kevin simler

on twitter i value insight and kindness ••• once upon a time i wrote a book:

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

Life update: I cofounded a VC firm. God help me!

Please see our announcement (QTed) — but allow me to contextualize

🧵

[Commit Capital @CommitCapital]

Today we're introducing Commit Capital: a $15M fund investing in technical founders at the earliest stage of building. We invest in B2B software, with a focus on dev tools and infrastructure. The unique structure of our fund follows from a simple observation: Get engineering moving faster, get to PMF faster.

- There are five of us (@kevinsimler, @aaymeloglu, @laura_yao, Brandon Burr, and Javier Lopez) , which is a staffing ratio that would make a normal fund's LP base raise an eyebrow. That gives our founders more hands-on resources per dollar invested than any other fund.
- Four of us were among the earliest engineers at Palantir, where we built and led development of the commercial product for over a decade. We've shipped software at speed and at scale, managed the kind of technical debt that accumulates when a product grows faster than its architecture planned for, recruited and managed one of the best workforces in tech, and spent a long time in the rooms where the hardest engineering calls get made.
- We don't want to be VCs. Okay, one of us is a normal, card-carrying VC, but the other four are spending the majority of their time embedded in our portfolio companies, working alongside the teams. Not advising (we don’t believe in advice) but building. If you raise from us, you get engineers who have done this before helping you ship sh*t faster.

We've been writing checks for several months already. @hydra_db , @sazabi , and @VibiumDev are a few we can talk about; several others aren't public yet. If you're building in dev tools or infrastructure and want engineers in the (virtual) room, not just on the cap table, please reach out!

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

@benspringwater @nbaschez @patrick_oshag ahh you guys!

(feels really good to have one’s work remembered a decade later 🥹)

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

@WilliamAEden @diviacaroline ☝️☝️

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

Life update: I cofounded a VC firm. God help me!

Please see our announcement (QTed) — but allow me to contextualize

🧵

[Commit Capital @CommitCapital]

Today we're introducing Commit Capital: a $15M fund investing in technical founders at the earliest stage of building. We invest in B2B software, with a focus on dev tools and infrastructure. The unique structure of our fund follows from a simple observation: Get engineering moving faster, get to PMF faster.

- There are five of us (@kevinsimler, @aaymeloglu, @laura_yao, Brandon Burr, and Javier Lopez) , which is a staffing ratio that would make a normal fund's LP base raise an eyebrow. That gives our founders more hands-on resources per dollar invested than any other fund.
- Four of us were among the earliest engineers at Palantir, where we built and led development of the commercial product for over a decade. We've shipped software at speed and at scale, managed the kind of technical debt that accumulates when a product grows faster than its architecture planned for, recruited and managed one of the best workforces in tech, and spent a long time in the rooms where the hardest engineering calls get made.
- We don't want to be VCs. Okay, one of us is a normal, card-carrying VC, but the other four are spending the majority of their time embedded in our portfolio companies, working alongside the teams. Not advising (we don’t believe in advice) but building. If you raise from us, you get engineers who have done this before helping you ship sh*t faster.

We've been writing checks for several months already. @hydra_db , @sazabi , and @VibiumDev are a few we can talk about; several others aren't public yet. If you're building in dev tools or infrastructure and want engineers in the (virtual) room, not just on the cap table, please reach out!

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

@QiaochuYuan evergreen

[Eliezer Yudkowsky @allTheYud]

The current timeline is as normal as you will ever see again. Take this moment to relax and breathe before it gets weird.

