Will Houghteling

AI Product @google. x-founder Strive (acq by @franklincovey). Formerly @MinervaProject. @youtube and @harvard.

[Will Houghteling @willhoughteling]

I've spent a decade in online learning and seen countless edtech cos promise to "reinvent learning" with a perfectly scalable, data-driven approach.

I think the future of online learning will look more like Noom and less like Lynda, Udemy or Coursera.

A 🧵...

[Ron Conway @RonConway]

Introducing “Comeback City: A Love Letter to San Francisco.” Proud to call this place home.

[Will Houghteling @willhoughteling]

@AlecStapp The *volume* of $$ grabs headlines, but what's much more important IMO is the *mindset* of the funders.

The third wave will be transformative IFF they make starting non-profits as lucrative / high-status as joining YC (e.g. VC vs. SBA loans). Talent is the bottleneck.

[Will Houghteling @willhoughteling]

@AlecStapp I'm skeptical that funding has been the constraint historically (this is only an ~10% increase).

I think her 2a & 2b are the whole ballgame.

[Josh Woodward @joshwoodward]

Introducing Gemini Spark!

Our 24/7 personal AI agent designed to proactively manage tasks and help you navigate your digital life, all under your direction.

Coming to trusted testers this week, and as a Beta for US Google AI Ultra subscribers next week!

[Will Houghteling @willhoughteling]

Will Meta change its name back to FB (or something else)? Odd constant reminder that they burned $70b on the metaverse while everyone else was getting in early on AI.

[Will Houghteling @willhoughteling]

@zmwang is a magician at making magic moments and has inspired me to live life differently. Love his cookbook for connection.

[Mike Wang @zmwang]

I'm writing a cookbook for connection and launching the first recipes → https://t.co/iW2nFzoi6q

For 15+ years I've been the friend people texted at 11 pm before a big life thing.

"I'm walking into my first board meeting tomorrow, how do we build trust in the first 10 minutes?"
"I'm designing my 35th, help me make it more than a bar night."
"I'm going on a trip with my parents, how do we actually connect?"
"We're designing our intercultural wedding, how do we make it magical and not formulaic?"

🍽️ They each wanted a "recipe" for how to design an experience. I'm sharing some of the meaningful ones that helped them (ingredients, steps, and a little science explaining why it works).

👨‍👩‍👧 What I learned is that people wanted to connect with the most important people in their lives, but were stuck. Holidays with parents, date night with their partner, a cousin's trip, a team offsite, a birthday, a baby shower. We default to the same script and wonder why the night felt okay but not great. It's usually not a lack of love in the room. It is a lack of inspiration about how.

🍚 In the same way you pull up a food recipe when you want to cook something great for someone, I believe we need inspiration from recipes for the experiences we host. Magical recipes to teach people how to host, facilitate, and create the "vibes".

I will share a new recipe every Monday (https://t.co/iW2nFzoi6q).

Comment 👇: What recipes would you want to read? Who do you want to deepen connection with in your life?

[Josh Woodward @joshwoodward]

Most Al chatbots give you basic "projects." Gemini just built you a second brain. 🧠

Introducing Notebooks: some of the magic from @NotebookLM, integrated directly into @GeminiApp.

Here's what changes for you today:

📚 Upload 100 sources for free

📂 Organize your chats - the wait is officially over :)

🔄 Sources, chats, and emojis sync

People are using Gemini and NotebookLM in tandem, and we'll keep building both.

To manage capacity, we're rolling this out NOW on the web and going from Ultra ➡️ Pro ➡️ Plus ➡️ Free. (Mobile, EU, and Workspace are up next!)

With Google I/O right around the corner, we are just getting started. Enjoy!

[Will Houghteling @willhoughteling]

Likely an accidental stroke of marketing genius, but excited to see more cos copy "too powerful to release" beta testing. "Chipotle develops carnitas burritos too powerful to release publicly. Committing $1k to testi on select high school soccer teams."

[Kevin Roose @kevinroose]

NEWS: Anthropic's new model, Claude Mythos, is so powerful that it is not releasing it to the public.

Instead, it is starting a 40-company coalition, Project Glasswing, to allow cybersecurity defenders a head start in locking down critical software.

https://t.co/1ehWqYi4iy

[Will Houghteling @willhoughteling]

@eriktorenberg @jess Doesnt editorial independence / integrity matter for media properties? individuals seem like more durable acqs than brands. Would gladly make a friendly wager that TBPN is less culturally relevant in two years than it is today.

[Malika Andrews @malika_andrews]

Ant Edwards. President Barack Obama.

It began at Team USA Training camp and turned into a game of one-on-one we didn’t know we needed.

[Brent Beshore @BrentBeshore]

https://t.co/EitcFHsnJe

[Andreas Storm @avstorm]

Love these new Anthropic videos

[FranklinCovey @franklincovey]

Tune in to the latest episode of FranklinCovey’s On Leadership, where BJ Fogg explains why habits form when behaviors are easy, anchored to routines, and reinforced through emotion.

Listen here:
🔗 Spotify: https://t.co/PAFHChhqVF
🔗 Apple Podcasts: https://t.co/fsOk0EbANO

[Jeff Dean @JeffDean]

This is absolutely shameful. Agents of a federal agency unnecessarily escalating, and then executing a defenseless citizen whose offense appears to be using his cell phone camera. Every person regardless of political affiliation should be denouncing this.

[James Dyett @dyett]

There is far more outrage from tech leaders over a wealth tax than masked ICE agents terrorizing communities and executing civilians in the streets.

Tells you what you need to know about the values of our industry.

[Will Houghteling @willhoughteling]

I'm looking to hire a fractional CTO to help mentor/guide two great EMs on org structure, dev process, AI implementation, etc. Anyone know anyone great?

[Will Houghteling @willhoughteling]

Worked adjacent to elite higher ed admissions building Minerva and ended v pro SAT.

Admissions at top Unis struggle to trust high GPAs from unknown high schools. SATs corroborated ability. Otherwise they’d admit a low risk wealthy student from a “fancy” HS

[Garry Tan @garrytan]

If you *only* used SAT to admit to elite colleges, share of admits from top 1% income falls 15.8% → 9.9% and representation from <$200k rises by +8.8%, with no reduction in post-college outcomes.

It's 'holistic review' and 'ban SAT' policy that allows the most wealthy and powerful to virtue signal while getting an edge.

[FranklinCovey @franklincovey]

On this episode of FranklinCovey's On Leadership, former Procter &amp; Gamble CEO AG Lafley discusses why the most successful businesses operate like an “eternal restart.” Tune in here:

🔗 Spofity: https://t.co/On34kAkqz5
🔗 Apple Podcasts: https://t.co/frVLGsBr7m

[Will Houghteling @willhoughteling]

This was one of the more fun pods I've hosted so far. Great conversation with @ShaneBattier about basketball (discussed Coach K, Pat Riley, LeBron, Yao, Draymond), leadership, culture and more.

[FranklinCovey @franklincovey]

Discover the power of humility and leading from the heart with basketball legend Shane Battier on this episode of FranklinCovey's On Leadership. Listen wherever you get your podcasts:

🔗 Spotify: https://t.co/8aG9Rg9l44
🔗 Apple Podcasts: https://t.co/k9j5UTuHeo

[Will Houghteling @willhoughteling]

Amidst the dizzying pace of AI development, @emollick is rightfully known as one of the most insightful, helpful and fun voices around.

I was lucky to interview him for @franklincovey's On Leadership podcast.

Listen on Spotify https://t.co/CByfrAbrX6