Michael Chime

Co-founder & CEO at @Prepared_HQ. Previously was @yale & @thielfellowship.

[Michael Chime @michael__chime]

Last week, we @Prepared_HQ announced our acquisition by @axon_enterprise.

It’s been a whirlwind — lots of ups and downs — but one thing’s never changed: a deep drive to use technology to make the world safer.

Now, together with Axon, we’re ready to do that on a global scale. 🌍⚡️

[Meka Asonye @BigMekaStyle]

6 years ago, 3 Yale students decided to drop out and build @Prepared_HQ to fix America’s 911 system. Today, @michael__chime stops by for his first interview since announcing their acquisition by @axon_enterprise.

We dig deep into Prepared’s path to PMF and decision to sell (including the insane story of how Mike negotiated the deal from a hospital bed while doctors were telling him he might lose his leg to a spider bite).

Some other topics we hit on that stuck with me:
- How they pivoted from a different first product
- Whether or not to drop out to start a company
- Building in headwinds vs. tailwinds
- Navigating govt. procurement as 20-somethings
- Why he tries to be “terrible at sales”
- Balancing listening to customers with following your founder conviction
- Finding real AI uses cases
- Giving away the product for free for years (and navigating spicy board meeting arguments on this)

Since partnering closely with Mike, @dylan_gleicher, and @NealSoni00 from their 2021 seed, I’ve seen up close how they chose a hard path and made it work, so I’m glad other founders will get to learn from their counterintuitive moves.

Full episode is below. I think it’s particularly worth a watch if you’re a founder selling into govt. or taking on a dusty industry with AI.

[Pavla Bobosikova @payathepapaya]

We just launched a new program: Neo Residency. Smaller, more selective, better terms. Applications are open. Can't wait to meet the first cohort!!

[Meka Asonye @BigMekaStyle]

6 years ago, 3 Yale students decided to drop out and build @Prepared_HQ to fix America’s 911 system. Today, @michael__chime stops by for his first interview since announcing their acquisition by @axon_enterprise.

We dig deep into Prepared’s path to PMF and decision to sell (including the insane story of how Mike negotiated the deal from a hospital bed while doctors were telling him he might lose his leg to a spider bite).

Some other topics we hit on that stuck with me:
- How they pivoted from a different first product
- Whether or not to drop out to start a company
- Building in headwinds vs. tailwinds
- Navigating govt. procurement as 20-somethings
- Why he tries to be “terrible at sales”
- Balancing listening to customers with following your founder conviction
- Finding real AI uses cases
- Giving away the product for free for years (and navigating spicy board meeting arguments on this)

Since partnering closely with Mike, @dylan_gleicher, and @NealSoni00 from their 2021 seed, I’ve seen up close how they chose a hard path and made it work, so I’m glad other founders will get to learn from their counterintuitive moves.

Full episode is below. I think it’s particularly worth a watch if you’re a founder selling into govt. or taking on a dusty industry with AI.

[Meka Asonye @BigMekaStyle]

Today, @axon_enterprise announced its planned acquisition of @Prepared_HQ. @michael__chime, Dylan Gleicher, @NealSoni00 and the entire team have earned every bit of this impressive outcome (in just 6 intense years!)

This team dropped out of Yale to take on building for American safety and selling into govt. before it was the cool thing to do. They worked through early product pivots, stuck to their guns on a unique GTM strategy, and did a fast and furious roadmap overhaul to take advantage of AI.

Incredibly proud of all they’ve accomplished, processing 10M+ emergency calls, protecting ~100M Americans, and actually saving lives with the features they ship like live translation.

We’ll have much more to share about their remarkable company building journey soon (aka better make sure you’re subscribed to @firstround YouTube channel 👀)

But for now I’ll just say that I’ll always be wildly grateful that they chose to partner with me and the entire First Round team when we led their seed back in 2021. (And to @themollette and the @DormRoomFund crew for introducing us.)

I’m pumped for how this partnership with Axon will accelerate Prepared’s mission to give every emergency a perfect response. You can’t find a more mission-driven or deserving crew than this one.

LFG! 🚀

[Kimberly Tan @kimberlywtan]

We at @a16z are thrilled to announce that @axon_enterprise has acquired our portfolio company @Prepared_HQ, the leading AI company in public safety. Prepared will not only continue to pursue, but will absolutely accelerate its mission operating under the Axon umbrella.

We first met co-founder/CEO @michael__chime in 2021, when he had just taken the @thielfellowship and dropped out of Yale to found Prepared. At the time, Prepared was live in 16 cities and covered 1 million US residents. Even back then, we were struck by Michael’s conviction that technology should help citizens when they needed it most and reduce the stress our emergency response public servants faced every day. He and his cofounders had grown up in or around towns with active shooter tragedies, and their vision was simple: bring modern software and AI into public safety centers to improve outcomes for both citizens and operators.

