Robby Lagen

I live in a van. Auburn University Alum. WAR EAGLE

[Dwayne @CtrlAltDwayne]

I went to one of Garry Tan's parties last weekend and I need to talk about it. The invite said casual dress but when I showed up everyone was wearing the same grey Allbirds and Patagonia vest combo. I thought it was a coincidence until I realized there was a rack of them at the door and a guy checking if you already owned a pair.

There was no music. Just a Sonos speaker playing a Y Combinator demo day pitch on loop. Someone asked if we could change it and Garry said "this IS the playlist" and then a guy near the cheese board started crying because it was his startup and they'd pivoted to AI six months later.

The food was all Soylent-based. Soylent dip. Soylent bruschetta. Something called Soylent Tartare which was just room temperature Soylent in a martini glass with a single caper on top. I asked where the actual food was and someone handed me a pamphlet about caloric efficiency.

There was a room you could go into called the Decompression Pod and it was just a beanbag with an iPad open to a spreadsheet showing San Francisco housing prices. A guy was in there weeping silently. I asked if he was okay and he said "I'm optimizing my emotions" and I left.

Garry gave a toast at 9pm. He clinked his glass with a fork for three full minutes before anyone noticed because everyone was on their phones posting about being at the party. The toast was seven minutes long and included a live demo of a product that didn't work. He handled the crash gracefully though. Just said "we'll fix that in post" and kept going.

There was a networking zone with actual lanes painted on the floor. You had to walk in one direction and pitch to whoever was walking the other way. If you matched on synergy metrics you got to sit at a table together. I got matched with a guy building AI for dogs. Not for dog owners. For the dogs. He was very serious about it.

Someone brought a guitar and I thought finally something normal is going to happen but he just played the opening riff of Wonderwall and then stopped and said "I actually just wanted to talk about my Series A" and then pulled a pitch deck out of the guitar case. The guitar was a prop. He doesn't play guitar. He bought it specifically for this moment.

At 10pm Garry announced it was time for Founder Speed Dating and before I could leave someone sat me down across from a 22 year old who told me he was going to disrupt grief. I asked him what that meant and he said "what if when your grandma died you got push notifications about it" and I just stared at him for the full 90 seconds until the bell rang.

The bathroom had a whiteboard in it. There were already three viable business models written on it. One of them had received angel funding by the time I came back out. I was in there for four minutes.

I tried to leave at 11 but the door had a QR code on it and you had to fill out an exit survey rating the party 1 to 10 and explaining what you'd do differently as a founder before it would unlock. I gave it a 6 and it made me resubmit. Apparently 7 was the minimum viable score.

The Uber home was driven by a guy who said he was also at the party but left early to capture the rideshare arbitrage opportunity. He pitched me his startup the entire way home. It was Uber but for Ubers.

Anyway I got home at 1am, checked my email, and I already had a follow up from Garry's automated CRM thanking me for attending and asking if I'd be interested in joining a cohort. I don't know what the cohort is. I'm afraid to ask. I've already been added to three Slack channels.

I will not be attending the next one. I have however been informed that attendance is not optional.

[Mo @atmoio]

AI is making CEOs delusional

[Auburn University Adapted Athletics @Auburn_Adapted]

🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

[Bleacher Report @BleacherReport]

MEGAN KELLER SECURES GOLD FOR TEAM USA 🥇🇺🇸🦅

(via @NBCOlympics)

[The Husky @Mr_Husky1]

