Daniel First

Founder @ Axion - AI agents that evolve data centers, EVs, airplanes, med devices.

[Axion @axion_ray]

Thrilled to announce Axion's inaugural Industry Advisory Board. These senior operating leaders are shaping how manufacturers are using AI to accelerate product innovation & improve quality proactively.
Read more:https://t.co/grefE48gcT

[Daniel First @DanielFirstAx]

@Jason @ceobillionaire I’m in

[Y Combinator @ycombinator]

.@chasi_ai deploys AI agents for the $1T+ equipment distribution industry, helping dealers sell more, respond faster, and maximize fleet utilization - 24/7.

Congrats @akashpavan & @SarmanAulakh on the launch!

https://t.co/fGSpAPnlxk

[Salesforce Ventures @SalesforceVC]

We've led @axion_ray's Series B 🚀

Manufacturing is increasingly complex. Axion’s AI observability platform helps teams detect issues early, find root causes fast, and prevent costly failures.

Cheers to @DanielFirstAx & the entire Axion team 🙌
https://t.co/GGgjzpGdoe

[Daniel First @DanielFirstAx]

Proud to share our Series B & mission to help manufacturers solve the top issues impacting their customers

[Axion @axion_ray]

Our $37M Series B led by Salesforce Ventures, with SE Ventures & Bessemer, Axion expands our mission to help the world’s most innovative manufacturers detect issues earlier, fix them faster, and deliver products customers truly love.
🔗 https://t.co/NrNnmRuFQ7

[Daniel First @DanielFirstAx]

@nextdoorcohq https://t.co/MFoCu1zMM4 - many roles open!

[Daniel First @DanielFirstAx]

American manufacturing for data centers, airplanes, and medical devices can only thrive if we use AI to ensure high quality & exceptional customer experience. Thanks @alexavontobel @InspiredCap for having me - great discussion!

[Inspired Capital @InspiredCap]

What does the manufacturing quality crisis cost the industry every year?

In today’s episode of Inspired, @alexavontobel and Kamran Ali sat down with @DanielFirstAx, Founder of @axion_ray, to explore the $2 trillion+ problem plaguing global manufacturing. Daniel shares his personal founder journey, gives us an inside look at the future of manufacturing, and reveals how his AI-powered platform detects issues manufacturers never knew existed. We backed Daniel and the Axion team back in 2023 at their seed round, and we’re proud to be on their journey!

Apple: https://t.co/D5FPB5qS3d
Spotify: https://t.co/jwMzxdoAuV
YouTube: https://t.co/IYsidkzzDg

Want Alexa’s biggest takeaways? Subscribe to our Substack: https://t.co/hucFF411Ln

[Daniel First @DanielFirstAx]

To win in data centers, we’ll need to use AI to bring power systems to market that customers love, by reducing downtime & improving quality & performance. Thanks @SchneiderElec for a great panel

[Axion @axion_ray]

Exciting day today at the Schneider Electric Innovation Summit! Great to be part of the Schneider Electric Ventures Panel “AI-Native Startups Changing the Game” and the Innovation Park Startup Showcase!

[Axion @axion_ray]

Axion Ray is proud to be named one of the top startups driving innovation in dual-use technology by the Silicon Valley Defense Group in their 2025 report, #NatSec100. https://www.natsec100.
We're proud to be building technology for critical domains, like defense.

[Axion @axion_ray]

@BessemerVP new Vertical AI report this week, on AxionRay -

“The meteoric rise of [Vertical AI] businesses…provide unprecedented value: AI facilitates work that was previously impossible to achieve. Axion Ray helps manufacturers by analyzing large volumes of product data.”

[Axion @axion_ray]

Proud to be featured in Bessemer's 2024 State of the Cloud

"With early startup leaders such as...Axion...growing at impressive clips…we predict we will see at least five Vertical AI Centaurs ($100M+ ARR) emerge within the next two to three years."

