Jon Lai

🚨 a16z @speedrun applications are now open! we invest up to $1M in new start-ups building at the frontier - but that's just the start. beyond the investment, founders join a legendary community, work with our world-class operating team, and tap into the a16z network. details below: 1) the founder community - starting a new company is an emotional rollercoaster - being able to talk to founders on a similar journey can make it a bit less lonely - Speedrun is a tight-knit community of founders who support one another closely - providing advice, design partners, talent referrals, even investing in one another’s startups - during the program, we open up the a16z offices in SF and LA to founders as coworking space. dozens of founders work alongside each other before establishing their own offices - we have an alumni community >600 strong that come together every quarter through reunions and events at @Techweek_ 2) the a16z operating team - our operating team is a team of experts at the top of their field who provide specialized programs and hands-on support to founders. a few examples of how we help Speedrun founders: a) recruiting support to assemble and scale your team - direct intros to top talent in AI research, ML, full stack engineering, etc b) people support on US immigration and comp guidance for new hires / advisors c) GTM support on finding design partners and over $5M in credits on cloud, AI, and software spend d) marketing programs to build your brand and craft the perfect launch video to showcase your product e) capital networks support to refine your pitch deck and connect you to hundreds of prospective investors at demo day - many founders consider our operating team to be an extension of their own team in impact and how closely they work together 3) the a16z network - a16z as a firm has massive breadth and scale - we invest in and have networks across AI, bio/health, consumer, crypto, enterprise, fintech, games, infrastructure, american dynamism, and more - our network provides our founders an unfair advantage - it’s a rolodex they can tap into for intros to potential customers, employees, partners, and investors - providing a sense of power and reach you dont usually build until you're much farther along we know the best founders have many choices. if you’re setting out to build a generational company - we're confident you'll get unparalleled operating support, networks, & community from a16z Speedrun - all from day 0 if this sounds exciting, check out the link below!

@climon yeah just misunderstood the first comment, appreciate the note!

@Tocelot i mean, it's your idea

Every era of apps has a defining concept for how you win: mobile was distribution, SaaS was switching costs For AI apps, it’s Minimum Viable Moat: the smallest edge that survives a 3x capability jump from your model provider Foundation model labs aren’t your traditional incumbents. They ship fast and hard. If your product lead evaporates when Opus 5 ships, you don’t have a defensible business What passes the test: - network effects that compound with additional users - workflows too embedded to rip out (vertical AI thrives here) - licensed or proprietary data (80% of the world’s data is private!) - data loops your users create as they use the product (ex. personalization) - brand trust built over many positive interactions with your product if you’re not building toward one or more of these, you’re building on a temporary model capability gap. expect it closed in 3-6 months.

@climon ah gotcha

@Tocelot 3x performance accretion landscape-wide or model providers

@Tahseen_Rahman "build toward lock-in, not features" - exactly!

This. Exactly this. "Minimum Viable Moat" is the perfect framing. Too many AI products are just thin wrappers around GPT-4. When OpenAI ships o4, those products die overnight. The winners will own: proprietary datasets, embedded workflows, or compounding user networks. Example: Superhuman isn't "Gmail + AI." It's keyboard shortcuts so muscle-memory-deep that switching feels like learning to type again. That's a moat. Build toward lock-in, not features.

@climon what's the map tool?

@Tocelot Like the simple heuristic as a map tool. The term “Moat” can easily be too ambiguous

@CRudinschi agree!

@Tocelot Data loops and embedded workflows create durable moats beyond the model leap, and teams should bake privacy and trust from day one

@oatnick hardware can def be a real moat! i was thinking more of just a software app

@Tocelot How about real-time operational context? Some moats come from being physically present, not from having better AI.

@jazzflows if you're in a vertical where the in-house workflow is pretty esoteric (custom ERP integrations, customer data stored in on-prem setups etc) the integration itself is a bit of a moat since none of the models will work off the shelf that well

@Tocelot Most “moats” here still depend on the model layer behaving. If capabilities jump enough, even embedded workflows get redefined.

@Shaikh_Sadique3 Exactly

@Tocelot What happens when that 3x jump makes your entire value prop a single API call? Feels like most "AI apps" are just betting their wrapper survives long enough to find real differentiation.

@NovaShips Yup totally

@Tocelot Data loops are the sleeper moat here. Every agent session tracked = more baseline data for anomaly detection and cost optimization. The tool gets smarter the more you use it. That's the moat nobody copies overnight.

