Jake Stein

Co-founder @UseCommonPaper previously @RJMetrics and @Stitch_Data

[Jake Stein @jakestein]

problems.

It’s also a solvable one. You need a contract you’d be comfortable sending, a way to get it signed, and a record of what you’ve agreed to. That’s what we built Common Paper for.

Most founders find this out the week a deal depends on it.

[Jake Stein @jakestein]

Early-stage founders spend months getting their first customer on the hook. Then they realize they have nothing to reel them in with.

[Jake Stein @jakestein]

The customer was waiting on a sales contract that week, and they didn’t have one.

One of them opened the call by saying they were in panic mode. I’m used to it.

I told them it’s a good problem. If no one wanted to sign a contract with you, you wouldn’t have any of these

[Jake Stein @jakestein]

@Tilted_Malibu I agree! And it turned out that every member of the team had at least two projects. The 4 that have shipped so far were from a mix of people, and the thing they have in common is a relatively small impact on other features so they were quick to approve

[Jake Stein @jakestein]

One of the projects at our hackathon was chosen, built, and pitched by Claude Code. It was a good idea. I know because I had the same idea.

It was our first hackathon in a while, and it looked nothing like the ones before it.

[Jake Stein @jakestein]

@LiveaAi It didn't impact my scoring, but that was up to each member of the team to decide. My sense is that everyone thought it was very cool that Claude could do this, but the project would not have been among the top scoring regardless of who was behind it

[Jake Stein @jakestein]

@prukalpa Agreed, but there are different kinds of greatness. Frugality is aligned the with Walmart/Amazon greatness, not so much with LVMH/Ferrari greatness

[Jake Stein @jakestein]

@LiveaAi Yes, Claude was transparent about this, via its meat proxy (Ben)

[Jake Stein @jakestein]

There's a lot more work to do to figure out the right path for others.

A hackathon used to produce a handful of projects. This time we got more than we know what to do with. Claude will probably help with that too.

[Jake Stein @jakestein]

It turned out that Claude's chosen project was very similar to one of mine. My new definition for AGI is when an AI agent agrees with me.

We came out of the hackthon with a ton of great ideas. 4 of them have already shipped to customers.

[Jake Stein @jakestein]

Every product has a Charlie. You design the bucket for taking candy out. Someone will always find another way to use it. Usually you find out the same way we did. Standing next to the bucket, trying not to laugh.

[Jake Stein @jakestein]

Halloween this year was my twins’ first time having candy.

We went as a Cinderella family. My 3-year-old was Cinderella, I was Prince Charming, my wife was the Fairy Godmother and the twins were pumpkins, riding in a wagon we turned into a coach.

[Jake Stein @jakestein]

Nobody had explained Halloween to him, he just watched. People walk up to buckets, candy changes hands. He picked up almost everything except which way it goes.

The neighbor thought it was hilarious.

[Jake Stein @jakestein]

To be clear, AI is incredibly helpful for working with contracts. I use it multiple times a day every day. But if you use it to draft your own custom contract instead of the appropriate standard, you're making life harder for yourself and your counterparty.

[Jake Stein @jakestein]

A founder asked me if AI can draft her first customer contract. It can, but it shouldn’t.

She and her co-founder had their first few enterprise customers ready to convert. One was expecting a sales contract that day. Wouldn't it be faster/cheaper/better to ask

[Jake Stein @jakestein]

template would be flawless, the very fact that it's not standard would make the fundraising process worse.

Investors already know what the SAFE says and their review of the next deal on a SAFE is dramatically faster compared to a bespoke contract.