Benazir

The straight line teaches the curve how to bend

[Benazir @benaziration]

🚀🚀🚀

[Azamat K. @ChiefSnack]

Introducing @siriusai. AI retention model.

We’ve proven that trust is more profitable than friction. Since August, we’ve helped companies like Promova generate millions in revenue.

Comment Sirius to get an exclusive look at the platform ✨

[Azamat K. @ChiefSnack]

Counterintuitive truth I've learned from analyzing 100s of cancel flows:

Making your cancel button easier makes retention climb.

↳ Friction breeds resentment
↳ Resentment compounds across cohorts
↳ Quiet rage churns louder than visible rage

Stop hiding the door.

[Benazir @benaziration]

@marty_kausas Why Kazakhstan flag? 😂

[Benazir @benaziration]

@yusan_lin @mirrormirror_ai @Techweek_ Let’s go!

[Benazir @benaziration]

@partiful Let’s go

[Azamat K. @ChiefSnack]

Early-stage founders love optionality.

"We can go B2C or B2B."

"We can go upmarket or down."

"We serve three verticals."

Optionality at the early stage is a tax on speed.

Pick one lane. Win there. Expand later.

We did this with Sirius. Consumer subscription brands. Retention. AI.

That narrowness is the reason we move fast.

[Benazir @benaziration]

🪩💃

[Benazir @benaziration]

@nazzari @speedrun Bella helped us to find our rock team!

[Benazir @benaziration]

@MaikaThoughts ❤️🚀🚀

[Benazir @benaziration]

Azamat has a good mood today, take your chance guys

[Azamat K. @ChiefSnack]

a16z SR006 just wrapped, and it completely reframed how we’re building at @siriusai

Now, the search is on for the @speedrun SR007 cohort in San Francisco

I’m looking to intro ambitious founders to the @a16z team. Drop a comment below with what you’re building!

The Deal:
- Up to $1M investment
- Direct help to launch and scale

This is the FINAL week to get in. Applications officially close May 17th at 11:59 PM PST

[Azamat K. @ChiefSnack]

a16z SR006 just wrapped, and it completely reframed how we’re building at @siriusai

Now, the search is on for the @speedrun SR007 cohort in San Francisco

I’m looking to intro ambitious founders to the @a16z team. Drop a comment below with what you’re building!

The Deal:
- Up to $1M investment
- Direct help to launch and scale

This is the FINAL week to get in. Applications officially close May 17th at 11:59 PM PST

[Benazir @benaziration]

@ChiefSnack @siriusai @speedrun @a16z We all need intro to speedrun!!

[Benazir @benaziration]

@RKRigney Next one on yacht pls!!

[andrew chen @andrewchen]

update for a16z speedrun-
It's now the FINAL week to apply for the upcoming 007 program hosted in San Francisco. Applications close officially on May 17th at 11:59 PM PST.

Here's the link:
https://t.co/c8OwnlksFh

Why apply? we'll invest up to $1m in your brand new startup. It can be pre-launch, pre-traction, and even pre-idea (for the right teams) and the a16z speedun team works with you to launch/scale

If you're reading this, you might be:

- hanging out at a job, waiting for your next promo/bonus/X-year mark/etc
- you might have a side project, thinking it should be something bigger
- you're talking with a work friend about starting something
- finishing school, wondering if you should accept your job

The thing i’d encourage you to think about is that most startups don’t start with certainty. they start with a feeling that something is pulling at you and won’t go away. A surprising number of the best founders we meet are very early:

- no company yet
- no deck
- no huge insight tweet thread
- sometimes not even fully committed yet

Don't wait until you have the perfect idea, or feel “ready.” Or everyone around you agrees, so the opportunity cost feels lower. But by then, usually the edge is gone. These insights and windows don't last forever

This is the best environment in history for small teams to build massive things. AI has compressed team sizes, timelines, distribution, and iteration speed so aggressively that the old career timing assumptions don’t fully apply anymore.

anyway, if you’ve been circling the idea of starting something, this might be the sign to actually do it

Official stuff below:
- May 17th deadline to apply (this week!)
- Official dates for SR007 are from July 27 through October 11, 2026 in San Francisco
- We wire funds fast and onboard you to our network of over 250 partnered tools-providers with a total of $5M in credits.
- Our stacked team of battle-tested operators who help cover your gaps, without adding headcount. Expect dedicated support and programs from experts across talent, recruiting, go-to-market, marketing, creators, capital network, HR, even visa support.
- a16z speedrun is extremely selective. Join an elite community of over 600+ founders who actively support each other and serve as a powerful source of customer introductions and product feedback.

[Benazir @benaziration]

@EmlynThompsonLA @speedrun

[Benazir @benaziration]

@custo_lejla 🚀🚀🚀🚀

[Lejla Johnsen @custo_lejla]

We’re entering a world of infinite output.

AI can generate code, designs, and create even entire product roadmaps in seconds. Building is getting cheaper by the day.

But judgment isn’t.

It’s no longer about who can produce more. It’s about who can decide better.

Taste and discernment isn’t just aesthetics.

It’s:
- Cutting a paragraph that sounds smart but says nothing
- Knowing which slide to delete, not which one to add
- Choosing the one priority that actually moves the needle

And ignoring the flood of “good suggestions” that dilute focus.

The hardest part of most white-collar work isn’t generating options anymore.

It’s choosing well.

And yet most tools optimize for speed and volume, not helping people get better at deciding.

I’d love to see startups building toward products that help individuals train better judgement over time.

What would it look like to create:
- Tools that train people to attach real probabilities to their beliefs - and see, over time, where they tend to overestimate or underestimate
- Systems that can make decision-making visible, trackable, and improvable
- Tools that train you to prioritize ruthlessly, that is to pick the few things that matter - and get comfortable killing the rest

In an age of infinite leverage, leverage without taste creates noise.

I’m especially excited about founders building products that strengthen human discernment.

In a world of abundance, discernment is the scarce asset.

If you’re building here, DM me and let’s talk!

[Lester @Chen]

every early-stage startup needs attention.

your weekend vibecoded website isn't cutting it
you watch videos but don't know how to make one
'new media' seems distant, inaccessible
you can't tell your story, so others won't either.

here at @speedrun we've designed brand, story, and launch programs to help fix this.

if you're still considering applying, I'd love to work with you later this year.

DMs always open to founders or creatives looking to work with us.

[Benazir @benaziration]

@Chen @speedrun Lester is the master of TASTE!!!

[Azamat K. @ChiefSnack]

My co-founder Benazir built the core recommendation engine at Alibaba.

That system serves half a billion people every day.

Now she's applying that same architecture to retention.

Predicting which subscribers will leave and figuring out what makes them stay.

The technology already works at scale.

We're pointing it at a new problem.