Prisca Pan

Founder at Unfram_d | Buy art , build wealth | previously #uxdesign @Apple, @shippo, @opendoor.

[Rajat Suri @rajatsuri]

Excited to be hosting one of the sharpest tennis experts in the world on Tribe for a live watchalong of the Roland Garros quarter-final Fonseca vs Mensik - starting in 1 hr!

If you're into tennis, come check it out and learn from Gill and other superfans

[Prisca Pan @PriscaPan]

Truck driver to Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic. Jerry Saltz’s origin story is a reminder that the sharpest eyes in the room rarely came through the front door. The people who learned to look before they learned the rules tend to see things the institution misses.

[Prisca Pan @PriscaPan]

@Chandrika633 No truer words spoken.

[Rajat Suri @rajatsuri]

In our latest 1:1 on @FoundersInArms, Immad and I catch up on what's actually happening in tech right now, the AI narratives shifting under everyone's feet, which companies they'd bet on, and how they're thinking about building teams in an AI-native world.

What we discussed:

(00:00) Data centers in space: skeptical takes
(01:02) Anthropic's moment: why the narrative has shifted
(02:16) OpenAI vs. Anthropic at $800B — where would you invest?
(04:12) Anthropic's 3x revenue growth in 3 months: how is that possible?
(06:10) The future of engineering teams in an AI-native world
(07:37) Design's role in product: why Mercury still embeds designers everywhere
(13:44) SpaceX S-1 and the IPO watch list
(14:37) Why post-IPO hype fades and when to actually buy
(17:01) Gemini in Tokyo: surprisingly good travel integration
(17:43) AI translation fails: what the phoneless experience actually needs
(20:06) Apple's AI opportunity and the edge computing bet
(22:07) Data centers in space: the only scenario it makes sense
(24:19) Xai co-founder exodus and AI researcher retention

[Prisca Pan @PriscaPan]

@saranormous Count me in!

[Prisca Pan @PriscaPan]

Most people think auctions determine value in art.

In reality, they’re just the final checkpoint.

Value is built quietly—through placement, curation, and timing.

If you know where to look, the signals are obvious.

[Prisca Pan @PriscaPan]

@conor_ai @mission__ctrl @hyperspell @aiplus_hq Let’s gooooo

[Prisca Pan @PriscaPan]

Navigating the art market: https://t.co/KsVboSYAYr

[Prisca Pan @PriscaPan]

A Shift from Mobility to Cultural Capital https://t.co/gUXByEvEG9

[Prisca Pan @PriscaPan]

@Magyer @hyperspell @conor_ai @maebert Let’s gooo

[Joe Magyer @Magyer]

Tech stocks puked this week because of the rise of AI agents. Perfect timing for a conversation with the cofounders of @hyperspell, one of whom is such an AI OG that he once bought a .ai domain name via fax.

@conor_ai and @maebert discussed AI agents, the evolution of context, @ycombinator , and more:

From chatbots to true agents – Conor breaks down where tools like ChatGPT stop and AI agents begin, and why the key shift is agents taking actions autonomously across your tools, not just answering questions.

Why context is the real bottleneck – Manu and Conor share how building their own “chief of staff” agent led them to Hyperspell, a memory and context layer that plugs into tools like Slack, Gmail, and Notion so agents can actually understand your customers, org chart, and tech stack.

The three bottlenecks to agent adoption – Manu explains why verification, capability, and context each limit what agents can do today, and why decoupling these layers (rather than relying on a single big lab) gives companies more flexibility and avoids platform lock-in.

Why workers aren’t using AI (yet) – Conor reacts to studies showing most desk workers rarely touch AI, and argues that fear, bad framing (“AI will replace you”), and lack of personalized context are holding back adoption despite models already outperforming humans on many benchmarks.

AI as global leapfrog, not just US office automation – Manu highlights under-discussed upside: primary care in Africa, McKinsey-grade advice for small businesses, tailored guidance for farmers, and always-on tutors that could reshape opportunity in developing markets.

Let machines be the cogs, not people – The pair paint a future where AI agents handle status updates, follow-ups, and information shuffling inside big orgs, freeing humans to do creative, high-leverage work instead of feeling like dehumanized “TPS report” machines.

YC, rejection, and founder stubbornness – Conor and Manu talk about finally getting into Y Combinator after nine applications between them, why persistence is a superpower for founders, and how YC has shaped Hyperspell’s trajectory.

Thanks to Conor and Manu for joining on this conversation. And, yes, we are proud investors in Hyperspell at @SeaplaneVC.

[Prisca Pan @PriscaPan]

@paulg That’s why everyone should invest in art instead of buying designer decor: https://t.co/NdXen6W51I

[Garry Tan @garrytan]

Everytime I get mad at people in the cheap seats criticizing founders in the arena, I remind myself of what Giannis said. Arguably my favorite response to a reporter ever.

[richard @richardzphotoz]

Storytelling is one of the most underrated skills in tech.

Everyone’s building. Few can explain why it matters.

[conor brennan-burke @contextconor]

apple, google, microsoft, and amazon all started in garages

today we installed @hyperspell for @samuelekpe in his garage, with world domination plans sketched out on napkins

we drove over an hour to get him set up and ready for launch

he’s just getting started 🚀

[conor brennan-burke @contextconor]

I used to pray for times like this

[conor brennan-burke @contextconor]

after 7 applications and 6 rejections, today is day 1 of @ycombinator

time to build

[conor brennan-burke @contextconor]

just got into yc and already doing collison installations

traveled down to palo alto to get @iamfaranna and victor kovalev set up with @hyperspell

first of many

[Prisca Pan @PriscaPan]

@paulg @growing_daniel That’s why I started Unfram_d— to help people buy art that looks great with the potential to appreciate: https://t.co/NdXen6W51I.

[conor brennan-burke @contextconor]

Got upgraded on my flight to NYC last night and everyone was using Hyperspell.

I looked back into the rest of the plane - everyone else was building their AI data connectors in-house.

Was just a very interesting observation.