Nobody is coming to save you.
I learned that building next to a billionaire.
6 weeks ago I left the company I was building with the co-founder of GitLab. Here's what it taught me:
the world needs more residencies...
today there are not enough spaces for ambition to thrive
we’ve had 100+ people across the world reach out to us about starting a residency, so today we are open sourcing our playbook
comment playbook and we’ll send it over to you
I think no one should accredit the concept because the renaissance wasn’t accredited by anyone. Da Vinci didn’t need a certificate. The printing press didn’t need approval. The most transformative movements in history happened because there was no gatekeeper. Accreditation is just incumbents calling new energy illegitimate so they can control the narrative. This is just gate-keeping dressed up as standards.
Happy to debate freely and change my mind on why XYZ makes sense. I want what would benefit more the ecosystem.
The reason why I double down on my own to do @_Actioners instead of working for someone else is beyond me. SV needs a different culture. We are too immersed in performative acts for others to like us. We need courage, rebels, misfits. Misfits of the misfits. I’m looking for you. Apply https://t.co/oNphS4FWXf
At 1️⃣4️⃣, I was already building things. Masli: An app for booking cleaners at home.
At 1️⃣5️⃣, I launched: Treelife. Two kids planting trees turned into bootstrapped startup of 21 people with 50,000+ users and over 200 companies like DHL and AbInBev funding reforestation through exercise.
At 1️⃣7️⃣, I stepped into venture.
I joined Latitud and Xfund, writing industry reports, sourcing deals, and supporting founders. Became angel investor in companies like mercury.
At 1️⃣8️⃣, I appeared in @Forbes and recruited Cambridge PhDs to build Superplants: a plant-computer interface using carbon nanotubes and LLMs at MIT Media Lab.
At 1️⃣9️⃣, everything accelerated.
MIT Technology Review named me an Innovator Under 35 (I was one of the youngest ever featured).
I exited my first startup to a major logistics company. And spent time with @lexfridman, @PeterDiamandis and the ecosystem at MIT.
At 2️⃣0️⃣, I launched a blockchain-powered ticket marketplace and sold it a few months later.
I took a course at Stanford GSB while building a grocery WhatsApp chatbot with the CEO of a unicorn company funded by SoftBank in Brazil.
Did first half Ironman.
At 2️⃣1️⃣, I joined Simón Borrero CEO at Rappi to help build Rappi Turbo’s rapid-delivery restaurants.
I worked with Jamie Beaton CEO at Crimson, leading AdmitYogi after its acquisition by two Stanford founders.
It was my crash course in hypergrowth and ruthless execution. I then joined @khailee to build a productivity chatbot.
Did first hyrox pro.
And now at 2️⃣2️⃣, I’m working on the thing that feels like my life’s work:
Actioners. @_Actioners
A global movement and membership for people obsessed with taking action and achieving extraordinary things.
We build the systems — technology, community and physical spaces — that help ambitious people grow.
Our partner is @theresidency, a renowned network of hacker houses advised by @sama, which brings a powerful support into the world we’re building. Together, we’re creating environments where momentum compounds and we are having a lot of fun.
I’ve built products since I was 14. I don’t know anything else. I’m a founder because I have to. Climate tech, AI, biotech, ticketing, education, venture, hypergrowth operations — all of it was training for this moment.
Actioners is where everything converges:
ambition, community, technology, and the belief that people become unstoppable when they have the right environment. The certainty that human action moves the world.
Extremely grateful for everyone who has been alongside me. This is the chapter I was meant to build. And it’s only getting started. Join me.
What if you could bring the young most ambitious founders into a room for 2h?
People like @Cookiesarefunnn who dropout to work at @NASA, the @DeptofWar and @CIA
Or like @_boemare who has the world récord for the highest DJ set ever performed, created AI docuseries in the congo and worked at @Microsoft
So if you are a investor and are here in SF at 5pm como to @_Actioners for @theresidency demo day.