Rusty Ralston

SWELL FUND II is official! Fortunate to buck the trend and deliver DPI and a top decile fund in this era! Grateful to work with the best partner around @jaypatil , our amazing LPs, and the extraordinary founders of portfolio cos including Loft Orbital, Crisp, and ScienceIO! 🙏 As they say, just getting started… linkedin.com/posts/rustyr_h…

We built a hiring evaluation platform at Swell VC called Archetype Here’s what it does: ∙ Scores revenue candidates against a proprietary framework developed over 10,000+ hours of founder and operator interviews across a decade of seed investing and recruiting ∙Five dedicated engines for Sales, CS, Marketing, BD, and Ops, each weighted differently because what predicts a great Sales Dir doesn’t predict a great Marketing leader ∙Multi-round evaluation that rescores every transcript together as cumulative evidence ∙Generates custom interview scripts targeting gaps from prior rounds ∙Side-by-side candidate comparisons ∙Shareable scorecards, no login needed ∙Runs as a web app, API, and MCP server It’s also the first talent evaluation MCP server on the planet, which means any AI agent that touches hiring can call it natively We’ve spent a decade of placing revenue hires across our portfolio, learning what works and what doesn’t. Now it’s a product, and we’re opening it up to everyone for a limited window. Let us know what you think archetype.swell.vc

@NYCMayor “The Mamdani Complex”: A politician so captured by Islamist networks that he watches an oppressed people celebrate their freedom and calls it a tragedy

Today’s military strikes on Iran — carried out by the United States and Israel — mark a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression. Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war.  Americans do not want this. They do not want another war in pursuit of regime change. They want relief from the affordability crisis. They want peace. I am focused on making sure that every New Yorker is safe. I have been in contact with our Police Commissioner and emergency management officials. We are taking proactive steps, including increasing coordination across agencies and enhancing patrols of sensitive locations out of an abundance of caution. Additionally, I want to speak directly to Iranian New Yorkers: you are part of the fabric of this city — you are our neighbors, small business owners, students, artists, workers, and community leaders. You will be safe here.

Addiction to short-form videos reduces brain activity in the frontal lobe weakening the ability to focus.

There’s a lot of noise in VC and only a few legends. Excited to see Bill Gurley with Malcolm Gladwell in NYC.

Let’s go Redhawks! Incredible article on my alma mater, the ORIGINAL Miami University, an elite coach, and group of athletes hungry for the big dance!

This is a great video that also emphasizes what’s important now Founders who launch AI companies must be domain experts in order to evaluate if the AI is even solving the problem Even broader speaking: every non-eng founder and employee must be elite at ALL of the following 1/AI tools 2/Domain & Industry 3/Human skills (agency, judgement, creativity, drive, curiosity, relationships, negotiations, ethics, etc) Very hard to be elite at all of these at once, but if so it’s a superpower

To all of our friends around the world, Under the yoke of the Islamic Republic, Iran is identified in your minds with terrorism, extremism, and poverty. The real Iran is a different Iran. A beautiful, peace-loving, and flourishing Iran. It is the Iran that existed before the Islamic Republic, and it is the Iran that will rise again from its ashes the day the Islamic Republic falls. So let me be clear about how a free Iran will act toward its neighbors and the world, after the fall of this regime. In security and foreign policy, Iran’s nuclear military program will end. Support for terrorist groups will cease immediately. A free Iran will work with regional and global partners to confront terrorism, organized crime, drug trafficking, and extremist Islamism. Iran will act as a friend and a stabilizing force in the region. And it will be a responsible partner in global security. In diplomacy, relations with the United States will be normalized and our friendship with America and her people will be restored. The State of Israel will be recognized immediately. We will pursue the expansion of the Abraham Accords into the Cyrus accords bringing together a free Iran, Israel, and the Arab world. A new chapter will begin, grounded in mutual recognition, sovereignty, and national interest. In energy, Iran holds some of the largest oil and gas reserves in the world. A free Iran will become a reliable energy supplier to the free world. Policy-making will be transparent. Iran’s actions will be responsible. Prices will be predictable. In transparency and governance, Iran will adopt and enforce international standards. Money laundering will be confronted. Organized corruption will be dismantled. Public institutions will answer to the people. In the economy, Iran is one of the world’s last great untapped markets. Our population is educated, modern, with a diaspora that connects it to the four corners of the world. A democratic Iran will open its economy to trade, investment, and innovation. And Iran will seek to invest in the world. Opportunity will replace isolation. This is not an abstract vision. It is a practical one. Grounded in national interest, stability, and cooperation. To achieve this, now is the time to stand with the Iranian people. The fall of the Islamic Republic and the establishment of a secular, democratic government in Iran will not only restore dignity to my people, it will benefit the region and the world. A free Iran will be a force for peace. For prosperity. And for partnership.

