Tomas David Ye

🇺🇸🇨🇿 AI for Supply Chain, Ex-AI/ML @ Amazon

[Tomas David Ye @tomasdavidye]

I just published I Haven’t Taken a Full Day Off in 14 Months https://t.co/TJj6VAESFL

[Tomas David Ye @tomasdavidye]

I just published Your first big customer is a gift. And a trap. https://t.co/R9ZEaRvyKP

[Tomas David Ye @tomasdavidye]

the best decision I made so far in 2026 was to copy my (now ex) girlfriend's skincare routine, highly recommend to any guy

[Tomas David Ye @tomasdavidye]

@elonmusk Super excited to see a big company embracing the "Built in America" concept. The future looks so bright 🚀

[Tomas David Ye @tomasdavidye]

@Seanfrank Katz Delikatesen... I spent 2 hours there last time

[Tomas David Ye @tomasdavidye]

the million dollar question, what does a brand even do?

[Sean Frank @Seanfrank]

for most brands:
- the manufacture makes the product
- the 3pl ships it
- meta finds the customers

what do you even do?

[Tomas David Ye @tomasdavidye]

I just published Sometimes I feel like a loser. https://t.co/hz6el1ikZG

[Tomas David Ye @tomasdavidye]

“Just build a great product and users will come.”

This is the most expensive lie in startups.

Because great products don’t win.

Distribution does.

There are thousands of “great” products no one uses.

And average ones printing millions.

If people don’t see it…

it doesn’t exist.

[Tomas David Ye @tomasdavidye]

You don’t become a founder when you start a company.

You become one when things stop working…

and you don’t quit.

→ when growth slows
→ when hires don’t work out
→ when decisions backfire
That’s where most people tap out.
That’s where real founders are built.

[Tomas David Ye @tomasdavidye]

Average founders chase more.

Great founders remove more.

Average:
→ add features
→ add tools
→ add complexity
Great:
→ cut features
→ simplify decisions
→ remove friction
Growth isn’t always about building.
Sometimes it’s about deleting what shouldn’t exist.

[Tomas David Ye @tomasdavidye]

We made a decision that looked smart on paper.

It almost killed our growth.

Here’s what happened:

1/ We optimized for acquisition
2/ Sales went up fast
3/ Ops couldn’t keep up
Everything broke at once:
→ delays
→ angry customers
→ churn
We didn’t have a growth problem.

We had a capacity problem.
Lesson:
If your backend can’t handle success…
growth becomes your biggest risk.

POST 11 — Comparison

Average founders chase more.

Great founders remove more.

Average:
→ add features
→ add tools
→ add complexity

Great:
→ cut features
→ simplify decisions
→ remove friction

Growth isn’t always about building.

Sometimes it’s about deleting what shouldn’t exist.

[Tomas David Ye @tomasdavidye]

We made a decision that looked smart on paper.

It almost killed our growth.

Here’s what happened:

1/ We optimized for acquisition
2/ Sales went up fast
3/ Ops couldn’t keep up
Everything broke at once:
→ delays
→ angry customers
→ churn
We didn’t have a growth problem.

We had a capacity problem.
Lesson:
If your backend can’t handle success…
growth becomes your biggest risk.

[Tomas David Ye @tomasdavidye]

Logistics is the only part of your business customers never see…

and always remember when it fails.

Nobody tweets:
“Wow, my order arrived perfectly.”
But they will post:
→ delays
→ wrong items
→ bad experience

Operations don’t create hype.
They protect reputation.
And reputation compounds faster than growth.

[Tomas David Ye @tomasdavidye]

“Growth at all costs” is how most startups quietly die.

Because not all growth is equal.

There’s:
→ growth that compounds
→ growth that leaks
Leaky growth looks like:
→ high CAC
→ low retention
→ constant chasing
It feels good in dashboards.

It kills you in reality.
The best founders don’t chase growth.
They fix what’s breaking underneath it.

[Tomas David Ye @tomasdavidye]

Most AI startups aren’t companies.

They’re interfaces.

→ Wrapped APIs
→ Fancy UI
→ Good branding
That works… for a while.
Until:
→ margins collapse
→ competitors clone you in a week
→ users switch with zero friction

Real companies don’t rely on access.

They build advantage:
→ data
→ distribution
→ workflow lock-in
If your product disappears when the API changes…
You don’t have a company.

[Tomas David Ye @tomasdavidye]

Is it just me, or does everyone else also hate the new Google Workspace browser icons?

[Tomas David Ye @tomasdavidye]

No one tells you this about building a company:

The hard part isn’t the work.

It’s the silence.

→ Investors go quiet
→ Customers stop replying
→ Growth slows down
→ Team looks at you for answers
And you still have to show up like everything is working.
That’s the real job.
Not building.

Holding it together when nothing is certain.

[Tomas David Ye @tomasdavidye]

0 → $1M is chaos.

$1M → $10M is discipline.

At 0:
→ Speed wins
→ You say yes to everything
→ You chase opportunities
At $1M:
→ Speed breaks things
→ Yes becomes expensive
→ Focus becomes survival
Most founders don’t fail because they can’t start.
They fail because they don’t know when to stop doing what worked before.

Scaling isn’t doing more.
It’s doing less, better.

[Tomas David Ye @tomasdavidye]

If your product needs a tutorial…

you already lost.

The best products don’t need explanation.

They feel obvious.

→ You open it
→ You get it
→ You use it
No onboarding maze.
No “watch this demo.”
Clarity is underrated.

Confusion is expensive

[Tomas David Ye @tomasdavidye]

We analyzed 50,000 Shopify stores.

Almost all of them fail for the same reason.

Not ads.
Not product.
Not even competition.
It’s this:
They treat operations like an afterthought.

Here’s what actually happens:

Day 1–30:
→ Sales spike
→ Founder celebrates

Day 30–60:
→ Fulfillment slows
→ Support tickets pile up

Day 60–90:
→ Customers churn
→ Refunds increase
Day 90+:
→ Growth stalls
→ Founder blames marketing
It’s not marketing.

It’s what happens after the sale.
Most founders optimize for clicks.
The best ones optimize for delivery.

That’s the difference between a brand and a short-lived spike.