Jonathan Maynard

21 | co-founder @knowlifyai (YC S25) | physics, cs

[Jonathan Maynard @RealJonMaynard]

If you've created an explainer video before, you need to watch this:

You can now make an explainer video on anything.

Officially released. Try it yourself (LINK IN BIO)

Comment "CREDITS" to get bonus credits on our platform :)

P.S. Just launched on @ProductHunt , check us out on their site!

[Jonathan Maynard @RealJonMaynard]

@AodenTeoMT I remember when you showed us the first emotive voice sample at YC - it was so good! Can’t wait to see where yall go

[Aoden Teo @AodenTeoMT]

Today, we’re excited to introduce Miso One, the most emotive voice model in the world.

Miso One is an 8-billion-parameter text-to-speech model for highly expressive speech generation. It emotes like a human and responds faster than a human, with just 110 milliseconds of latency.

We’ve open-sourced the model weights, with API access coming soon.

Hear how Miso One sounds in the thread below.

[Lilly Schade @lillyemira]

the hate on @UseCorgi is so low-iq.

working 100+ hours a week is exactly how the greatest companies of all time were built

insurance is a world changing problem, especially in the ai era

the growth and energy at corgi is unreal and the playbook should be copied

[Chris Combs (iterative design enjoyer) @DrChrisCombs]

It is perfectly acceptable to chant "USA" when you work at a company in said USA and just launched a ginormous rocket

[Arjun Talati @arjuntalati]

Today, we're launching @knowlifyai Studio, allowing you to create any video you desire.

When we first started Knowlify, we were looking for a tool to convert our textbooks into videos.

Our AI tool has come a long way from this, but after working with a couple of organizations, we realized that sometimes you’ll need a high production video that’s on-brand. Not some generic AI video.

Knowlify Studio bridges that gap and allows companies to send us all of their project specs and received a finalized video in 2 days, far faster than your traditional video agency.

If you’re looking to create ANY type of video in ANY style, we can make it. Visit our site and get a consultation now

P.S. this video was made with Knowlify Studio

[Jonathan Maynard @RealJonMaynard]

@arjuntalati @knowlifyai Super excited!

[nico laqua @nico_laqua]

You can run your company taking lots of breaks, “working” from home, showing up 2/3/4/5, however many days per week you want, it’s your company, not mine. Writing a long ass article attacking people who care and push themselves hard to create good products comes from a place of insecurity dressed up as intellectual rigor. Working hard and caring is ok, actually. Maybe you can be a pro athlete going to the gym 1 day per week, maybe you can be the best military general not marching on weekends. But attacking those that go to the gym 6 or 7 days per week because they care and because xyz athlete never worked out and did great comes from a bad place, and is bad for the industry, bad for progress, and bad for the soul. It’s funny how those that don’t push themselves have an absolutely visceral reaction to those that do - I certainly don’t write long articles against working from home or being slothful. Bill Gates was always in the office, and I think Microsoft is pretty cool.

[Thorne 🌸 @ExistentialEnso]

No AI data center is worth losing this.

[Sean Frank @Seanfrank]

I don’t know why data centers have become this generations nuclear power.

Unlike nuclear power, there is a 0% chance that a data center can lead to any sort of disaster scenario.

This project in Utah is:
- in an uninhabited area
- bought and repurposed water already in use
- is bringing its own power, so it won’t cost citizens anything

It’s like being against building a nuclear power plant in the middle of Nevada, except there is no radioactive waste. No fall out. No risk of anything.

It’s a big computer in the middle of nowhere, that is self sufficient in all resources.

There are a million real problems in America.

Data centers just aren’t one.

[Matthew Tortora @MatthewTortora_]

It’s beyond frustrating that the anti-ai crowd use electricity concerns (both grid pressure, and emissions) to try and argue against data center construction, when both issues are easily solved via fission power, which we lack because of people with the same degrowth mindset 40 years ago

[Jonathan Maynard @RealJonMaynard]

@bunsen @jai_prasad17 @knowlifyai Thanks for the shoutout!

[Kevin O'Leary aka Mr. Wonderful @kevinolearytv]

Why is there suddenly such an aggressive push against American data centers and AI infrastructure? After seeing a major spike in coordinated opposition campaigns around our Utah projects, we conducted a digital audit and traced a large amount of the activity back to an organization called Alliance for a Better Utah, which has been pushing misinformation throughout Box Elder County about our data center developments. What’s even more concerning is where the funding appears to originate. After reviewing IRS Form 990 filings and tracing the network behind it, the money appears tied to Chinese linked funding channels connected through an organization called Arabella. Think about the incentive, if China is racing to dominate AI and compute capacity, why wouldn’t they want to slow American infrastructure down?

[Jonathan Maynard @RealJonMaynard]

@pierreeliottlal lmfao

[Alex Becker 🍊🏆🥇 @ZssBecker]

Okay. I'm ready to talk about this.

It was the worst month of my life. Also ironically the greatest blessing god has ever given me.

Last month I was held in the Cayman Islands facing 15 years in prison.