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

still thinking about this weeks later

“foreshocks of the singularity…. the money is the concrete manifestation of a much larger eldritch hyperobject roaring into existence”

[QC @QiaochuYuan]

people are apparently reading this as a parable about how money won’t buy you happiness or something? this is a description of the foreshocks of the singularity. SF feels it the hardest because they’re the epicenter. the money is the concrete manifestation of a much larger eldritch hyperobject roaring into existence. the stormclouds gather. the winds whip. the world holds its breath

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

@xyxyzebra it’s not a sharp thesis but I agree with most of this

https://t.co/L2UIDHSjeU

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

@avyfain beautiful reflection

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

@petewilz we'll see how it shakes out in (checks watch) 10 years 😭

> plus it sounds fun

yes

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

@btnaughton bonus from the archives

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

@btnaughton Coming from the man who had a six-year front-row seat to FragmentDesigner! — way too kind Brian

🙏

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

@patrick_oshag baby’s first vc fund

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

@sharanjhangiani an element of not getting paid 🫣

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

@calcsam the great circle of life

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

@imperialauditor @nascentwisp “meaning to” 😭

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

@imperialauditor @nascentwisp been meaning to revisit this in light of LLMs

never imagined we’d have systems smart enough to pass the Turing Test, but with no long-term memory!

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

@prasanna feeling so seen ☺️

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

@dmcdougall thanks Dave! appreciate the encouraging words

so far it’s been promising, but the lag time on results is brutal in this business 😭

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

@prasanna thanks for the encouragement :D

definitely hoping we add value in the ways you describe. so far so promising

[Commit Capital @CommitCapital]

Today we're introducing Commit Capital: a $15M fund investing in technical founders at the earliest stage of building. We invest in B2B software, with a focus on dev tools and infrastructure. The unique structure of our fund follows from a simple observation: Get engineering moving faster, get to PMF faster.

- There are five of us (@kevinsimler, @aaymeloglu, @laura_yao, Brandon Burr, and Javier Lopez) , which is a staffing ratio that would make a normal fund's LP base raise an eyebrow. That gives our founders more hands-on resources per dollar invested than any other fund.
- Four of us were among the earliest engineers at Palantir, where we built and led development of the commercial product for over a decade. We've shipped software at speed and at scale, managed the kind of technical debt that accumulates when a product grows faster than its architecture planned for, recruited and managed one of the best workforces in tech, and spent a long time in the rooms where the hardest engineering calls get made.
- We don't want to be VCs. Okay, one of us is a normal, card-carrying VC, but the other four are spending the majority of their time embedded in our portfolio companies, working alongside the teams. Not advising (we don’t believe in advice) but building. If you raise from us, you get engineers who have done this before helping you ship sh*t faster.

We've been writing checks for several months already. @hydra_db , @sazabi , and @VibiumDev are a few we can talk about; several others aren't public yet. If you're building in dev tools or infrastructure and want engineers in the (virtual) room, not just on the cap table, please reach out!

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

If you’re an early stage software company, primarily in infrastructure or dev tools, and you’re looking for an investor who can accelerate your engineering efforts, please get in touch!

https://t.co/EYDgBNgH3Q

[Commit Capital @CommitCapital]

Today we're introducing Commit Capital: a $15M fund investing in technical founders at the earliest stage of building. We invest in B2B software, with a focus on dev tools and infrastructure. The unique structure of our fund follows from a simple observation: Get engineering moving faster, get to PMF faster.

- There are five of us (@kevinsimler, @aaymeloglu, @laura_yao, Brandon Burr, and Javier Lopez) , which is a staffing ratio that would make a normal fund's LP base raise an eyebrow. That gives our founders more hands-on resources per dollar invested than any other fund.
- Four of us were among the earliest engineers at Palantir, where we built and led development of the commercial product for over a decade. We've shipped software at speed and at scale, managed the kind of technical debt that accumulates when a product grows faster than its architecture planned for, recruited and managed one of the best workforces in tech, and spent a long time in the rooms where the hardest engineering calls get made.
- We don't want to be VCs. Okay, one of us is a normal, card-carrying VC, but the other four are spending the majority of their time embedded in our portfolio companies, working alongside the teams. Not advising (we don’t believe in advice) but building. If you raise from us, you get engineers who have done this before helping you ship sh*t faster.

We've been writing checks for several months already. @hydra_db , @sazabi , and @VibiumDev are a few we can talk about; several others aren't public yet. If you're building in dev tools or infrastructure and want engineers in the (virtual) room, not just on the cap table, please reach out!

[kevin simler @kevinsimler]

Our name — Commit — is an action that applies to code as well as money. We aim to contribute both wherever we can