Deval Patel

Grateful child of immigrants. Mom x3. Product builder, small business advocate, crazy plant lady. Always ready to climb for the view. Long SF.

[Deval Patel @devalapatel]

@sm I rem Jonathan Haidt recommending a "license to roam" in The Anxious Generation - a card kids carry saying they have permission to be out. Wonder if that would help? Kids walking independently isn’t illegal in CA, but the fear of someone calling the cops is enough to stop parents

[Deval Patel @devalapatel]

@ianthiel my kids can't stop touching my screen...it not doing anything for them in return makes them walk away. but if i buy this we get fingerprints and chaos

[Deval Patel @devalapatel]

@bscholl @StephenFleming I'm not convinced most users actually want to build their own software, even when they can. They just want their problems solved. There's a meaningful difference.

[Deval Patel @devalapatel]

I’m working on OG Norton so I can confirm 14 is already happening ✨

16 is what I do for my family and orgs I support, except nobody’s asking for agents yet. I’m just increasingly solving those requests with AI. The family IT department is evolving faster than the tickets!

[GREG ISENBERG @gregisenberg]

The MOST obvious (but REALLY good) STARTUP ideas right now:

1. Zestimate for company data (what your data is worth to an AI lab)

2. Google Analytics for agents (see which agents visit your site and what they want)

3. Y Combinator for 1 person companies (back solo founders running a team of agents)

4. Okta for agents (who each agent is and what it's allowed to touch)

5. Marie Kondo for your company's data (clean it up so agents can use it)

6. FICO for agents (a trust score before an agent can spend money)

7. Geico for agents (insurance for when an agent makes an expensive mistake)

8. Datadog for agents (see every step your agents took)

9. Twilio for agents (phone numbers and texting for agents)

10. Upwork for agents (hire an agent for a job instead of a freelancer)

11. ESPN for AI (every model launch covered like a big game).

12. Shutterstock for robot training videos (get paid to film yourself doing chores)

13. Credit Karma for what AI knows about you (see it, fix it, delete it)

14. Norton for AI scams (protect your parents from fake voices and emails)

15. PayPal Buyer Protection for agent purchases (fixes it when your agent buys the wrong thing)

16. Geek Squad for AI (set up personal agents for families and small businesses)

17. Dell for private AI (AI in a box for firms that won't use the cloud)

18. Carfax for used GPUs (a health report before you buy secondhand)

19. Airbnb for idle GPUs (rent out computing power you're not using)

20. Rotten Tomatoes for AI models (real reviews instead of benchmarks)

21. G2 for skills (find the best skills for your agent)

22. Dropbox for your AI memory (take what your agent knows about you to any agent)

23. Canva for physical products (design it with AI and get it made)

24. ADT for your personal agent (alerts when your agent does something it shouldn't)

25. Hertz for robots (rent one for a move, a deep clean or an event)

26. Harvard Business School for internet businesses (a real education in building online)

27. Workday for agents (onboard, manage and offboard your digital workers)

28. Getty Images for your face and voice (license your likeness to AI safely)

29. Meta Muse for older adults (and other high LTV niche)

30. Google Ads for agents (pay to be what the agent recommends)

31. Loom for agents (a walkthrough of everything your agent did)

32. Plaid for agents (approved access to banks, airlines and stores)

33. Jiffy Lube for vibe coded apps (quick fixes when your AI built app breaks)

34. Ancestry for datasets (where your training data came from)

35. The organic label for human-made content (proof a person made it)

36. Strava for builders (track what you ship every week)

37. Honey that haggles for you (your agent negotiates the price)

38. SEM Rush for personal agent platforms (like Muse etc)

39. Frequent flyer miles for agents (loyalty programs built for agents)

[Deval Patel @devalapatel]

@yanabana Brilliant idea ✨let’s gooo

[Deval Patel @devalapatel]

@simishah_ What's interesting is that the fear of falling behind can look almost identical to ambition from the outside. But one is driven by possibility and the other by anxiety. Hard to tell which is fueling us sometimes.

