Tom Ortega

LAST CALL FOR A16Z SPEEDRUN 2026: you've got two options in life: 1/ build for yourself 2/ build for someone else (as a wise account once said). Those of you who have been following our work at a16z speedrun have been tracking us bc building for yourself, and betting on yourself, is the highest calling. It's the most fun, you learn the most, and there's a chance to build something great. this is why you should: - quit whatever it is you're doing - build the startup you've wanted to build - work with me and the a16z team 1:1 - And yes, I'll invest up to $1M via a16z speedrun (and the earlier your startup, the better. apply here: speedrun006.a16z.com/x) In fact we are entering the final 72 hours before the deadline Sunday Sep 28 2025, 11:59PM PST. the details: - easy/quick to apply - we wire immediately - up to $1M of investment - hosted at a16z HQ in SF SOMA - 12 week program, with an IRL kickoff - private dinners/Q&A with Marc/Ben of a16z - live events with the founders of Carta, Zynga, DoorDash, Behance, Airtable, Twilio, Figma, and more there's a lot more to the program that's on our website, and you can check out the FAQ for more. Some common questions that come up: - do you accept global founders? YES - do you accept solo founders? YES - do you need to be technical? NO - do I need a referral? NO in general, anyone can apply. But the ones that are selected need to stand out. If you don't have a cofounder, that's fine -- but have you recruited a few people to be a team? Do you have some customers? Those are all useful to demonstrate that you're serious, and you've been able to start the first steps of your journey by convincing other people to join you. Are you international? Great -- we'll help you with relo and O-1 visas. Not technical? That's fine, but then tell us the prototype you vibecoded, or the engineer you recruited. How we're different Sometimes we're asked how we designed speedrun to be different. There's a lot of ways: - we're part of a16z, a broader firm with a big network, lots of vertical expertise, and a long track record - we have a deep operating team, with experts from talent, people, BD, creators, marketing, and so on. We've invested big here and help - we host speedrun from a16z's offices in SF (for SR6), where you're part of our community of founders - we're the only multistage firm with a scaled effort to invest in the unique needs of early stage startups. We have a whole team on it and we're working hard! scouts and referrals You might have noticed a number of folks announcing themselves as scouts who invest in a16z speedrun companies. If you know them, great! Please reach out. They are often founders who have gone through the program, and they can give you tips, connect you to folks at speedrun with a warm intro, etc. Sometimes they invest, sometimes they don't :) just ask. In general, referrals are useful but not required. They are useful in that we get a lot of interest for speedrun and it often takes us a few weeks to work through everyone. (sorry!) Thus, if someone flags your startup to us, we can help prioritize and get to it earlier. But again, not required. The deadline Consider this your last call! The final deadline is Sunday 11:59PM PST. Apply to speedrun, we'll get back to you shortly, we wire ASAP, and then we kick off SR6 in SF in Jan 2026. Here's your chance to bet on yourself.

Role of the day: Product Management Lead at @aescape (Brooklyn, NY) "You'll get to build something that will truly matter in the world—one of the first applications of fully autonomous robots in healthcare." pallet.xyz/list/lennys-jo…