For nine months, my wife Brooklyn carried our baby boy knowing he was dying. Three months in, they told us he had severe hydrocephalus. Too much fluid crushing his brain. "Off the charts bad," the specialists at Cincinnati Children's said. So extreme they stopped measuring because it didn't matter anymore.
The MRIs were sickening to look at. They said over 90% chance he'd either die right after birth or survive with such severe brain damage that any quality of life was impossible. We had meetings about breathing tubes. About when to remove life support. About letting our son "pass peacefully."
Brooklyn moved to Cincinnati, lived in a hotel near the hospital in case she went into labor. I drove back and forth, working, trying to hold our family together while planning our baby's funeral. On July 8th, fifteen minutes before her C-section, we had another meeting about the breathing tube. About when we'd need to remove it and let him go to Heaven.
Then Charlie came out crying. The sweetest sound I've ever heard.
He stayed in intensive care until yesterday. Now he's home, doing everything babies do. Normal. Beautiful. The doctors have no medical explanation. His brain somehow cleared the blockage on its own, something they've never seen in a case this severe. Nurses with decades of experience kept saying "miracle" and "divine intervention."
Thousands of people were praying for us. Friends, family, strangers, people we'd never met. I'm practical, I believe in science, but I know God was involved in this. I give Him all the credit.
During those endless nights in Cincinnati, I started woodworking in the hotel parking lot just to keep my hands busy, to stop my mind from breaking. Made small toys hoping one day Charlie might hold them. Listed a few things on the Tedooo app where I'd been selling my work, and strangers started buying pieces they didn't need, sending messages saying they were praying for our son. That community held me when I couldn't stand.
Charlie's here. He's alive. Prayer is real, and miracles still happen.

By Amanda Cain

[Tim Allen @ofctimallen]

Finished the entire Bible it’s been a 13 month word by word page by page no skimming journey. Humbled, enlightened and amazed at what I read and what I learned. I will rest and meditate on so much. I will begin it again.

[Allie Beth Stuckey @conservmillen]

Wrong on so many levels.

1) The angel does not ask Mary anything. He tells her what’s about to happen. “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” Luke 1:31

2) Even if he had asked, Jesus was not yet conceived. Mary would have been consenting to conception, not deciding whether or not to kill Jesus after he was conceived.

3) Libs will do Simone Biles level of theological gymnastics just to avoid the very simple: “You shall not murder”

[maddie rune🪰 @themaddierune]

Unpopular opinion: Homeschooling is way more doable than people pretend. It doesn’t take 8 hours a day or a teaching degree. A couple focused hours can change a child’s entire future. You can work full‑time and still do it. At some point we have to admit the truth: our kids need protecting. And if that means parents stepping up, rearranging life for a season, and choosing the harder path now so our children inherit something better, then that’s the cost of love.

[Robby Lagen @robclagen3]

@NWSteury I’m interested to help but am more available over the weekend

[Wall Street Mav @WallStreetMav]

If science class explained everything with Midwest emo music, we would have a lot more people paying attention.

Nuclear power explained.
It’s just a fancy way to heat water and make electricity.

🔊

[Drew Lind @drewlind_]

Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?
He that hath clean flippers, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his beak unto vanity, nor waddled deceitfully.

[Robby Lagen @robclagen3]

Broncos starter is out and they’re still in the 4 team playoff? NFL is a joke

[The Middle-earth Mixer @MiddleearthMixr]

This is why Indiana won btw

[Leading Report @LeadingReport]

BREAKING: Majority of Millenial and Gen Z voters now reject both political parties, per Gallup poll.

[Rise and shine sailers It be Monday @RiseMonday]

First Monday of the year, sailers!

[Nugs @Nugjokes]

Women be like “ewww carpet” and then put 100 rugs on hardwood floors

[Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh]

🚨 WOW. Brown University student Alex Shieh previously EVISCERATED the school's administrators for having a $46 million deficit, despite surging costs for students.

They pay $90K+ PER YEAR.

Alex Shieh: "What about the kids who weren't born on third base?! [...] Brown is on track to run a $46 million DEFICIT this year. WHERE is all the money going?"

"I'll tell you where it's going. It's going into an empire of administrative bloat and bureaucracy! Brown employs 3,805 full time non-instructional staff for just 7,229 undergrads. That's one administrator for every two students."

"This isn't education. This is bloat paid for on the backs of students and families who are mortgaging their futures for a shot at a better life!"

HE'S SPOT-ON.

[David Medina 🌲🇺🇸 @davidmedinapdx]

THIS! Influencer Teag McCoy has been running DAILY for 89 days straight with an American flag, and he isn’t backing down despite backlash and harassment.

PATRIOT of the year nominee!

Video: purejoymccoy on IG

[Clint Richardson @Clintau24]

Steven Pearl says the team sucks after wins.

Alex Golesh says winning is all that matters. Losers lose.

Hugh Freeze is on a media tour continuing to push the blame to others, saying Auburn was close despite zero improvement.

The difference is stunning.