First Round @firstround
Where “imagine if” gets to work. We've helped 500+ companies (like @NotionHQ, @Roblox, @Uber, @Square) take a straighter path from idea to product-market fit. firstround.com SF, NY, PHL Joined July 2008-
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An unfiltered look inside the Thiel Fellowship with @DStrachman: review.firstround.com/inside-thiel-f…
Sixteen years ago, when @William_Blake and I were on the founding team of the Thiel Fellowship, we called it an older young person’s homeschool program. In a very Thiel-ian way, we built something that fostered independent thinking by giving young people permission to explore
How’d staff in the early years of the Thiel Fellowship identify the people who’d go on to found Ethereum, Figma, Anthropic and more? Danielle Strachman — founding member and former program director of the Thiel Fellowship — told us what they were looking for:
Sixteen years ago, when @William_Blake and I were on the founding team of the Thiel Fellowship, we called it an older young person’s homeschool program. In a very Thiel-ian way, we built something that fostered independent thinking by giving young people permission to explore
What happens when you pay ambitious young people to skip college and build? Thiel Fellows have gone on to found @AnthropicAI, @figma, @ethereum and so much more. But how did the fellowship actually work—and what did it feel like from the inside in the early days? We spoke with @DStrachman and fellows like @zoink and @tarstarr to tell that story. Read the essay: review.firstround.com/inside-thiel-f…
“We were very much building the airplane on the way. Up or down. Whichever way we were going.” Our editorial team took an in-depth look at the Thiel Fellowship's early years:
Sixteen years ago, when @William_Blake and I were on the founding team of the Thiel Fellowship, we called it an older young person’s homeschool program. In a very Thiel-ian way, we built something that fostered independent thinking by giving young people permission to explore
I’ve found this is one of the simplest and most revealing questions to ask during a reference call: “In as much detail as possible, describe the difference [candidate] made in your business. Said differently, if [candidate] had never worked at your company, what would be different?”
Over the years, I’ve become obsessed with references, so I decided to sit down and write out some of what I’ve figured out. x.com/i/article/2107…
@maticrobots Watch our full tour of Matic's HQ: youtube.com/watch?v=HKbc_h…
"Our WiFi password used to be 'vacuum2020.' We were gonna ship robots in 2020, and it didn't happen." Inside the nine years of hard work and failed prototypes that went into making @maticrobots:
Agreed and people do not take them seriously enough (as in value them)
Over the years, I’ve become obsessed with references, so I decided to sit down and write out some of what I’ve figured out. x.com/i/article/2107…
I’m a bit obsessed with references. If you’re interested in the topic, hopefully you find this useful.
Over the years, I’ve become obsessed with references, so I decided to sit down and write out some of what I’ve figured out. x.com/i/article/2107…
I often find myself pushing hiring managers to do more reference calls and to do them better. Lots of great advice on doing it right from @brettberson > At the end of every single reference call, I ask the reference for the names of other people who would have a perspective on the candidate and use that to expand my list of potential people to call.
Over the years, I’ve become obsessed with references, so I decided to sit down and write out some of what I’ve figured out. x.com/i/article/2107…
Followed Brett for a long time and this is one of the most helpful things he's shared.
Over the years, I’ve become obsessed with references, so I decided to sit down and write out some of what I’ve figured out. x.com/i/article/2107…
This is a very thoughtful piece!
Over the years, I’ve become obsessed with references, so I decided to sit down and write out some of what I’ve figured out. x.com/i/article/2107…
@btrenchard at @firstround was our first backer. We had no customers, revenue or proof that anyone could build an agentic ERP from scratch. He saw the vision early, backed a hard build, pushed us where needed and supported us when things didn’t go well. Thank you Bill. Couldn’t have done it without you.
@maticrobots Watch our full tour of Matic's HQ: youtube.com/watch?v=HKbc_h…
What it's like working at @maticrobots: Build your own desk, then start making robots.
No one is as good at reference check calls as @brettberson. Period. And now he’s kind enough to share his wisdom with us all 🙌
Over the years, I’ve become obsessed with references, so I decided to sit down and write out some of what I’ve figured out. x.com/i/article/2107…
Finally, a post about references worth resharing. References are only as good as the quality of questions you ask - front door or back door - and how they determine the match with you and what you want to build.
