks @insightpartners for calling out @AnonPlatform on the AI Market Map.
Excited to be a small part of an ecosystem we expect to be massive in the future.
(h/t @willkenney @CrissyBehrens)
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Excited to share the news.
@immunefi is building the future of web3 security with @hiFramework leading their latest round.
If you're building in DeFi or web3 infra and not using @immunefi, you're doing a disservice to all your customers and partners.
coindesk.com/business/2022/0…
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Investors...you have $10 to build your perfect founder:
* $1 = attends BTC Miami
* $2 = attends Miami Tech Week
* $7 = raising a $15mm pre-seed round
* $100 = has shipped an MVP
* $450 = product-market fit
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Anon striving to be the most helpful + hardest-working team in AI 🦾
Saturday team hiking + breaks to solve customer issues and get strangers' cars running.
cc @AnonPlatform
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Excited to announce that after 48 minutes of blood, sweat, and tears spent building fintechtonight.com, we've been acquired by @fintechtoday_ for an undisclosed sum of cash and Elephante reservations. Thanks to my partners @aaronlarue and @mdharrisnyc for this journey 🙏.
Excited to announce that myself, @mdharrisnyc and @dgmason are starting something new. Couldn’t ask for better partners to launch FintechTonight.com, more to come...
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So what matters? IMO it's the founder psyche.
What motivates them? What kind of relationships do they have? When do they wake up? How do they react to hardship? To conflict? How much do they work? Do they give up?
The stuff that matters you rarely get asked.
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2/ Who invested in Anon?
We raised $6.5mm from exceptional investors.
@usv + @AbstractVC led our seed round, with pre-seed leads @ImpatientVC + @zweinberg and @gokulr @scottbelsky @rrhoover @jordihays @altcap @BlockTower @amasad @pirroh @spice_cap @menemazarakis + @Altimor.
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Mark your 🗓️. Big announcement from @AnonPlatform in 2 weeks 👀.
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Looking forward to speaking at #Mainnet2022 Sept 21-23 alongside 250+ industry-leading people and 200+ projects. Grab your pass today and save your spot for 3 days of future-focused collaboration, networking, and programming. mainnet.events
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3/ What is Anon?
Anon is a toolkit for developers to programmatically interact with services that don't have APIs.
What does this mean:
We handle the authentication and access management so AI agents can "plug into" the most popular sites on the web 🔌🌐
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Very excited to be judging the AI Agent Hackathon next week, hosted by our friends at @craft_ventures.
Ping me if you're going to be around and want to build on @AnonPlatform!
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AI that can send and receive messages from your IG, WhatsApp, and FB Messenger. Powered by @AnonPlatform 👀
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What are the resources (job boards, newsletters, TG groups, etc.) for candidates looking for jobs in web3?
Updating our recommendation list at @hiFramework
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Controversial opinion: Somewhat early (non-founder) employees at startups that blow up (#17 at Uber! #50 at Facebook!) get unmerited preference in future hiring decisions for other startups.
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The world of AI agents is fast-moving and mostly consumed via firehose + experience for the people on this app.
But if someone new wanted an overview/retrospective of the space, what would be the best resource to send them?
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Hard to fade Ethereum after last night.
Anyone who's ever worked at a startup knows coordinating a product release with 4 full-time devs can be tricky.
A global, multi-year coordination effort of loosely affiliated parties with only semi-aligned incentives? Wild.
fuck the haters
the most sophisticated coordination of individuals our species has ever achieved
the future is bright for this entire space
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1/ 🚨 Open roles alert 🚨 @AnonPlatform is in hyper-growth mode & we're hiring for multiple critical roles ahead of a big announcement next week! 🤯
Want to join an S-tier eng team building infrastructure to make the internet usable for AI agents? 🤖🌐
Check out our open roles 👇
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Way late to the game but wanted to make a HUGE shoutout to my friend @NikMilanovic. One of the hardest workers I know, a great person, and equally great steward for brining fintech to the world 👑.
techcrunch.com/2022/01/27/10…
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Few understand this, but the average American family spent about $120/week on food in 2014. If, instead of food for the year, all families had spent this money on BTC, the average American family would have >$700k in BTC.
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Received an IG DM from me in the past month?….it was from my AI 🤖.
So excited to roll this out into public beta.
DMs are open for anyone looking to build messaging interoperability into their AI product.
🚀Integrate your Personal Al into your
Instagram messages now! Made possible by @AnonPlatform and @dgmason, your Al trained on your knowledge and tone can manage your messages and reply instantly and accurately.
🔗Message us to receive early access
#ai #aiforinstagram
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Whoever coined the term "web3" is responsible for 0.5% of the market cap of crypto, but 90% of the Ex-FAANG PMs founding companies in the space.
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Founders dinner during NFT LA hosted by @hiFramework and @chapterone. We have 1 seat left 👀
Who's in town and wants to join @menemazarakis, myself, and the best founders in the biz?
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Excited to be part of the stack building the new "AI Brain" 🤖🧠 at @AnonPlatform.
Thanks @venturetwins and @a16z !
🚨 New @a16z thesis: building the "AI brain"
We all exist in our own context.
Is it possible to take your jumble of thoughts, history, and memories and distill it into something tangible?
How I exported my brain to AI + what I'm seeing from startups 👇
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9/ How much do you pay executives?
Non-founder execs ("Head of..." or "CXO") salaries from $120-160k early and $225k-$300k+ at later stages. Expect 2-4% of equity early and 0.5%-2% of equity at later stages.
Engineering and BD/Sales are the most expensive hires at all stages.
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Any friends in LA want to split an office?
Anon.com is growing quickly and found a crazy space (and crazy deal) 🤩 in Venice that’s just outside our budget.
DM me for details!
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Exactly the future @AnonPlatform is unlocking for agents.
We see this happening now at YC. The next two years will happen very fast.
Eric Schmidt is right about this
exponentialview.co/p/eric-sc…
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>5% *daily* end-user growth / >75% weekly growth on
@AnonPlatform for the past 3 weeks.
And we haven't even launched full self-service yet 👀
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🆔 I founded an identity / security company.
🔐 I'm currently building an auth company.
😱 But my Coinbase account *almost* got phished.
This is the (2nd) most legit fraud attack I've ever experienced personally. Wild story below. 🧵 👇
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Biggest takeaway from NFT NYC and crypto broadly -- It's time to think bigger.
In 2017, we lacked tech but not ambition: Sovereign identity, cross-border remittance, fast & interoperable payment rails, etc.
PFPs are ok but we have battle-tested tech and A+ founders now. LFG 🚀
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Choose [🪨hard things] > [🪩 fun things].
As a founder, you make this choice every single day.
There are unlimited founder-focused dinners, conferences, speaking opportunities, and podcasts.🪩
Saying no is hard, but shipping product, selling, and hiring is how you win. 🪨
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