David T. Kim

published author | ceo @MythrilHQ | helping authors build the next Lord of the Rings and Pikachu

[David T. Kim @runicstave]

I went from $3k in the bank to $1M pre-seed in 30 days.

In June 2024, I left ProtoPie to start my own thing. No backup plan. No job lined up. Just a gut feeling I couldn’t shake. Turned down VC offers that didn’t fit. Got ghosted more times than I’ll ever admit.

Then something clicked.

I remembered I’d published one of the first hit web novels in the world. Fantasy meets sports genre, before anyone was doing it. That weird intersection of web storytelling and software suddenly made sense.
That became the seed.

In October, Sanju Lokuhitige and I got into Jason Calacanis’s Founder University Cohort 9. Learned a ton from Kelly Schricker and Lukas Durand’s team.
That same month, I met Andre Charoo of Maple VC in Vancouver. By December, I had $3k in the bank. That month felt like it lasted a year.

Then in January, Andre decided to lead our pre-seed. First check in. No product. Just belief. One of the real ones.
From there it was chaos.
Flew to SF straight out of surgery (do not recommend). Shaad Khan gave unconditional support. Met Sandhya Venkatachalam, Andrea Wang, Suzanne Xie and the Neo crew. Ran into Robin Chan at Blue Bottle. Accidental pitch. Easily my worst. I’m pretty sure I was still half asleep from anaesthesia.
Neo and Afore Capital actually gave us an offer. Didn’t land due to timing (I still owe you that coffee Anamitra Banerji). Rejections piled up. Part of the game.

But less than 30 days later, we closed $1M in pre seed. Big thanks to Sandhya at Axiom Partners and Charles Hudson at Precursor Ventures. You believed before there was much to believe in.
Along the way, founders showed up for us out of nothing but generosity: Trevor West, Lewis Z. Liu, Trân Lê, Henry Shi, Sam Blumenthal and others.

Last year we also built and launched an editor. Went hard on it, learned a lot, but ultimately killed it to go all in on comp. That decision changed everything.

Now we’re building something wild. A tool to help authors create the next Harry Potter, Pikachu, and Lord of the Rings. Not fanfic. Originals. Fresh IP for a new generation.

We’re finally ready to show you what we’ve been cooking. Stay close. This is just the beginning.

[David T. Kim @runicstave]

I killed off a character in the middle of a growing conflict and deliberately left no time for their funeral.

My beta readers got mad at me for that one.

[David T. Kim @runicstave]

@secretcoran and he is so damn right

[David T. Kim @runicstave]

@stevehou AI FOMO is funny because no company wants to be the next blockbuster watching everyone else become netflix

[David T. Kim @runicstave]

@UbermenschMind 3,000 years later and humanity still hasn’t solved the problem of people smiling at you while secretly running simulations in their head

[David T. Kim @runicstave]

@amadaoffor human insecurity is fascinating because people will be actively surviving a disaster and still worry about how they look doing it

[David T. Kim @runicstave]

@smriiis_reading recommend me a one

[David T. Kim @runicstave]

@secretcoran finally somebody has said it

[David T. Kim @runicstave]

@tjack im gonna use it to make an article maybe, will see

[David T. Kim @runicstave]

@AOConnorAuthor planet of lana ii is the one i'm watching. the original was a worldbuilding masterclass disguised as a platformer. nobody talks about it enough

[David T. Kim @runicstave]

@TweetsbyOche I love it

[David T. Kim @runicstave]

@TiltAtGiants lol

[David T. Kim @runicstave]

@ChristianWFreed fs

[David T. Kim @runicstave]

X just open sourced the new algorithm a few weeks ago. if you're trying to build a writer audience here, the weights are worth knowing:

a reply that gets a reply back from the author is worth 150x a like

retweets are 20x. bookmarks are 10x

free accounts get suppressed about 10x compared to premium

links in posts get penalized 30 to 50%

average engagement rate across the platform is now 0.12%

what this actually means if you're a writer trying to grow here:

posts that pull replies beat posts that just look smart
bookmark worthy content (lists, threads, useful frameworks) gets 10x the reach

if your tweet has a link, put it in a reply, not the main post

short posts that invite replies usually outperform long polished essays

writing twitter still works. you just have to design for the weights instead of against them

[David T. Kim @runicstave]

@thejustinwelsh some people turn victimhood into a full-time personality because accountability requires actual change

[David T. Kim @runicstave]

@Lovandfear the older i get the more “study history” feels less intellectual and more like basic survival advice

[David T. Kim @runicstave]

@smriiis_reading the prime is usually retrospective. you weren't reading 10 books a month back then because you were better at it. you had more time and less to carry. the slump is just life thickening

[David T. Kim @runicstave]

@wisdomXplorer doomscrolling, trust me.

[David T. Kim @runicstave]

@stephenRB4 me and my best friend when we grow up fs

[David T. Kim @runicstave]

@Codie_Sanchez people love debating money philosophically until someone quietly builds something millions of people genuinely want