Over the years, I’ve become obsessed with references, so I decided to sit down and write out some of what I’ve figured out. x.com/i/article/2107…
great post. i agree that references has much higher signal than interviews. in this highly agentic world where the capability to output a work is easier (claude this codex that) the decision making process a person makes daily and their team fit is much more important.
Over the years, I’ve become obsessed with references, so I decided to sit down and write out some of what I’ve figured out. x.com/i/article/2107…
Super excited to partner with Josiah and the Healthleap team. The size (and the speed) of their patient impact is unlike anything I've seen before.
Announcing $38M Seed & Series A from Sequoia, First Round, and Hummingbird. Healthleap's mission is to improve the health outcomes of as many people as possible. Results so far: • faster healing resulting in 1.6 shorter hospital stays per patient flagged as at risk by
💯
Over the years, I’ve become obsessed with references, so I decided to sit down and write out some of what I’ve figured out. x.com/i/article/2107…
Lenny Rachitsky @lennysan
453K Followers 3K Following Deeply researched product, growth, and career advice
Matt Turck @mattturck
146K Followers 3K Following VC at @FirstMarkCap. Host: MAD Podcast; Organizer: Data Driven NYC, Author: MAD Landscape.
Alex Iskold | 2048.vc @alexiskold
65K Followers 2K Following Pre-seed and Seed VC @2048vc | https://t.co/WEq0DWY0CI | Coach @HarvardHBS | Blog https://t.co/0DoDmSLmNZ | Systems Thinker | Red Rising and other Sci-Fi fan
Tomasz Tunguz @ttunguz
130K Followers 367 Following Venture capitalist at @theoryvc Student of Startups Backer of 9 unicorns Author of https://t.co/IWw3R3RVLm Subscribe https://t.co/iDgoLXaF98
Nicole DeTommaso 🪄 @nic_detommaso
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Elizabeth Yin 💛 @dunkhippo33
135K Followers 3K Following Co-founder @hustlefundvc. Founder and startup investor. SF Bay Area native.
Gokul Rajaram @gokulr
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Mike Maples, Jr @m2jr
115K Followers 8K Following I invest way too early in outlier founders. Twitter, Twitch, Okta, Applied Intuition. How do 0.1% see what others can't?
Jeff Richards @jrichlive
69K Followers 3K Following Venture capitalist @notablecap, partnered w/ @Anthropic @Vercel @fal @JoinHandshake @databricks @WisprFlow @OneQuince @HashiCorp + many more, 2X founder 4X dad
Chris Fralic @chrisfralic
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sarah guo @saranormous
163K Followers 3K Following startup investor/helper, founder @conviction. interested in intelligence, accelerating progress. tech podcast: @nopriorspod
Zach Coelius @zachcoelius
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nihal @nihalmehta
29K Followers 2K Following @eniacvc @pitchandrunnyc @humanunicornpod. blessed dad 👦🏽👨🏽🐶. proud husband @reshmasaujani. jodhpur jain born in iowa 🇮🇳🇺🇸, LGK 🧡💙
Deena Shakir @deenashakir
38K Followers 2K Following Partner @Lux_Capital | Investing in 🚀 like @mavenclinic, @alifeivf, @joinsummer, @steadymd, @waymark_care, @tryramp, @triallibrary, @bluenote_ai | mom of 3
Jenny Fielding @jefielding
45K Followers 4K Following Managing Partner, @EverywhereVC investing in pre-seed founders building the future of money, health and work 🚀
samir kaji @Samirkaji
36K Followers 899 Following CEO of Allocate (https://t.co/tCOIHOo5Xl) Host of the Venture Unlocked podcast, https://t.co/J3J8C4Ims6. My opinions are mine, not Allocate’s.
Dave McClure @davemcclure
327K Followers 22K Following founder: https://t.co/A4xpEYhG0F https://t.co/MzzgOOPPi6 https://t.co/WwbH5XZfSY | @TradingVCs a very bad VC secondary podcast | alum: JHU PayPal FoundersFund | fanboi: DrSeuss Muppets SesameSt
Josh Kopelman @joshk
150K Followers 6K Following Father. Husband. VC. INTJ. Dad Joke Lover. Partner @FirstRound.
