My journey in startups began 10 years ago, and I've launched 18 startups, most of which failed. Briefly on why they failed:
1. Contract Online my first startup in 2015, which was supposed to be an online service for remote signing of contracts for any transactions between individuals. A kind of analogue of a secure transaction. For this startup, I even managed to attract a business angel who invested $16,500.

Reason for failure: I had two lawyers on my team who discovered in the process that the legal framework at the time could not provide reliable grounds for protecting our users in remote transactions. The contracts would not have been considered legally signed.
2. Natural Products In 2015-2018, I became very passionate about healthy eating, but in the process, I discovered that products in all chain stores are full of chemicals, and stores with truly natural products are inaccessible to the majority. Hence, the idea emerged to create my own online platform where you could order natural products directly from farmers at affordable prices.

Reason for failure: For several years, I tried to launch this project, even trained as a baker of natural bread and tried to create my own farm, but in the process, I found that few people are willing to pay for truly natural products, even if these products were only 20-30% more expensive than market prices, and not 2-3 times more, as in premium stores. Hence, the market was so small that all my attempts were doomed.

We launched Meet-Ting on Gmail to move fast. It got us out there, but we quickly built up technical debt and a heavy reliance on Google's APIs. 

This was a problem. Our most valuable potential users (the "meeting-heavy" pros) all use Outlook. 

After months of focused work to improve core reliability, it was time to expand our ecosystem. We call it our "Ting everywhere" strategy. Our native Outlook integration is live.

I ve spent the last few years working closely with sales teams, and one thing never changes, we often start talking too soon.

A potential customer shares one small detail, and we immediately jump into explaining, pitching, or convincing.
But the truth is: most people don t need more information, they just need to feel understood. When we slow down and listen really listen the conversation changes completely. They open up. They tell you what s actually holding them back. And suddenly, closing the deal isn t about persuasion anymore, it s about alignment.

Recent events made me think about how technology is shaping our relationships.

We re online more, we even use AI as a relationship advisor, and at the same time, it feels like it s harder for younger people to approach someone in real life.

I have been using Duolingo for almost 3 years to learn a language, but I don't know anything at all.

Of course, I have some basic vocabulary from the vocabulary words, but it's not conversational level. I'm currently considering buying textbooks and workbooks.

Here s something we ve noticed lately:
AI systems don t just fail or drift.
Sometimes, they freeze.

Not a crash. Not an error.
Just stagnation.

The AI researchers at Andon Labs, the people who gave Anthropic Claude an office vending machine to run, and hilarity ensued, have published the results of a new AI experiment.

They wanted to see if LLMs were technically capable of functioning as a robot s brain, that is, connecting their thinking (textual decision-making) with real sensors and movement.

I've been making short films for as long as I can remember. 

My first short was back in middle school, where my brother and I pretended we were in Star Wars, dueling with dowel rod lightsabers. By the time I met my co-founders, Spencer and Charlie, in college, my storytelling had (I hope) evolved well past my VFX-obsessed origin story.

We met on the set of a feel-good student short I directed last fall. But this wasn t backyard filmmaking anymore. We quickly got stuck in a hellish landscape of spreadsheets. Nobody s availability lined up, everyone was overwhelmed, and it took forever to finish the film.

Now, since some do these things, while others charge every bit as much without these features, I already expect that they have:

• Built-in Github commit

• Credit rollovers (e.g. if I do not use all credits in a paid plan, they are added to the next month - indefinitely)

• Nothing that tries to keep my project within their ecosystem and then expects that as my business scales, I pay them more.

As Lovable, Bolt, v0, Base44, Bubble, Make, etc. jostle to out-do each other and be the one that we pay for, I think we will soon see:

• Back-end solutions that guide non-technical creators through the steps to ship a SaaS product that is actually ready to scale to take on real traffic

• Pre-emptive best-price/best-solution external solution-shopping, such as for white-listed bulk emailing and available domain search.

I've been making short films for as long as I can remember. 

My first short was back in middle school, where my brother and I pretended we were in Star Wars, dueling with dowel rod lightsabers. By the time I met my co-founders, Spencer and Charlie, in college, my storytelling had (I hope) evolved well past my VFX-obsessed origin story.

We met on the set of a feel-good student short I directed last fall. But this wasn t backyard filmmaking anymore. We quickly got stuck in a hellish landscape of spreadsheets. Nobody s availability lined up, everyone was overwhelmed, and it took forever to finish the film.

Everyone says execution matters most.

But I think it s execution in the right way
The kind that runs experiments, not marathons.

It s easy to move fast.

It s harder to design motion that actually teaches you something.

Most people think users choose products based on features or price. In reality, support decides who stays.

A cheaper tool becomes expensive fast when every issue turns into a ticket nightmare. Meanwhile, teams keep paying more for products that solve problems and support them when it matters.

Support is not a cost. It is part of the product experience. Fast replies build trust. Clear answers reduce churn. Companies that treat support as a growth lever win.

I really wonder these questions

I m pretty sure most founders grow mainly on Twitter. Or LinkedIn.

But I ve realised it really depends on what kind of product you ve built.

If you re a fashion-focused founder, you probably grew up on Instagram or Pinterest.

Most people think users choose products based on features or price. In reality, support decides who stays.

A cheaper tool becomes expensive fast when every issue turns into a ticket nightmare. Meanwhile, teams keep paying more for products that solve problems and support them when it matters.

Support is not a cost. It is part of the product experience. Fast replies build trust. Clear answers reduce churn. Companies that treat support as a growth lever win.

I really wonder these questions