The Log

Gaurav Thapa is building usefastlane, an AI distribution platform that helps companies turn their product into short-form content for TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts. We talk about dropping out of law in Sydney, moving to SF through Founders Inc, and why distribution matters just as much as the product itself.

Adil Mania moved from France to San Francisco to build Silicon Mania, a media company bringing late-night show energy, magazines, games, and cultural storytelling to tech. We talk about making tech fun again, why Silicon Valley needs more weirdness, and how chasing the next yes keeps you moving after rejection.

Yana Welinder just sold her AI analytics startup Kraftful to Amplitude and is now building Yana Banana, what she calls the first AI-native fashion brand. We talk about going from a zero-to-one AI product to a full exit as a solo founder, why fashion's design cycle is broken, and how AI hallucinations are unlocking entirely new garments!

Daniel Tian and his team are giving AI agents phone numbers. His company Photon connects agents to iMessage, WhatsApp, Slack, and Discord through a self-built Mac Studio data center in SF, and he left UPenn to work on it full time. We talk about why messaging is the next app layer, what agent-to-agent-to-human interaction actually looks like, and how the next Uber or Instacart might just live in your texts.

Linda Xue and her team bounce between New York and San Francisco building Vroom, a software layer for events she calls the Airbnb for events. We talk about DJing at MIT, what makes people actually open up at events, and how the best connections happen when no one's networking.

Bryce Johnson built a 250K audience by reviewing early-stage startups and now angel invests while building his media company Vesting. We talk about spotting unicorns early, what separates real investors from the ones who follow the herd, and what it really takes to bet on founders.

Ray Fernando spent 12 years at Apple, left to build with AI, and now livestreams coding on social media. We talk about simplicity, shipping in public, and why coding is about to become the new gaming.

I go over 26 years of building, failing, and figuring it out, and the 10 lessons I learned along the way.