The customer love for Prepared is among the strongest we’ve ever heard, and it’s not hard to understand why: Prepared literally saves lives. We were proud to lead the Series A in 2023 and the Series B in 2024 and to support the company’s incredible growth the past few years.

In just a few years, Prepared has grown to serve over 1,000 customers, cover more than 100 million Americans, and become the clear AI leader in public safety: providing centers with AI transcription, instant language translation, voice AI agents to triage non-emergency calls, and more. Their products help ordinary citizens receive better service in moments of crisis, while dramatically easing the strain on call operators who are so often stretched to their limits.

Axon’s acquisition is a recognition of Prepared’s category leadership, the caliber of its team, and the scale of its mission. We at a16z are grateful to have supported Michael, @NealSoni00, @dylan_gleicher and the entire Prepared team and want to congratulate them on an exceptional milestone. We’re excited to see them continue to pursue their worthwhile mission for years to come. @davidu

[Kimberly Tan @kimberlywtan]

.@Prepared_HQ is saving lives with AI.

When someone who doesn't speak English dials 911, for instance, the wait for a human translator can take precious minutes that those in need don’t have. AI can translate it instantly.

This is just one example among many of how Prepared provides emergency response centers with AI software to give accurate, real-time support to those in need.

CEO @michael__chime shares the story of how their software helped a father and his daughter:

[Michael Chime @michael__chime]

@joshk @Prepared_HQ Grateful for your support!

[Prepared @Prepared_HQ]

We're proud to announce that we’ve raised a $27M Series B, led by @a16z with participation from @firstround, @M13Company, and @newviewcap, to continue building the future of public safety.

Hear from CEO @michael__chime about what it means: https://t.co/jakrwfKYNy

[David Ulevitch 🇺🇸 @davidu]

🚨💪💯🇺🇸 Learn more about @a16z American Dynamism company @Prepared_HQ on how they are modernizing 911 services with AI capabilities to save lives and improve public safety. It's incredible work from a terrific team.

[Prepared @Prepared_HQ]

A game-changer for 911, a life-saver for communities, and a story worthy of the national spotlight.

Check out CEO Michael Chime and telecommunicator Raquel Lewandoski on the @TODAYshow with correspondent @tvkatesnow.

Learn more about bringing our technology to your agency: https://t.co/V2AS3eOSvu

[Meka Asonye @BigMekaStyle]

Super excited to see the work that @michael__chime and the @Prepared_HQ team are doing highlighted on the Today show today. Prepared’s live video, AI transcription, and translation are changing the way 911 dispatchers respond to emergencies—capabilities that were never possible before—and are saving lives. Honored and lucky to be working with such an epic team on the most important problems.

This is just the beginning.🚀

[Michael Chime @michael__chime]

AMDG!

[SIHS Sports @SIHSSports]

Michael Chime '17 has been named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 for his work with 'Prepared', which is a software that turns smartphones into a body cam that can stream live to authorities to give a real-time view of emergency situations. Tremendous work Michael!

https://t.co/g5oz0YsErl

[Molly Fowler @themollette]

Big week for @DormRoomFund ...

- @shieldaitech raised a series F at $2.7b post while flying F16s autonomously
- @Prepared_HQ announced their series A with @a16z while saving lives. (Go @michael__chime and team!)

They've come a long way since their dorm rooms <3

[a16z @a16z]

Despite its importance, our 911 system is ill equipped to handle many modern emergencies. That’s why we’re proud to invest in @Prepared_HQ @michael__chime @NealSoni00, which is the advanced data layer for 911. 👇

[Michael Chime @michael__chime]

@a16z @Prepared_HQ @NealSoni00 Time to build!

[Kimberly Tan @kimberlywtan]

1/ Very excited to announce our newest American Dynamism investment – we @a16z @davidu are thrilled to be leading the Series A for @Prepared_HQ, which is building the AI-enabled data layer for 911 & emergency response

[Michael Chime @michael__chime]

@kimberlywtan @a16z @davidu @Prepared_HQ Let's build!

[David Ulevitch 🇺🇸 @davidu]

I teased this a bit in yesterday's post, and today I'm thrilled to announce my investment in @Prepared_HQ – The superhero version of 911. An advanced AI-assisted 911 upgrade is long overdue, and now underway thanks to Prepared. Read more: https://t.co/rJjWIUnEUG

[Michael Chime @michael__chime]

@davidu @Prepared_HQ Excited to work with you and the team.

[Prepared @Prepared_HQ]

We are so excited to partner with @Lincoln_Police to help save lives in the Lincoln Community!

Learn more by watching the video below ⬇️