You have no experience.
You’ve never started a company.
You’ve never had a full time job.
Nike is going to kill you.
You’re a kid.
You don’t have technical skills.
You shouldn’t build hardware.
Apple is going to kill you.
You can’t build hardware.
You can’t measure heart rate non-invasively.
Athletes don’t care about recovery.
Under Armour is going to kill you.
It won’t be accurate.
You don’t listen.
You’re an ineffective leader.
You can’t recruit great talent.
You’re going to have to pay every athlete.
You can’t measure sleep non-invasively.
It’s too expensive to research.
Athletes are a small market.
The product costs too much to make.
The product costs too much to sell.
Your valuation is too high.
Consumers aren’t going to want it.
Hardware is too hard.
You should measure steps.
Fitbit is going to kill you.
You can’t build a marketing engine.
You can’t raise enough money.
You need a real CEO.
Google is going to kill you.
You can’t be a subscription.
You can’t build a brand.
You can’t do consumer in Boston.
Your valuation is too high.
You shouldn’t make accessories.
You shouldn’t make apparel.
Lululemon is going to kill you.
You can’t predict Covid.
Stay in your niche.
You are going to run out of money.
You can’t build a health platform.
Amazon is going to kill you.
You can’t measure blood pressure.
You can’t get medical approvals.
The market is too small.
You don’t understand AI.
The market is too competitive.
It won’t work internationally.
The supply chain is too complicated.
You can’t build an AI.
You can’t raise enough money.
It’s too competitive.
Healthcare isn’t going to want it.
…
Just keep going ✌️
Today's meeting tools give you a transcript, but nobody tells you how you did. I'm so excited to announce Work Coach (a new mac meetings app).
Work Coach helps you by:
- Observing you in meetings (interviews, 1:1s, sales calls, team meetings)
- Analyzing how you show up to those meetings
- Identifying opportunities to improve
- Replaying the exact moments from your meetings where it happened
- Role play conversations (intros in an interview, asking for a raise, etc)
- Interviewing your coworkers to get feedback that you're not getting
I'll put the download link below.
Talk about the way back machine. I just reconnected with Behzad Mansouri at #DealmakersBoston - it took us a few minutes to remember, but realized we went to the same high school and were on the tennis 🎾 team together - almost 40 years ago 🤯
Quick poll for customer-facing roles (sales, BD, GTM, success, etc.): how do you use AI assistants like ChatGPT or Claude?
1. Chat/Q&A only
2. With built-in connectors (Google Drive, Slack, etc.)
3. With custom integrations / MCP servers
4. Don't use AI tools in my daily workflow
Today @The_SWBoston revealed the latest judge to join Techstars Startup Weekend 2026, none other than @changds.
In the week ahead we'll be sharing even more of what the good folks on Linkedin have been seeing for the past couple days ;)
#startups
There’s a lot of movement since this original X post. A bunch of folks are working on things that should help create the very fertile ground for a whole new generation of Boston tech startups to rise. Here are some things I know about.
1. There are conversations w both YC and South Park Commons about cranking up here. We’re at the right level and there’s interest. I’m hopeful one of them steps up. Given founders of 17 of the top 50 ai companies went to school here, I think it’s a good idea for them.
2. @sequoia is doing two new things in Boston. (a) We are spinning up a “Starter Series” where we connect high potential students in Boston to Sequoia, other founders, etc. & (b) We have an opening for an associate/analyst/principal type and I’d like to find that person here in Boston. I’d like someone w a technical degree who went to school in the Cambridge ecosystem in last few years that is outgoing. If you’ve got the perfect referral, hit me up on DM or LI. I’m strict on the profile, so please keep it tight as my inbox runeth over these days.
3. @A16Z is programming a bunch of content in Boston.
4. We are talking to the government about making Boston an even better place to live and thrive for those founders. The average age of a Fortune 50 AI founder is 28, so we need to make it great for that crowd. We had a good first call with the mayor and are scheduling a meeting with the governor. Hats off to them for reaching out. Housing costs, transportation, & fun, oh my.
5. The @Whoop folks were already working on and just launched the "Massachusetts AI Coalition" which is going to bring ai talent to Boston and be a major convener in the city. HubSpot has signed up to be part of this as well as @Suno, @Lovable, @Draftkings, @Wayfair, @Klaviyo, @circle , and a bunch of the next gen startups. Big big props to @willahmed & @Durkin.
6. MIT is working on some amazing new stuff that’s not ready to be talked about yet.
7. Some good signals from @epaley about revisiting the non-compete & non-solicit rules.
8. Discussions with the existing early stage incubators are happening.
9. The Patriots won their first playoff game in 7 years and the Red Sox signed an excellent pitcher.
A lot more convening. A lot more west coast energy. #FertileGround
Most of this is being done by other people. Since I started all this trouble I thought I’d just document all the great stuff that folks were doing. Thanks everyone. If you’re in Boston and doing amazing stuff that I missed that will help it be a place where the next 28 year old ai superstar founder starts her company, put in the replies.
🎯 Huge untapped GTM upside
We focused mostly on product and features.
The real 10x potential might be in sales, CS, and marketing which barely came up.
#sales#CS#marketing
I left energized for what comes next.
#BUILD617#AI
Had our second #AI roundtable with #Boston builders yesterday, this time at EnFi. Lots of demos, debates, laughs, and a few quiet panic moments. Some of my takeaways:
👉 Each person lists their key focus areas for the week
👉 We flag what seems out of whack and align on what's most important
👉 Group look back on Friday to ensure we delivered what we said we would
Small ritual. Big impact: focus 🔎 accountability ☑️ speed ⚡️ #startups
At the new company, we’ve been flat out - and realized yesterday that being “heads down” isn’t the same as being aligned. So we’re making a change next week to start a 5x5, an old ritual that worked at the company we later sold to @PayPal