Alex de Bold

Builder of things. Always curious.

[Alex de Bold @adebold]

@graceclarke Well if you're ever in the Toronto area LMK :)

[Alex de Bold @adebold]

@tobi @Copilot @tobi love this!! I just coded a Shopify integration leveraging VertexAi (soon to include Nvidia's digital humans) so this release is the icing on the cake, helping seal the deal for brands.

[Dan Reich @DanReich]

This is the same mental model I’ve been using for the new companies I’m building

The “how” has increasingly become a commodity.

They why, the story telling, and ability to break through the noise is harder than ever.

[Alex de Bold @adebold]

@chrija Lol - There are a few interesting things going on with 3D and AI. The biggest challenge and opportunity we're tackling is moving this into real-world manufacturing workflows.

[Alex de Bold @adebold]

@BrandonMChu Same w/my parents.

[Alex de Bold @adebold]

@jasonlk Example #1 - the Flashlight app from app store to core feature in IOS.

[Olivia Moore @omooretweets]

Wondering how to actually use AI in your day to day?

Our team @a16z asked some of AI's biggest names to nominate their favorite products of 2024 - this is a great starting point 👀

Here are their picks! ⬇️

For general AI assistants:
- Perplexity (@perplexity_ai) - AI search engine
- Anthropic (@anthropicAI) - general assistant, Claude
- ChatGPT (@chatgptapp) - for Advanced Voice Mode!

For help getting work done:
- Granola (@granola) - AI notetaker
- Wispr Flow (@WisprAI) - voice dictation
- Gamma (@gammaapp) - AI decks, docs, websites
- Adobe (@Adobe) - Acrobat AI PDF summarizer
- Cubby (@CubbyApp) - collaborative workspace
- Every Inc. (@every)- Spiral writing assistant + Cora email product
- Lindy (@getlindy) - AI agents to automate workflows

To build an audience:
- Delphi (@withdelphi) - AI clones
- HeyGen (@HeyGen_Official) - studio quality avatars
- Argil (@argildotai) - social media avatars
- Overlap (@JoinOverlap) - video editor
- Persona - agent builder for creators
- OpusClip (@OpusClip) - video editor
- Captions (@getcaptionsapp) - avatar generator + video editor

To build a product:
- Cursor (@cursor_ai) - AI code editor
- Replit (@Replit)- automated web developer
- Anychat - multi-model developer platform
- Codeium (@codeiumdev) - Windsurf agentic IDE

To get creative:
- ElevenLabs (@elevenlabs) - text to speech
- Playground (@playgroundAI) - graphics generator
- Suno (@sunomusic), Udio (@udiomusic) - music generators
- Midjourney (@midjourney), Ideogram (@ideogram_ai) - image generators
- Runway (@runwayml), Kling (@Kling_ai), Viggle (@ViggleAI) - video generators
- Krea (@krea_ai) - creative canvas
- Photoroom (@photoroom_app) - image editor

To learn or grow:
- Rosebud (@joinrosebud) - AI journal
- Good Inside (@GoodInside) - parenting app
- Ada Health (@adahealth) - health management
- Ash - AI counselor
- NotebookLM (@notebooklm) - learn anything w/ AI
- Particle (@particle_news) - personalized news

To have fun:
- Remix AI (@getremixai)- AI social platform
- Meta Imagine (@AIatMeta) - AI-first social tools
- Grok (@grok) - chatbot from xAI
- Curio (@CurioBeta) - AI toys

[Lenny Rachitsky @lennysan]

Some key takeaways:

1. Get comfortable with looking dumb, especially in public. The best way to learn is by asking dumb questions, trying new things, and failing in front of others. You’ll uncover truths that others won’t, and more often than not, you’re not alone in having those questions. Everyone else is just too scared to ask.

2. Pair programming is a secret weapon. If you’re not doing this yet, try implementing it in your team’s workflow. It doesn’t just improve code quality; it forces intense collaboration and leads to faster unblocking.

3. Weekly updates, even if they seem like a time investment, create momentum and urgency. Parkinson’s law is real—if you set a time limit for something, it will get done in that time. Regular reviews force you to keep things moving forward, identify roadblocks early, and correct course quickly.

4. Time spent eliminating unnecessary code is never wasted. A streamlined codebase is easier to understand, less error-prone, and quicker to navigate. Make it a habit to revisit and refactor regularly, cutting away complexity. In software development, simplicity often leads to faster, more reliable results.

5. Traditional interviews are poor predictors of success. Instead:
a. Use extended trials when possible
b. Focus on real work product over interview performance
c. Look at why candidates made career moves, not just what moves they made
d. Leverage internship programs as extended interviews
e. Make the interview process as close to the actual job as possible

[Alex de Bold @adebold]

Customer service says "Finance is facing a backlog". Of course you are - you engineered a negative opt-in and forcing people to pay for a forced upgrade and then refund them. Guys seriously - so much negative brand equity here.

[Alex de Bold @adebold]

Opting into @NotionHQ AI pilot has been the hugest headache every - 2nd month in a row being charged for a product which I disabled and is re-enabled on the backend. Doubling the cost of Notion with no recourse but to pay the bill and then request a refund.

[Alex de Bold @adebold]

How isn't important in the beginning - but what and why is more important as there are many paths to the same outcome

[Alex de Bold @adebold]

@lennysan @hammer_mt As a technical founder I am able to hash out 85% of the approach from high level outlines to technical load management. It's astounding.

[Alex de Bold @adebold]

@ttunguz Verbatim what we just executed.

[Alex de Bold @adebold]

@harleyf A lot of this boils down to old-school thinking about how you can re-use existing tracks. I would argue that the best way to execute this is to stop expanding the 401 to more and more lanes and start using some of that land to lay down the high speed track beside the highway.

[Alex Iskold | 2048.vc @alexiskold]

The main challenge with Consumer is moats. AI 🤖 doesn’t necessarily solve that. The key challenge is finding data lock-ins that make switching hard.

B2B is a lot more natural at that because businesses have a lot of data to compute with.

[Alex de Bold @adebold]

@zachcoelius Just got off my 6:30 AM call with my AI team from Pakistan so yes this is absolutely 100% true.

[Alex de Bold @adebold]

@jowyang A lot of that rationalization has happened at a few Telco here in Canada already. Companies like ADA I’ve been doing this for quite some time.

[Alex de Bold @adebold]

@jowyang just look at the investment industry and how proprietary traders and high frequency trading is largely programmatic at this point. There is a proxy or comparison to consumers shopping on the website to retail investors who will never get the equivalent value in a transaction.