Gordon Sun

consumer AI founder (a16z SR) | prev: Cameo, Bain

[Gordon Sun @ImGordonSun]

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 🧵

[Gordon Sun @ImGordonSun]

@MarcusMilione secondary market here we go… 😂

congrats Marcus

[Gordon Sun @ImGordonSun]

@faionur @AbstractVC @generalcatalyst @usv huge congrats!

[Gordon Sun @ImGordonSun]

@faionur is a trailblazer in consumer AI. happy small investor in this big vision

try status now and become famous ⭐️

[fai nur @faionur]

Status has raised $17M in seed and Series A funding led by @AbstractVC, @generalcatalyst and @usv to let anyone step inside their favorite stories, become famous, and live a million different lives.

We quietly launched Status last year and grew to over 1 million users in 19 days - making us the fastest growing AI app since ChatGPT.

But we hit a (predictable) snag - the app was incredibly expensive to run. How do you serve millions of users without degrading the product with a cheap LLM?

So the team locked in: we rebuilt the whole experience, and our technical bets paid off. Our users now spend 35 minutes on average to (90 minutes each day for power users!), and millions of characters and worlds have been created. All by our users.

The next frontier of entertainment is mobile-first and deeply personal. Traditional mobile games take years to build and rarely stick. TV shows are fleeting in the age of streaming. Status is different. It is not a game you finish, it is a world you can live in.

Status is a new category entirely: Immersive Social Entertainment, and we believe strongly that it is the next great entertainment paradigm. We’ve 10x’d to millions in annual revenue in Q1 2026, we're just getting started.

On Status, you can be anyone.

[Gordon Sun @ImGordonSun]

@amankrai28 flavors look awesome. how much carbs per gel?

[Gordon Sun @ImGordonSun]

@andrewchen let's go 007!

[Gordon Sun @ImGordonSun]

@MichaelDBrandt can’t wait

[Gordon Sun @ImGordonSun]

@faionur to the moon

[Gordon Sun @ImGordonSun]

@JohnReal congrats John! happy DAU here and excited for the playoffs :)

[David Senra @davidsenra]

My conversation with @evanspiegel, co-founder & CEO of @Snap.

0:00 Edwin Land Influence
2:01 Art Science Upbringing
3:27 Computers And Connection
5:50 Smartphone Addiction Lens
9:30 Building For Humanity
13:15 From Internships To Snapchat
17:02 Snapchat vs. Social Media
18:38 Stories And Vertical Video
22:22 Uncompromising Kind Culture
28:34 Snap Leadership And Design
37:38 AI Supercharges Snap
41:57 No Moat In Software
42:31 Beating the Clone
43:50 Messaging Network Effects
44:58 Camera Out of Pocket
45:49 Specs Market Reality
48:28 AR Platform Explosion
52:14 Vision-Led Product Design
54:09 Why Not Luxottica
59:11 Owning the Stack
1:03:02 Snap the Middle Child
1:08:04 Crisis Without Burnout
1:10:02 Snapchat Plus Growth
1:12:54 Rebuilding the Ad Engine
1:19:03 Subscriptions Over Ads
1:21:14 Fighting Giants With AI
1:22:04 Why Hardware Stands Alone
1:25:29 Snap Lab Origins
1:25:59 New Apps Beyond Snapchat
1:28:29 Focus And Founder Drive
1:32:14 Surfacing Problems Fast
1:36:08 Flat Culture Meritocracy
1:39:36 Last Company And Giving Back
1:41:15 Turning Down Billions
1:48:51 Snapchat Funds New Computing
1:51:24 Crucible Year And Schedule
1:53:56 Stress Reframed Meditation
1:56:09 Explainer In Chief
1:57:07 Closing

Includes paid partnerships.

[Gordon Sun @ImGordonSun]

@Jibran_05 @startupoppa can’t believe this is free

[Gordon Sun @ImGordonSun]

@blakeir 60 minutes but with startup Founders/CEOs

[Gordon Sun @ImGordonSun]

@faionur banger

[Will Ahmed @willahmed]

You have no experience.
You’ve never started a company.
You’ve never had a full time job.
Nike is going to kill you.
You’re a kid.
You don’t have technical skills.
You shouldn’t build hardware.
Apple is going to kill you.
You can’t build hardware.
You can’t measure heart rate non-invasively.
Athletes don’t care about recovery.
Under Armour is going to kill you.
It won’t be accurate.
You don’t listen.
You’re an ineffective leader.
You can’t recruit great talent.
You’re going to have to pay every athlete.
You can’t measure sleep non-invasively.
It’s too expensive to research.
Athletes are a small market.
The product costs too much to make.
The product costs too much to sell.
Your valuation is too high.
Consumers aren’t going to want it.
Hardware is too hard.
You should measure steps.
Fitbit is going to kill you.
You can’t build a marketing engine.
You can’t raise enough money.
You need a real CEO.
Google is going to kill you.
You can’t be a subscription.
You can’t build a brand.
You can’t do consumer in Boston.
Your valuation is too high.
You shouldn’t make accessories.
You shouldn’t make apparel.
Lululemon is going to kill you.
You can’t predict Covid.
Stay in your niche.
You are going to run out of money.
You can’t build a health platform.
Amazon is going to kill you.
You can’t measure blood pressure.
You can’t get medical approvals.
The market is too small.
You don’t understand AI.
The market is too competitive.
It won’t work internationally.
The supply chain is too complicated.
You can’t build an AI.
You can’t raise enough money.
It’s too competitive.
Healthcare isn’t going to want it.
…

Just keep going ✌️

[Gordon Sun @ImGordonSun]

superior battery, no screen/no distractions, recovery super metric (based on HRV, RHR, sleep), daily target strain score so you don’t overreach when training

imo it’s great if you’re working out 5-7x per week and optimizing performance. otherwise just use an Apple Watch or Garmin

[Gordon Sun @ImGordonSun]

@OfficialLoganK Ty 🙏

[Steven Galanis @Mr312]

Huge news for @BookCameo today. So excited to announce that @tiktok_us creators will now be able to send Cameo videos to fans without leaving the app!

[Gordon Sun @ImGordonSun]

@Jibran_05 insane tool

[Gordon Sun @ImGordonSun]

@DailyPizzaGuy @zachpogrob what’s the pair on bottom

[Gordon Sun @ImGordonSun]

@mattwelter $200 for 5

[Gordon Sun @ImGordonSun]

@DylanAbruscato 💀