Derick Korir @DKorir91218
4 Followers 95 Following
Tamura ばしょ @basho_t48
0 Followers 58 Following
Pomchu @Pomchu07
0 Followers 29 Following
Athman Asuu @AthmanAsuu2p
1 Followers 120 Following
Garfield @Garfielduev
97 Followers 6K Following
Liton sir @Litonsir16
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Long Compute Capital @longcomputecap
0 Followers 17 Following Long Compute Capital is a Singapore-based global equity investor focused on the physical infrastructure of AI compute.
Sultan Mahmud @SultanMahmrdox
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داود @daoudjaberkosti
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💦 Sai Ui 📩 @sai_ttv7
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سمير عنوه ا�... @SamirAlAinoh
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Sigurd @whoisarbo
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TG - @DBZGOKHU 💖 @trgtbjii9
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Richard Alhamisi @RichardAlhixc
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53 Followers 2K Following
Noureddine Ben @Noureddine3mip
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ahshaiv @ahshaiv
1 Followers 21 Following
Nane @Naney9rvj
2 Followers 151 Following
jehan @reyvanp496
4 Followers 197 Following
Qi @Qi19840201
3 Followers 66 Following
stef @iameumaeus
31 Followers 288 Following
Melissa @KhaiGoh2384
25 Followers 166 Following
ONODA Nayo @nayo__92
1 Followers 52 Following
Grace Isaac @GraceeeIsaac
672 Followers 467 Following Virtual Assistant | Research & Administrative Support Helping individuals and teams stay consistent and work efficiently.
Iceberg Research @icebergfund
8 Followers 58 Following AI-assisted research on public companies. We score each on tech, product, market, and the secret nobody's pricing in. Not investment advice.
Honey Yadav @HoneyYadav6001
0 Followers 20 Following
Рахимчон Чу... @gi3g10
1 Followers 39 Following
ابولؤي @abwlwy77283
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Harry Stebbings @HarryStebbings
705K Followers 389 Following 🎤 @twentyminutevc, 🏦 @20vcfund, @projecteurope_😇 @fuseenergy @linear @wearelegora @factoryai @lovable @airwallex @mercor_ai @workos @fomo @fireworksAI_HQ
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453K Followers 3K Following Deeply researched product, growth, and career advice
Matt Turck @mattturck
146K Followers 3K Following VC at @FirstMarkCap. Host: MAD Podcast; Organizer: Data Driven NYC, Author: MAD Landscape.
Chris Fralic @chrisfralic
47K Followers 13K Following Longtime tech operator and investor @firstround. Student of business, board member, producer. Among the first 100 on Twitter - thinking out loud here ever since
Josh Kopelman @joshk
150K Followers 6K Following Father. Husband. VC. INTJ. Dad Joke Lover. Partner @FirstRound.
Chris Brown @almostcmb
10K Followers 4K Following Partner @inspiredcap, formerly @firstround. Outdoor guy with an indoor job.
Cristina Cordova @cjc
38K Followers 988 Following COO at @linear. previously building at @stripe, @NotionHQ & @firstround. angel investor to ~80 early-stage startups
Camille Ricketts @camillericketts
13K Followers 1K Following writer, investor, marketer at places like @notionhq @firstround
Ben Zises @bzises
11K Followers 5K Following Founder & GP @SuperAngel.Fund 😇 | “The best way to build a brand is to help other people.” —Naval | [email protected]
Meka Asonye @BigMekaStyle
7K Followers 2K Following Founder of Prist Capital, ex @Firstround, @Stripe, @mixpanel, Bain, and @CleGuardians. Bears Fan 🏈, amateur golfer 🏌🏾♂️, pilot 🛩.
Todd Jackson @tjack
16K Followers 1K Following Partner @firstround (supporting @fal, @p0, @townAI). Former VP Product @Dropbox, PM Director @twitter, co-founder @coverscreen, PM @google, @facebook.
Peter Kazanjy @Kazanjy
29K Followers 14K Following Tweeting Founder Led Sales & SaaS. Author @foundingsales. 3x exited founder | @atriumhq, @founderledsales, @modernsalespros, @talentbinhiring. B2B Angel.