[Deval Patel @devalapatel]

@allenmhc that's great, allen! all the best 😍

[Deval Patel @devalapatel]

Just watched Eternal Trees, Eternal Mountains at @3rdifilms, about India's Chenchu forest community. Part of Lokana's work in eye care, education, and storytelling with tribal communities (US 501c3). Read more about

Film: https://t.co/P3IbMyNl3n
Lokana: https://t.co/UGlvdH7WDP

[Deval Patel @devalapatel]

@SoniaBaschez @jeremiahjw I didn't catch the pattern! Love to see it

[Deval Patel @devalapatel]

@sm @Bobrwgk I was wondering the same thing...what was even the point of the post? That he knows a 6 year old who uses the word "abundantly"?

[Deval Patel @devalapatel]

@SoniaBaschez @jeremiahjw First, I'm happy you believed that it was handmade and not AI, and second, I'm happy you were right!

[Deval Patel @devalapatel]

Took my kids to their first congressional debate last night. One fell asleep. One somehow acquired juice boxes. And the takeaway was: “I think they both want to help people.”

Civic engagement, but make it 4–7 years old.

[Deval Patel @devalapatel]

@thathoo Does it count if it's on artificial turf? 😅

[Deval Patel @devalapatel]

Another fascinating read by @WorksInProgMag - we're about to have a lot more novel biotech. And if we can't move on something this proven and low-risk, what happens when the stakes are higher and the science is newer? We're not set up to deploy biotech fast, period.

[Saloni @salonium]

There is no good reason for mosquitoes to exist in wealthy countries today.

New technologies can get rid of the mosquito species that cause diseases like dengue, yellow fever, and malaria; and others can prevent them from carrying those diseases.
https://t.co/CddUFByGZA

So why do mosquitoes still exist?

In a new article for Works in Progress, Maya Rosen explains how state incapacity and risk aversion led to over a decade of delays and billions of unnecessary bites in the United States.

Oxitec, for example, engineered an Aedes aegypti mosquito in such a way that its female offspring would die before adulthood. Through sustained releases, they showed they could reduce local mosquito populations by 80% or more, in field trials.

They sought approval from the USDA in 2010, which then passed it to the FDA, which passed it to the EPA. In 2020, the EPA allowed them to conduct limited field trials in the Florida Keys. Two years ago, their experimental permit expired, and they still need another review before it can be used routinely. Their proposed field trial in California was withdrawn after public opposition.

Another company, MosquitoMate, developed a technique involving Wolbachia, which also suppresses local mosquitoes. They then spent over fifteen years working through the system before finally receiving commercial registration nationwide in 2024.

It seems that, sometimes, the barrier to getting rid of diseases isn’t technology at all. It’s policy and political will.

New products shouldn’t get stuck in regulatory review for so long, especially if the delays are about basic questions like which agency has oversight over the product, rather than testing for safety.

Though some of those uncertainties were being addressed, the broader changes haven’t materialized. After Biden’s 2022 executive order, the agencies planned to update how their coordinated framework was implemented. But Trump rescinded the order last year.

Meanwhile, the EPA unit that reviews new mosquito control products is still a small office backlogged in reviewing a wide range of products.

Mosquitoes are a policy choice. We can get rid of them. Will we choose to?
https://t.co/CddUFByGZA

[Deval Patel @devalapatel]

Stunning @SutroTower 🫶🏼

[Deval Patel @devalapatel]

+1. It’s hard to make a decision about a version of yourself you haven’t met yet. And that’s true whether you choose to have kids or not.

[Rahul Thathoo @thathoo]

Met a friend recently who, before having kids, was genuinely ambivalent about whether he wanted them.

Six months after his first was born, he’s ecstatic. He told me he had no idea it was possible to love someone this deeply.

Having kids is hard. It changes your life completely. But if you’re on the fence because you’re afraid you might regret it: you may be underestimating just how much love is waiting on the other side.

[Deval Patel @devalapatel]

@gefensk Daaaaang 🔥

[Deval Patel @devalapatel]

@alyssakrejmas I tell myself yes, they come with cute pots and plant stands too..!

[Deval Patel @devalapatel]

@ScottHickle Amazing! Congratulations 🎉

[Deval Patel @devalapatel]

@engineering_bae I don’t think we talk enough about how fun they made it to window shop