Russell Smith 🤙

Currently @9mothers building AI weapon systems. YC P26.

LP/VP @pioneer_fund. LP @ others. Ex @recursecenter A1'22, @rainforestqa, @ycombinator S12, P26.

[Russell Smith 🤙 @rhs]

Having done YC before, it's amazing to be back. The energy is the same 14 years (!!) on. Also, the quality of the folks I met was just as a high, if not more. So many have done a ton already, some are early. All are moving super fast.

Crazy achievement by the YC team and @garrytan.

My personal takeaways from the kick off of P26:
- the vibe/how folks/users feel matters - prolly even more for hardware
- what is the smallest thing one can actually ship rn
- watch out for hero-mode; are we solving the real problem, or the easy one
- strong cofounder bond is key, and the easiest way to fail, even vs funding
- building a pro sports team, not family
- post more to LinkedIn, as spaced rep is a thing, and starts a brand
- create a tribe. convert people. if founders don't no one will: but build one tribe, not more

[Russell Smith 🤙 @rhs]

@ShotcallerVC @bryantchou @ployai You should just use it now. It'll inhale your entire site, then let you edit it if you want. Or, just redo it completely with the current content and a fresh look.

[Russell Smith 🤙 @rhs]

This is going to absolutely crush Webflow, Framer, and wider.

@bryantchou and team have made @ployai so insanely good, I literally don't want to even remember using anything else before.

My personal fav company of the entire batch.

[brryant @bryantchou]

AI is making marketers lazy.

So we made the website do the work instead. Today, we're launching @ployai: the all-in-one marketing platform that turns your website into your hardest working employee.

And we're coming out of stealth today with a $27M seed led by @ycombinator and @firstround.

I spent 12 years at Webflow as the founding CTO where I built the product, but also started our marketing and sales teams that drove our fastest periods of growth. That experience made one thing obvious: the website is the center of your business. And it's only more important in the age of AI.

Foundation model apps can generate assets.
Point solutions can optimize pieces of the funnel.

But nothing runs the whole growth system: your site, brand, CMS, CRM, campaigns, analytics, SEO, AEO, and customer data all working together.

Until now.

Teams at @hex_tech and @clay_run, and growth agencies like Tonik and TNT Growth, are already powering sites on Ploy. Hex is generating on-brand ABM pages at scale, Clay is using its data to power a programmatic SEO engine, and TNT Growth is spinning up a landing page for each of their clients’ ads.

Wake up every morning with a report from Ploy - with what it did, and what it wants to do next.
Approve it. Ship it.
Or be lazy and just watch it cook.

[Russell Smith 🤙 @rhs]

@ployai @bryantchou hahahhaha....

[TBPN @tbpn]

It’s Demo Day. Joined by:

- @garrytan (YC)
- @harjtaggar (YC)
- @sdianahu (YC)
- @h_ayes (Meta)
- @lukeburgis (Cluny)
- @agansca (Knotch)
- @startupandrew (Tasklet)
- @cybermetheus (Eden)
- @hpafrisk (Tenet)
- @rhs (9 Mothers)
- @ET_adialante (Adialante)
- @akshaytree (Madrone)

[Russell Smith 🤙 @rhs]

Alumni day was awesome, so many old faces, and new to meet. I thought I'd miss the computer history museum, but this space is spot on.

[Russell Smith 🤙 @rhs]

and this isn't even automated...yet

[Mario Nawfal @MarioNawfal]

🇨🇳 China’s military goes all-in on FPV drone warfare

Chinese kids with military drones is pure nightmare fuel

Getting tag-teamed by them in Counter-Strike 2 is bad enough

Writers: Monica, Ian

[Tim Suzman @TimSuzman]

How to be a good investor:

Don't play games.

Be transparent.

Prepare before the meeting.

Make your decision quickly.

Give a clear yes/no.

Don't be an asshole.

Realize that there is a good chance you are wrong.

Understand that the founders are dedicating years of their life to this.

Huge bonus points if you are a fellow founder who understands what it's like to build a startup.

[Russell Smith 🤙 @rhs]

@finbarr @t_blom You 100% should, love my model y

[Russell Smith 🤙 @rhs]

@MattewPhillips @garrytan dm'd

[Russell Smith 🤙 @rhs]

@garrytan 💯

existing things either don't work, and or are too big/heavy (+expensive) to go on everything.

lets gooo!

[Garry Tan @garrytan]

This is the definition of must-have for the future drone war.

[Russell Smith 🤙 @rhs]

@sabir_huss50540 @ycombinator @9Mothers We believe so!

[Y Combinator @ycombinator]

.@9Mothers is making AI mission systems for the DoW.

Their first product - EDDA - is a tiny robot that protects soldiers and critical assets from Group 1 suicide drones. They're building it small enough and cheap enough to put that protection on everything: every vehicle, every position, every asset.

Congrats on the launch, @rhs, Roman, and Bogdan!

https://t.co/iGH5UGbr4z

[Russell Smith 🤙 @rhs]

@garrytan Amazing.

Also, challenge accepted.

[Garry Tan @garrytan]

Exactly right. The bottleneck has never been compute or capital. Its taste and judgment about what humans actually want. Infinite compute just makes the great founders faster and the confused ones more confused. https://t.co/AmPmal8NYF

[Russell Smith 🤙 @rhs]

Lets go!

We're expanding what we're doing, and also still hiring!

[9 Mothers @9Mothers]

New site, new things! https://t.co/7gE6W2qz6k

[Russell Smith 🤙 @rhs]

@DesaiAshu @grok @garrytan So yes, no one died. I never claimed that. I said what the DoW said to me. I also see that we don't currently have the ability to stop attacks against our troops, assets, etc...and we should.

You don't - but that's not the world I believe we live in.

[Russell Smith 🤙 @rhs]

@DesaiAshu @grok @garrytan Ashu, the two things are related, the quote is real.

Barksdale; "intelligence drone" - imho no, it's "someone" showing that "Operation Spiderweb" is totally possible here, and we have nothing.

Also, we don't make bombs, today we make cUAS.