Arjun Sethi @arjunsethi
61K Followers 1 Following Judeo-Christian Values. @tribecap @krakenfx. I like humor, memes, freedom, more importantly protecting / investing open source crypto/ ai / agents / software.
Dan Hockenmaier @danhockenmaier
13K Followers 670 Following Growth, marketplaces, trying to separate signal from noise. Former Chief Strategy Officer @faire_wholesale. Partner @reforge.
Brett Berson @brettberson
13K Followers 3K Following An aspiring learn it all. I’ve been trying to make @firstround a little better every day for 18 years. Partner to @stedi, @Persona_IDV and @clay
Josiah Meyer @josiahbuild
503 Followers 0 Following
Quartermaster AI @quartermasterai
72 Followers 16 Following Quartermaster is building the awareness layer of the ocean with the mariners who already know it best.
Board @boardisfun
5K Followers 47 Following The face-to-face game console where physical pieces make a shared screen come alive.
Serval @getserval
760 Followers 193 Following The AI service management platform that automates tedious tasks for enterprise.
mark sugarman @marksugarman
975 Followers 2K Following
Alex Macdonald @alexfmac
15K Followers 5K Following Venture Artist /// Founder & CEO - @joinsequel / Chairman @auroramastery / 1 x exit - Velocity Black
Stuart Landesberg @Stu_Land
947 Followers 551 Following Building technology to protect the things we love from fire. Founder + CEO @seneca_systems. Founder + Chair @grovecollab. We must be resilient.
FleetWorks @fleetworksai
69 Followers 61 Following the always-on dispatcher and always-on carrier rep. We help carriers keep their trucks full and brokers find the best carriers
Alen Polakof @alen0vich
26 Followers 13 Following
ari polakof @APolakof
541 Followers 345 Following Co-Founder Flai (S25), prev Founding Engineer @ Happyrobot
Lindon Gao @Lindon_Gao
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Jason Ma @JasonMa2020
126K Followers 996 Following Co-founder @DynaRobotics Prev: @GoogleDeepMind, @NVIDIAAI, @Penn, @Harvard.
Dyna Robotics @DynaRobotics
14K Followers 15 Following General and robust AI robots that power the future of the physical economy.
Assured @withassured
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Rahul Shivkumar @rahulshivkumar
344 Followers 495 Following Exploring. Previously Co-founder/CEO @dawnhealthapp, growth @intercom
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Sam O'Keefe @samok
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farnaz azmoodeh @veryfarnaz
227 Followers 267 Following Builder, science & tech enthusiast, investor, advisor. Building @Function health currently. Formerly Linktree, Snap & Google.
Josh Wymer @jbwyme
282 Followers 207 Following Founder/CEO of @CentralHQX. ex @mixpanel, ex @meta, ex @HokiesBaseball
Central @CentralHQX
490 Followers 37 Following We kill back-office work for startups: payroll, benefits, state compliance & more. Acquired by @mercury
Othman Laraki @othman
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Montra @Montra
411 Followers 2 Following Create polished multi-scene videos with AI, all in one place. Sign up for early access!
Parag Agrawal @paraga
539K Followers 2K Following founder/ceo @p0 https://t.co/KLxULH5Io7, device following @vintweeta
Parallel Web Systems @p0
23K Followers 60 Following Infrastructure for AI to search, extract, monitor, and reason over the whole web. Free Web Search → https://t.co/GRCBKyuAj2
Nico Lecomte @NicolasLec91112
280 Followers 136 Following building agentics infrastructure | https://t.co/stkrobWgLh
Charles Drappier @charlesdrappier
34 Followers 70 Following
Blaxel @blaxelAI
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tobi lutke @tobi
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Shopify Engineering @ShopifyEng
60K Followers 707 Following Making commerce better for everyone. Follow us for technical discussions and updates on how engineers build @Shopify. Explore open roles: https://t.co/NFSvvCJBXt
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776 Followers 594 Following Developing the central nervous system for maritime autonomy https://t.co/rJKEBDFwjA
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Alex Chu @alex__chu__
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David Graunke @graunked
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