Dave Pack

@bznotes It’s the worst. Shocked at how much hype it gets. Probably the worst product we use. Have to because their insurance is so cheap since it’s subsidized by VCs

Didn't expect Rippling to have such atrocious UI and processes. Every third thing we want to do requires emailing customer service. Ugh.

Today we're announcing a new round of funding that values @eightsleep at $1.5 billion, led by @tether Investments. Ten years ago I started Eight Sleep with one conviction: the night is the most underutilized lever in human health. Almost nobody was engineering their sleep. Last year, we hit free cash flow positivity, launched 3 new products, expanded to 34 countries, and published peer-reviewed studies showing the Pod reduces menopausal hot flashes by 56% and restores the body's natural circadian temperature rhythm during sleep, lowering core body temperature and improving cardiovascular recovery. A product you sleep on is producing clinical outcomes that rival pharmaceutical interventions. We're now building a predictive AI agent trained on 1B+ hours of sleep data. It anticipates your night before it happens. And we're advancing FDA filings for sleep apnea detection. Passive. Every night. No wires, no clinic visits. The night is just the beginning.

@MaxZab_ @shaig I second this.

@shaig My friends say the taco stand outside the Venice Whole Foods is one of the best around.

@fendien They won’t be able to! Heavy r&d into an emerging technology is impossible in LBOs.

"An asset class that grew too fast ($2 trillion to $3 trillion in five years), with too little transparency, lent against assumptions that turned out to be cyclical not structural, and is now discovering that "sticky" revenue may not be as sticky as everyone thought. The key unknown: how many of those 1,900+ PE-owned software companies can adapt to an AI-first world while servicing their debt loads. And with about one-fifth needing to refinance by 2028, according to UBS, the clock is ticking."

@JasonrShuman Feel like founders are going to start opting out. It’s already a balance about what to share on various levels of calls and diligence. This will change even more if we now be recorded.

Is a more specialized version of Granola for VCs the future? Pulls pitch meetings from your calendar Trained on millions of hours of top founder communications, backgrounds, business books, case studies and expert call transcripts Analyzes the founders background, previous company performance, online writing, github, etc. Does deep research on their deck ahead of the meetings to come up with key question areas Grades responses in real-time against elite founder responses and communication styles

@ColinGardiner Accelerators are left over from a time when VC was not main stream, and information on how to build a pitch deck, price a round, and get in front of downstream investors wasn’t widely available. They are now scams and negative signal with the exception of YC, NEO, and Pear.

In my experience, excluding YC and a few others, most of the time accelerators are filling the gap to fund companies that can't raise VC at pre-seed. Maybe not intentional but accelerators are highly dilutive funding sold as support/network.

@raastapopoulos disgusting and he thinks all the engagement on LinkedIn is awesome for his business. It'll hurt his recuiting, investment prospects, and when building in healthcare none of his customers are on LinkedIn.

this is the CEO responding. remember - these are lifelong losers who think cosplaying as steve jobs will make people respect them they see the world through the lens of startup grind culture because they have no firsthand experience of how normal people function

@PeterJ_Walker Is this arr or annualized usage?

Fresh data from Silicon Valley Bank on ARR at time of fundraise. Chart is mine but follows their original work which you should read. Google SVB state of markets H1 2026. Seed - Median: $0.22M - 75th pct: $0.77M - 90th pct: $3.6M Massively wide ranges across early stage

@ajhodls Why can’t they just do a down round pay to play if they still have a legitimate business?

a lot of founders who raised at $1B in 2021 now worth ~$0 on paper, won't clear liquidity preferences and stuck w/ dead-end businesses, anemic growth prospects, talent all left for greener AI pastures. very very hard situation to navigate. fortune likely favors the bold.

@Austen Funny you think rent is 2,500 a month anywhere you want to live in California…

I wonder how many founders in California know that if you are making $250k/yr and move to Texas or Florida you pay $2500/mo less in taxes. Switching state of residence will save enough to cover rent.

@marshal What area of North Carolina and why did you choose it?

Inside our freshly completed dream home. After I sold my business, I poured all my time into this home. It was THE passion project.

@endowment_eddie I hate when seed funds advertise how 95% of their investments go on to raise a series A. Oh so you are a complete consensus investor who takes no risk? Impressive!

I’ve said it before — the worst LPs and the worst GPs bond over the same thing. Low loss ratio.

@yrechtman I love that you can bet on elections and then use your own money and influence to sway the results. Nothing better. I despise how much positive press these platforms are getting because they are making their investors a lot of money.

There are so many powerful/cool/interesting theoretical use cases for prediction markets but for as long as they’re allowed to do sports betting, they will just be more cognitive and financial brain damage for Americans.

@Lukealexxander Wouldn’t overthink their strategy behind it if it’s leading to more growth. This is a good thing.

Why do so many people ask to white label Kendo AI Is there something about it not having your logo that makes you incapable of using it

@andruyeung @orslimy @SonderStays @Marriott @SonderStay On you for booking through an OTA (they take 30% cut from hotels) and then expecting good customer service. Always book direct and you can talk to an actual human at the front desk.

@orslimy @SonderStays @Marriott @SonderStay I did it through Expedia. Couldn’t even cancel my stay

I've been on the phone with customer service for 2+ hours on my mom's birthday, trying to change my parents' reservation because @SonderStays & @Marriott cancelled their stay and gave them <20 hours to vacate the property. 1. @Marriott @SonderStay – I thought you were better than this. 2. I can't believe there is no AI tool in 2025 that can do this well. Would happily pay $1,000/month for a product that flawlessly deals with customer service (banks, airlines, hotels)

@tywoosley23 I saw crazy things on my oura ring that made me think i had sleep apnea but that didn’t make sense since I wasn’t old or obese. Got a sleep study done and I’m narcoleptic. Go to a sleep doctor.

I’ll Venmo someone $1000 if they can fix my sleep permanently. I havent slept through a night in 10 years. Tried every sleep supplement under the sun , several peptides. Dropped 50 lbs. I still wake up 8-10x a night

@jaredrosnerd What about booking.com…

Unicorns, decacorns, centaurs... but what do you call a company with over $10Bn in annual revenue? A Titan. Only 15 software companies have ever reached this scale. I got curious: Who are they and how long did it take? 👇

@christophersaum I hated when vcs used to ask for demos in the first meeting. They get caught up in the demo versus the larger vision and 30 minutes is barely enough time as it is. We started saying no when they asked to pull up a demo.

5 founder meetings today. Asked for demos in 2 of them. Both didn't work. Not a dealbreaker, but always be ready to demo. Having it ready is such an easy way to show you're prepared and technical execution matters. Small details, big impressions.

@PSchwarzenegger Big fan and an investor. Happy to get you a discount code lol

Does anyone have an 8 sleep? I’m desperate to find something that will keep me cold at night

@micsolana Interned for Rick in high school. Incredible guy, incredible aura. Would be incredible for California.

rick caruso needs to run for governor of california, and the technology industry needs to support him