@strawhouse @tmhammer @FlyAirNZ Are the seat belts just super long? How does it work if you’re lying down

@Tocelot @tmhammer @FlyAirNZ has had that feature since 2011. The seatbelts are configured to work. Got upgraded to one coming back from LA a few years back…slept like a baby.

United Relax Row - convert 3 economy seats into a lie-flat couch starting 2027. this is going to seriously upgrade family travel!

@RubyBrewsday The unsung sacrifices we dads make! 😂

@Tocelot And dad’s 10 rows back in a seat that doesn’t recline 😅 (that dad will be me)

@ImGordonSun Let’s go! Neverending stories ftw 🙌

Introducing Simmy: the Youtube for playable stories. Today, Simmy is #3 in its US App Store category, starting with the $1B romantic fiction vertical. We believe playable stories will redefine entertainment forever. Comment for an INVITE CODE to our public beta. (1/8) THREAD 🧵

@natetucker Great share Nate! Appreciate you telling your candid founder story

Founders step down for two reasons: they're pushed out, or the company struggles. I did it for a third reason: I just knew it was time. Built a profitable, growing business with solid PMF. Then spent months carefully planning my exit -- no rushing, no procrastinating. Full story here: @natetucker/note/c-233265448" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">substack.com/@natetucker/no…

@marcussegal @eshear PMF is something that you earn!

“How do you know when you've found Product Market Fit? PMF is like being in love — you know it when you feel it.” — @eshear I love this sentiment, but it's not a strategy. In the AI era, you can build everything. So many teams are: - 9-9-6 - chasing every idea and calling it “iteration” - Running out of runway before they learn anything It’s largely wasteful of precious engineering time From working with @markpinc at Zynga (300M MAU) to supporting founders @ycombinator, @GoogleLaunchpad, and now @speedrun I have seen what works and what doesn't and have some advice to share: The teams that find and keep PMF on a live product do not usually get lucky. They: - pick a metric they want to move before committing to a feature - prioritize ruthlessly - measure everything PMF isn’t just something you feel. It’s something you earn. More tips on how to find PMF can be found here: speedrun.substack.com/p/how-to-build…

@tmhammer Hmm true that might be tricky to make work

@Tocelot ugh the seatbelts tho

@VCinTown This is the truth

@Tocelot at the end of the day, its all about whether people give a fuck about you/your product or not ig

there's a rare skill to how the best founders gather user feedback. it's not enough to just ask customers what they want - the best founders also listen for what customers don't say delayed replies to your emails. product engagement only when you nudge. the service goes down and they don't notice for 2 days. these are all signals you're not solving the right problem on the other hand - lots of bug reports being filed for a feature you didn't think was that important. an offhand comment about a loosely related capability leads to a flurry of follow-up questions in a meeting. these signal you might be onto something real this skill matters more than ever today and is a true test of entrepreneurial judgement. with AI, it's easier to pivot than ever before. what used to take years can now ship in weeks. this means spending months going after the wrong problem is very costly a few other tactics i've noticed the best founders do with customers: they focus on problems, not solutions. customers love prescribing solutions (the "faster horse" fallacy) but the real job is understanding the root problem and how AI can solve it today and 6 months from now they also don't stress over early pricing. get in the door, focus on learning. an extra $5-10k ACV here and there is noise compared to finding the right problem to solve. remember - early customers aren't just revenue, they're also your most valuable research!

@denys_khomyn Yup!

with AI, pivoting is easier than ever before, but at the same time, getting attention is harder than ever, users won't spend enough time with your product to give good feedback because there are so many identical tools. The ability to listen and attract attention is the new best founders

@tetrisgm Hah it’s the classic bloat problem of every product keeps adding features but not removing anything

If you look at this app, you'll notice that a lot of the flows actually hinder sending a thought, a reply, or reading something you care about. Bunch of useless garbage on the left (vs what you care about: home / search / notifs / DMs). Bunch of For You garbage (vs Following). Following has zero way to really sort / filter. On reddit, i have communitied on bs I have lists and filters. Here i have nothing. All of this denotes a profound lack of disrespect and empathy for the user. The business goals come first, and the users put up with it because of scale and inertia. Eg it's easier to get the job done of socializing here than on bs simply because of that. But it doesnt respect or listen to my needs at all. A good example of that philosophy would be "Inbox by Gmail" vs Gmail.