[Jen Yip @nifferkin]

If you’re in NY, this is an amazing company to join — very strong growth and an obvious why now

[Daniel First @DanielFirstAx]

This week, I shared the @axion_ray mission of proactive intelligence at the @foundersysk meetup, where the New York engineering & AI startup community came together. It was a great opportunity to connect with entrepreneurial operators & engineering talent and discuss our vision for the future. A big thank you to @nifferkin and her team for organizing the evening!

>> We're hiring for roles across the company, check out https://t.co/3zJ1rz4NvF

#AxionRay #FoundersYouShouldKnow #AICommunity #NewYorkEngineering

[Axion @axion_ray]

On Tuesday, we proudly announced our Series A funding. This investment will fuel our mission to empower manufacturers worldwide to detect, investigate, and resolve emerging product issues. Read more about our mission in our recent blog by @DanielFirstAx https://t.co/qXdI6G0VrC

[Daniel First @DanielFirstAx]

@braveben we’re thrilled to have you along for the ride 🚀

[Ben Braverman @braveben]

One easy trick to raise a series A from one of the world's top VCs in 2024:

The average enterprise sales cycle is 2 years. To get your series A, simply build something so valuable that you condense that cycle down to 8 weeks.

Huge congrats to Daniel First, Max Helzberg, Akash Pavan and the entire @axion_ray team on their series A from @BessemerVP.

[Chris Brown @almostcmb]

I often say we like to back teams building important products. @axion_ray is a great example. Congrats to @DanielFirstAx & team, and welcome @BessemerVP

https://t.co/7fBJvCBpij

[Axion @axion_ray]

Axion Ray secures $17.5M in Series A funding, led by @BessemerVP & backed by @RTX_News. This funding will propel our mission to empower manufacturers with an AI observability command center, enabling them to detect and resolve quality issues https://t.co/AJqi78iwNk

[Jen Yip @nifferkin]

🎉Join us for our very first Founders You Should Know showcase in NY on March 27th, cohosted with @usv and @ShineCapitalNYC.

Come meet some of the best founders in NY:

- Mike Shebat from Traba (@mike_sheb, @Traba_Work)
- Akshat Bubna from Modal (@AkshatBubna, @modal_labs)
- Kurt Lin from Pinwheel (@kurtisjlin, @PinwheelAPI)
- Daniel First from Axion Ray (@DanielFirstAx, @axion_ray)
- Fay Wu from DealOps (@mfaywu)
- Raunaq Singh from Roam (@raunaqsingh, @movewithroam)
- Alex Rattray from Stainless (@RattrayAlex, @StainlessAPI)
- Mitchell Troyanovsky from Basis (@mitch_troy, @trybasis)
- Gerad Hanono from Comity
- Ellen DaSilva from Summer Health (@ellenjdasilva, @joinsummer)
- Aidan Dewar from Nourish
- Jessica McGlory from Guaranteed (@emceeglory, @onguaranteed)
- Sarah Ahmad from Stable (@SarahAhmad120, @useStable)

We only have a few spots left -- apply now @foundersysk!

[Justin Lopas @JLopas]

You love to see it

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

A concept I can't stop thinking about: Shoshin.

Shoshin is a Zen Buddhist idea that means "the beginner's mind."

Here's how I think about it:

(you may want to bookmark this for later)

Over the course of your life to date, you have filled your mind with an endless array of beliefs, assumptions, and understandings about the world around you.

These form the basis of how we experience, process, and make sense of life.

Every new thing we encounter is placed onto this map of reality.

It insulates us from the embarrassment of feeling like a beginner—of feeling adrift in an ocean of uncertainty.

The problem: When we are too entrenched in our map, we may fail to see the beauty of something new.

New information that doesn't fit how we see the world is rejected and cast aside.

Shoshin is the idea that we should approach everything with a beginner's mind.

Be willing to scrape away those old assumptions, to embrace new beliefs, to feel new ideas, and to lean into being wrong about things.

We all need to embrace the embarrassment of being a beginner.

Every expert started out as a beginner.

The only way to accomplish something meaningful is to endure days, weeks, months, or even years of embarrassing failure.

Those who lean into the embarrassment of feeling child-like again will eventually win.

Lesson: Embrace your Shoshin—embrace your beginner's mind.