One of the more memorable introductory paragraphs I’ve read recently, by @simonmontefiore Significant revolutions in world history all have had telltale signs, and we can see them in Iran thefp.com/p/will-the-reg…

Wow this is pretty amazing No matter the politics, glad to see the right thing being done. Eat real food, mostly protein and vegetables, not a lot of carbs, no processed food

Great post on the fragility of American technology ecosystems Companies have to actively show the world how they are rebuilding the systems that make society work better, even when what they build is in enterprise, industrial, space or defense A strong example is Anduril, using cultural visibility like its Ohio State “Defend the Shoe” sponsorship to make a serious national mission feel real to people beyond its customers People are tired of hearing how technology replaces jobs. We need to show how technology is solving the problems that actually matter in the world

The UAE banned CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood in 2014. If they can cut out the radicals in a Muslim country, why can’t America do the same? Mamdani normalizing radical Islamism and anti-Americanism isn’t politics as usual, it’s a cancerous ideology sneaking in through the doors of mutual interest

Jalen Brunson said it simply tonight “we find a way to win” Winners do not need perfect conditions. They carry a quiet certainty that no matter what breaks, they will find a way

@ZohranKMamdani Zohran, call it out. Radical islamists are murdering people left and right. When leaders refuse to name the ideology doing the killing, they enable it.

The attack at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney today was a vile act of antisemitic terror. I mourn those who were murdered and will be keeping their families, the Jewish community, and the Chabad movement in my prayers. May the memories of all those killed be a blessing. While we are still waiting for all the facts to emerge, what we already know is devastating. At least 11 dead, including Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who held deep ties to Crown Heights. At least 29 injured. Another Jewish community plunged into mourning and loss, a holiday of light so painfully reduced to a day of darkness. This attack is merely the latest, most horrifying iteration in a growing pattern of violence targeted at Jewish people across the world. Too many no longer feel safe to be themselves, to express their faith publicly, to worship in their synagogues without armed security stationed outside. What happened at Bondi is what many Jewish people fear will happen in their communities too. On Bondi Beach today, as men with long guns targeted innocents, another man ran towards the gunfire and disarmed a shooter. Tonight, as Jewish New Yorkers light menorahs and usher in a first night of Hanukkah clouded by grief, let us look to his example and confront hatred with the urgency and action it demands. When I am Mayor, I will work every day to keep Jewish New Yorkers safe—on our streets, our subways, at shul, in every moment of every day. Let this be a purpose shared by every New Yorker, and let us banish this horrific violence to the past.

I’m here for all the ‘what dad taught me’ takes. Nothing better.

Excited to back Irongrid, congrats to Fern and Gabriele on raising $4.1M to rebuild insurance for robotics and hardware getirongrid.com Swell invests and supports on day one, that’s when team-building and culture decisions start compounding

To all who served 🇺🇸 thank you. We remember what you bravely fought for and carry those values forward every day. Your service will never be in vain. Especially thinking of both of my grandfathers who served in World War II. This is the original bronze star order for my grandfather. Happy Veterans Day.

trillions of dollars spent in data centers, only to automate and scale censorship america has a huge lead in llms, but if we’re teaching them to filter truth instead of find it, what kind of intelligence are we building?