Manuela Zoninsein (she/her)

Science as Culture, Not Department - using the scientific method throughout every decision point in a startup @HelloKadeya open.substack.com/pub/manuelazon…

@johnengtwit @jefielding Yes, and most of them can't explain what Physical AI is.

@jefielding Everyone is now deeptech and physical AI!

Half the VCs I know are changing their focus areas / investment thesis right now. Feels like a moment of deep reflection - or panic.

@AriNewman @jefielding As a hardtech founder who's had to scrape by for several years while SaaSy VCs only followed the same ole' playbook, I'm at once excited and annoyed by these tourist investors.

@jefielding I have so many thoughts on this as an investor who spent 5 years honing a strategy before raising a fund to execute it…. Seeing a lot of the same and esp. software funds pivoting into hard tech. You’ve done it all so you know how this will go…

@A_y_u_s_h_i_X @jefielding Sm/Med sized GPs are rethinking survival strategies as deals + LP funds increasingly concentrate in fewer hands. IMO the physical world has defensibility b/c AI drives step-change efficiencies (which will also improve via 1st party data generated in the real world). Symbiosis.

Actually, I'm curious if the thesis shifts are based on clear hypotheses or just reactions to recent headlines. AI capabilities have been visible for years.. the trajectory was clear by 2022, maybe earlier. So why the sudden pivot now? What changed in the last few months that wasn't already evident? I know few who are doing the hard work of reasoning from first principles about where value accrues when intelligence becomes abundant - thinking through defensibility, scarcity, regulatory moats, trust, physical constraints etc. The kind of framework that holds up through disruption. But I also suspect some are just rotating based on what feels uncertain right now, without a clear model of what actually matters going forward. Pattern matching on past cycles only works until the patterns break. The VCs who emerge from this moment with conviction will be the ones worth raising from. They'll have a clear answer to "where does value come from now?" that goes deeper than just avoiding AI risk or chasing AI exposure. The rest are figuring it out in real time, same as everyone else. Which is fine. But probably means the best opportunities are still being missed while everyone adjusts their priors.

@jefielding @Beezer232 Too many tech entrepreneurs  and investors are focusing on the revolution that will happen in digital realms. By overlooking the physical world, they're going to miss the real value generation + capture opportunities that will ensue thanks to AI. Physical is the new moat.

@Beezer232 🦋 ➡️ 🤖

@mattshumer_ Too many silicon valley entrepreneurs / investors are focusing on the revolution that will happen in digital realms. By overlooking the physical world, they're missing the real value generation + capture opportunity that will ensue as AI infiltrates our economy.

Every time someone asks me what's going on with AI, I give them the safe answer. Because the real one sounds insane. I'm done holding back. I wrote what I wish I could sit down and tell everyone I care about. Send it to someone who needs to read it.

@dunn @Wefunder <3 <3 <3

Invest $100+ in eliminating single use plastics. @Wefunder: wefunder.com/kadeya I’m in for $100,000. Why I believe in @ManuelasWeb. 👇 open.substack.com/pub/dunn/p/inv…

How I Took @HelloKadeya From an Idea to Early Execution - my new Substack (or: how a passionate outsider with a wild idea, a few drawings, and a handful of committed collaborators willed a circular beverage system into the world) open.substack.com/pub/manuelazon… @

@krassenstein @krassenstein that's a very leading / click-baity comment, given that Americans already learn Arabic numerals (Symbols 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9)

BREAKING: Zohran Mamdani is expected to require ALL New York Elementary school students to learn Arabic numerals. As a Jewish American I still support this 100%

What every founder needs to hear from a potential cofounder: "What's my value add?" Announcing my @HelloKadeya cofounder, Denis Lussault, 5 years into building the business substack.com/profile/844740…

@E_Bruxxx Chicago FTW

Having spent significant time in non-target VC markets, too much ‘ecosystem support’ is killing startups. Foundations and civic orgs optimize for optics, not outcomes. Founders learn how to win grants and pitch competitions, not customers. Venture outcomes rarely materialize.

@investorwilsons @ced_jayy I like the pearls in her hair

@ced_jayy God gave her lipstick too

Scientists at Princeton University have reconstructed this 3D model of how Eve, the first human woman created by God, may have looked

@RepJerryNadler When has dignity ever mattered to this administration?

This kind of divisive rhetoric is beneath the dignity of the office of the Vice President of the United States. The Vice President’s claim also isn’t backed by evidence. In fact, most data points in the opposite direction.

@joni_askola That's what he wants

Vance is a pathological liar and a hypocrite. He is playing a dangerous game for political gain, one that will only deepen polarization and incite further violence

@RBReich @GovPritzker @JBPritzker can we please? Oh pretty please with sugar on top?

Starting November 1st, New Mexico will become the first state to offer free universal childcare to all its residents. It's expected to save families over $12,000 per child annually. This is a huge step forward — and a reminder that we have the power to fix the system.

@Kasparov63 Brazil's verdict on Bolsonaro shows us the term "banana republic" is no longer a suitable description for the US.

There was a time when the US could criticize the democratic failings of other nations with credibility and moral authority. Among his multitude of sins while attempting to turn the US into a banana republic, Trump's inability to accept his loss in 2020 has destroyed that.

@E_Bruxxx The next unicorn founder is welding in a machine shop and talking to his/her colleagues to understand their biggest challenges so s/he designs a solution for a real-world problem. Don't overlook customer discovery ;)

The next unicorn founder is 18-years-old welding in a machine shop, saving every paycheck, and teaching himself CAD late at night. Don’t overlook the overlooked.

@acnewsitics and you'll start asking logical questions that they can't answer

Republicans don’t want you to go to college because the second you learn history, science, or civics, you’ll stop voting for them.

100% this ➡️ definition of grit/resilience/perseverance is getting up over + over + over again When a VC gets their panties in a bunch because of the creative (wholly legal) ways I've gotten @HelloKadeya funded, it shows me they aren't thinking big enough

Headed to #TechCrunchDisrupt - considering @HelloKadeya body armor heading into Startup Battlefield 200