The charge: illegal firearm importation. Here's what happened. More importantly what I learned.

Short answer: no. I haven't been smuggling guns.

In the States I legally carry a gun on me at almost all times for self defense. Part of this is ensuring I am trained.

Hence why I routinely go to the range to shoot. When I do I pack the firearm I intend to use in in a backpack.

Last month I was in a giant rush to make a private flight and didn't fully check my backpack before leaving. In it was a small firearm I missed.

It was discovered when I went through immigration.

At first I assumed I'd just be sent home.

Then my wife did some quick research. She pointed out the minimum sentence for importing a gun is 15 years. The police who showed up confirmed it.

To say I nearly pissed my pants is an understatement.

This was completely my fault. I'm an idiot. The point of this post isn't to blame or complain about anything. The laws there are fair. I'm a grown man capable of checking his bag before flying.

The point is: for three weeks on the island (on bail), I got to take a long hard look at my life.

I've built a high net worth and a company I love, with people I love working with. I have a beautiful wife who is my best friend. I do whatever I want all day every day. My parents are alive and I get to see them almost every week.

Still, despite all this, I often wake up annoyed I haven't done enough with my life. Asking myself "is this it?" In fact I'm pissed half the time, feeling I can do better.

Which is ironic. I made $20,000 a year in the military. If you'd told me then I'd achieve a 9 figure net worth and all the above, I would've assumed I'd consider my life a dream.

The twist truly hit me on the island as I watched everything I worked hard for in my life held at "gunpoint". Pun intended. Everything I worked so hard to get — poof. Didn't matter for shit.

The way the law works there are simple : if you can't prove it was an accident, the minimum is 15 years.

It became glaringly obvious. Not only was I an absolute idiot who couldn't pack his own bag. I'd also become a fool who couldn't enjoy the blessings I already had.

I'd taken all the people in my life and the success totally for granted. Blind. Blind. Blind.

Nothing like a 20-year potential sentence to make you realize: waking up with fun stuff to work on, then chilling on the couch reading with your wife at the end of the day — that's about as good as it gets.

I should be euphoric 24/7.

To go from having it all, to potentially not even having the option to piss and shit when you want — that's a wake up call if there ever was one.

Luckily, the Caymans is a fair place. I was found under exceptional circumstances during my trial. AKA the judge and the courts reviewed the case and agreed it was an accident.

I still love the island. It's probably my favorite place to vacation. Just check your luggage before you go. Ha.

My point is this: be present. Enjoy your life. One day something could happen — even by complete accident — and yoink it all away.

I have so many friends who'll read this and by all definition live a "dream life" — and yet are dissatisfied just like I was. If anything this is the default for most successful men. Not the exception.

I'm writing this to help you stop.

It took god slapping me across the face with my own ignorance to see it. It was painful and scary. Dark.

But honestly, it was the greatest blessing I've ever received. I'm writing this from my office at home, giddy as absolute fuck about my life and everything I have the option to do today.

If anything, I'm sad about how much time I wasted feeling otherwise.

Don't be ignorant and stupid like me. You might not get the blessing of a 15-year prison threat in a foreign country to wake you up.

Wake up. Appreciate what you have now.

[Jonathan Maynard @RealJonMaynard]

Coming to Europe made me realize how great the tipping system is.

In Europe the service is terrible.

[Jonathan Maynard @RealJonMaynard]

It’s not high-speed, which is the issue.

[Jonathan Maynard @RealJonMaynard]

@jibranhutch @quanmhuynh @Haladirofficial @BoxGroup @SusaVentures @seedtosunflower @Valkyrie_vc @ycombinator @Joshuabrowder Congrats 🎉

[Jibran Hutchins @jibranhutch]

We at @Haladirofficial just raised our seed round, bringing our total amount of funding to $4.3M to build operational superintelligence. Led by @BoxGroup and @SusaVentures, with participation from @seedtosunflower, @Valkyrie_vc, XPRESS Ventures, and various angels, with prior round funding from @ycombinator and @svangel, and our first believer, @Joshuabrowder.

[Paul Graham @paulg]

If you skip some or all of college to start a startup, it's on you to develop your mind the way college would have. And that's not something that happens by default in most startups.

[Graham Stephan @GrahamStephan]

Roughly 220 billionaires reside in California. They employ roughly 10 million people. If a wealth tax passes, everyone with a billion-dollar idea will think twice about whether they want to build that business in California. But that isn’t even the most dangerous part.

When this turns out to raise less money than expected, the bar will be lowered to $100 million. Then $50 million. Then $10 million. Then $1 million. They’ll call it “the millionaire tax.” And since ~80% of the California population isn’t a millionaire, they’ll vote it into existence because “it doesn’t affect them.”

But many of those “millionaires” are providing jobs. Housing. Innovation. Buying products and services. They’re a net economic benefit. If you discourage them from living in California, they will leave. Then it becomes a downward spiral where they have to tax everyone else to stay afloat.

Not saying the system is perfect. But a simpler solution might simply be: spend less money and encourage more people to move back / create a billion dollar idea.