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Steph Smith

@stephsmithio

Apr 19, 2021 • 7 tweets • 6 min read • Read on X

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Success is never as straightforward as it seems.

A thread on the early days of founders that look successful today, but have felt just as lost as the rest of us.

🧵...

@edawerd

Gusto's CTO, @edawerd on his project mygrub.net:

"2 weeks after launch, and no real traffic. What should I do?

...I applied to YCombinator with this, but was rejected. Maybe for good reason =("

Years later, he founded Gusto, worth $3.8B.

news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22959

@brian_armstrong

Coinbase CEO, @brian_armstrong iterated (and failed) his way through...

- BuyersVote.com
- Ribbot.com
- Blockchain.com

"Took me more than 2 years to get 200 paying customers for my Web App"

He's now is worth $20B+.

news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=b…

@reinpk

Segment's CEO @reinpk could also be found around Show HN, incl. launches of:

- A tool measuring classroom confusion
- The Clip
- TheReelBox
- Markdown + LaTeX math in the browser

And then... Analytics Academy (AKA Segment), acquired by Twilio for $3.2B.

news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=p…

@sytses

Early on, GitLab CEO @sytses shared their product on HN.

Like the infamous Dropbox launch, he was met with:

"Not able to compete with Github or BitBucket"
"It's ridiculous to charge so much"
"Or you could just use BitBucket"

GitLab is now worth $Bs.

news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4428278

@bchesky

Airbnb was no different. It took time to convince ppl of the vision.

In fact, @bchesky's first post on HN was:

"Ask YC: Anyone still need housing for YC interviews this weekend?"

Guess how many comments? Zero.

We all know how Airbnb is doing today. 😉

news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=b…

If you're curious, here's how I found these:

1. Started with top YC startups

2. Hunted down their HN launches (first instance of the URL)

3. Browsed the founder's posting history

Their story was almost always more non-linear than you'd expect.

Who else has a similar story?

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More from @stephsmithio

Steph Smith

@stephsmithio

Jan 9

3 years ago, I wrote a list of generation-defining stats (like the fertility decline, tuition inflation, esports growth) that reached millions.📈

Now, I'm back with more!

From space debris to drone delivery to extreme weather… over a dozen digits that may define the decade ⬇️

💡 Since last thread (flagging the scale of AI models nearly a year before ChatGPT!), so much has changed.

For one, technology is moving faster than ever. ChatGPT’s rise to 100m users was just 2 months.

Phones? 22 years!

But as you’ll see in this thread, it’s not just AI…

https://x.com/stephsmithio/status/1842059542118727901

💡 As we head for a more technical future, technical literacy matters more than ever. But as a society, we’re playing catch-up.

Less than 1% of the world knows how to code! And in the halls of Congress, less than 10 members have an engineering degree.

https://x.com/stephsmithio/status/1842059542118727901

Read 20 tweets

Steph Smith

@stephsmithio

Mar 31, 2023

You've probably heard of Lil Miquela.

The 19 year-old has millions of followers. She's partnered with Samsung and Prada – even had fan fiction written about her!

But she's also not *real*.

I got to chat with her creators about her origin story.

Absolutely mind-bending. 👇

@whatdotcd

In an era where it's easier than ever to create an influencer, how to you get people to care?

Narrative.

Sounds easy, but is unthinkably hard.

@whatdotcd talks about inverting the media pyramid and what we can learn from the Kardashian narrative universe dating back decades.

@whatdotcd

People build universes expecting people to show up, but @whatdotcd reminds us that characters are what pull us into these worlds.

"Pikachu is the reason you get Pokemon Go.

You don't want to just walk around your yard scanning stuff. You want to follow Pikachu somewhere." 🎯

Read 6 tweets

Steph Smith

@stephsmithio

Mar 8, 2023

God this is wholesome.

"A JAGUAR!"

The people wanted part 2. Here's part 2 AND part 3.

Does not disappoint. Somebody get Kenny a TV show!

🔗 Part 2: vm.tiktok.com/ZMY5tp7KM

🔗 Part 3: vm.tiktok.com/ZMY5tV1Ar

The people wanted part 2. Here's part 2 AND part 3.

Does not disappoint. Somebody get Kenny a TV show!

🔗 Part 2: tiktok.com/@patriotickenn…

🔗 Part 3: tiktok.com/@patriotickenn…

Read 4 tweets

Steph Smith

@stephsmithio

Mar 1, 2023

@jbrowder1

I've been following @jbrowder1's experiments for years...

Ranging from minor parking tickets all the way up to offering $1m to defend a Supreme Court case with his robot lawyer.

The latter was met with a threat of 6 months jail time.

We got the full scoop on the @a16z podcast.

We tackle whether AI belongs in the courtroom, but also:

• Corporate & legal pushback
• Where AI currently falls short
• Why the law is so complex
• Cross-border possibilities
• AI's deflationary impact

And more. Plus, is AI already writing laws?

Interesting to see pushback even in the comments.

But the reality is:

1️⃣ AI currently falls short in several ways (discussed in the pod)
2️⃣ 80% of ppl who need legal support can't afford it

It's a complex topic, but hard to imagine tech not playing a role in closing the gap.

Read 4 tweets

Steph Smith

@stephsmithio

Feb 22, 2023

@zhaosaurus

Entrepreneurship can look like an overnight success.

But it's often far from it.

For @zhaosaurus, building @SandboxVR meant a 7 year rollercoaster, including investing his life savings, a VR nuclear winter, a worldwide pandemic, and even Chapter 11.

Such an inspiring story. 🎢

People often talk about going "all in" on their startups.

But investing your own nest $500k egg when no one else will takes conviction to a whole new level.

"What sound is to silent films, is what wireless streaming is to our VR platform."

Steve discusses how technology unlocks have enabled completely new genres to be built in VR.

Plus, their new partnership with Netflix to bring Squid Game to life.

Will you try it?

Read 5 tweets

Steph Smith

@stephsmithio

Feb 16, 2023

One of the best decisions I've ever made was learning to code.

It took me 300 hours. 300 hours to change my life!

With new tools like Copilot and Ghostwriter, how quickly do you think ppl can learn today?

@amasad

I had the privilege of chatting with @amasad about this question and much more.

How might AI change the developer landscape?
Is it still worth learning to code?
Will the 1000x engineer exist?

Would recommend for anyone even remotely curious about code:

Such an "aha! moment" about how to make coding fun.

If AI can abstract the repetitive drudgery of development, could it reshape the ratio of upkeep ↔️ enjoyment?

Could it fundamentally change the relationship current and future developers have with code?