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Build big with us in Miami this winter.
We provide the capital, compute, unicorn mentors, and high-intensity lab setting. You bring the ambition.
Apply : southbound.focal.vc
We provide the capital, compute, unicorn mentors, and high-intensity lab setting. You bring the ambition.
Apply : southbound.focal.vc
Anyone can build now. Few dare to aim big enough.
That's why we're launching Southbound W27 by @thelabmiami & @focal_vc today.
Code is now cheap, abundant, and written by machines. What’s scarce is real ambition, intelligence, compute, and distribution.
It's what Southbound is builtechnical founders think bigger and move faster from day 1.
We're now opening applications to the second cohort of our winter residency.
If you want to:
- Escape the cold
- Work on an absurdly ambitious problem, surrounded by your best technical peers
- Get weekly mentorship by unicorn founders
- Funding on an uncapped MFN SAFE (vs giving up 7%)
- $1M in perks and compute
- and much more
... then join us in Miami from Jan 11 - Apr 11 2027.
Southbound is:
- Limited to 10 spots (teams or solo founders)
- Fully in person in Miami
- 7 days / week in office.
The cohort is small by design: Instead of being a number in a big batch, you get a hand-picked group of your best peers, weekly dinners with unicorn founders, and real time with focal’s GPs.
Rolling admission until all 10 spots are filled / applications close Dec 11.
Apply asap (link in comments!)
@ayalstern | @DanielDarling | @amiine_afia | @wynwoodceo | @SydneyWasi
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Exceptional builders bring 100X the output of good builders. And the gap widens with each model release.
They expertly pull the puppet strings on new models and infra. Its become awe inspiring to watch the best work in this age of AI-leverage.
We're inviting 10 of them for 3 months to spend the winter with us in Miami. Paying with $, compute, and unicorn founder mentorship. Seeing how far they go when surrounded by their equally intense peers.
Want one of the slots? Visit southbound.focal.vc
They expertly pull the puppet strings on new models and infra. Its become awe inspiring to watch the best work in this age of AI-leverage.
We're inviting 10 of them for 3 months to spend the winter with us in Miami. Paying with $, compute, and unicorn founder mentorship. Seeing how far they go when surrounded by their equally intense peers.
Want one of the slots? Visit southbound.focal.vc
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Daniel Darling retweeted
We have 80 empty desks in our SF SoMa office, and we’d rather fill them with founders.
Free for early-stage teams of 2–20. 6 months. No equity, no strings.
Come build next to us at Pump.co 👇
forms.gle/92wKAja5mkMdXS…
Free for early-stage teams of 2–20. 6 months. No equity, no strings.
Come build next to us at Pump.co 👇
forms.gle/92wKAja5mkMdXS…
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Daniel Darling retweeted
Code is cheap now. Ambition isn't. Stop building in the cold! Come to Miami!
Southbound W27 is open, our winter founder residency w/@focal_vc at @thelabmiami
10 technical founders, 3 months in Wynwood + weekly dinners w/unicorn founders
Apply now 👇 southbound.focal.vc
Southbound W27 is open, our winter founder residency w/@focal_vc at @thelabmiami
10 technical founders, 3 months in Wynwood + weekly dinners w/unicorn founders
Apply now 👇 southbound.focal.vc
Anyone can build now. Few dare to aim big enough.
That's why we're launching Southbound W27 by @thelabmiami & @focal_vc today.
Code is now cheap, abundant, and written by machines. What’s scarce is real ambition, intelligence, compute, and distribution.
It's what Southbound is builtechnical founders think bigger and move faster from day 1.
We're now opening applications to the second cohort of our winter residency.
If you want to:
- Escape the cold
- Work on an absurdly ambitious problem, surrounded by your best technical peers
- Get weekly mentorship by unicorn founders
- Funding on an uncapped MFN SAFE (vs giving up 7%)
- $1M in perks and compute
- and much more
... then join us in Miami from Jan 11 - Apr 11 2027.
Southbound is:
- Limited to 10 spots (teams or solo founders)
- Fully in person in Miami
- 7 days / week in office.
The cohort is small by design: Instead of being a number in a big batch, you get a hand-picked group of your best peers, weekly dinners with unicorn founders, and real time with focal’s GPs.
Rolling admission until all 10 spots are filled / applications close Dec 11.
Apply asap (link in comments!)
@ayalstern | @DanielDarling | @amiine_afia | @wynwoodceo | @SydneyWasi
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Daniel Darling retweeted
Anyone can build now. Few dare to aim big enough.
That's why we're launching Southbound W27 by @thelabmiami & @focal_vc today.
Code is now cheap, abundant, and written by machines. What’s scarce is real ambition, intelligence, compute, and distribution.
It's what Southbound is builtechnical founders think bigger and move faster from day 1.
We're now opening applications to the second cohort of our winter residency.
If you want to:
- Escape the cold
- Work on an absurdly ambitious problem, surrounded by your best technical peers
- Get weekly mentorship by unicorn founders
- Funding on an uncapped MFN SAFE (vs giving up 7%)
- $1M in perks and compute
- and much more
... then join us in Miami from Jan 11 - Apr 11 2027.
Southbound is:
- Limited to 10 spots (teams or solo founders)
- Fully in person in Miami
- 7 days / week in office.
The cohort is small by design: Instead of being a number in a big batch, you get a hand-picked group of your best peers, weekly dinners with unicorn founders, and real time with focal’s GPs.
Rolling admission until all 10 spots are filled / applications close Dec 11.
Apply asap (link in comments!)
@ayalstern | @DanielDarling | @amiine_afia | @wynwoodceo | @SydneyWasi
That's why we're launching Southbound W27 by @thelabmiami & @focal_vc today.
Code is now cheap, abundant, and written by machines. What’s scarce is real ambition, intelligence, compute, and distribution.
It's what Southbound is builtechnical founders think bigger and move faster from day 1.
We're now opening applications to the second cohort of our winter residency.
If you want to:
- Escape the cold
- Work on an absurdly ambitious problem, surrounded by your best technical peers
- Get weekly mentorship by unicorn founders
- Funding on an uncapped MFN SAFE (vs giving up 7%)
- $1M in perks and compute
- and much more
... then join us in Miami from Jan 11 - Apr 11 2027.
Southbound is:
- Limited to 10 spots (teams or solo founders)
- Fully in person in Miami
- 7 days / week in office.
The cohort is small by design: Instead of being a number in a big batch, you get a hand-picked group of your best peers, weekly dinners with unicorn founders, and real time with focal’s GPs.
Rolling admission until all 10 spots are filled / applications close Dec 11.
Apply asap (link in comments!)
@ayalstern | @DanielDarling | @amiine_afia | @wynwoodceo | @SydneyWasi
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Agent Defined Networking built from first principles doxx.net/blog/welcome-t… @BarrettLyon
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Daniel Darling retweeted
.@DoxxnetHQ founder Barrett Lyon on data center myths versus reality: jobs, talent, and faster internet.
"That's the other thing that's driving me crazy, is people don't understand data centers at all... Data centers have been around for a very, very long time."
"People are this data center thing... It's very interesting to be in the know and then watch this and go, oh my goodness, these people are missing the mark."
"The big data center park in Virginia, you just see bunny rabbits in the field. There's nothing. It's just a big building and a bunch of parking lot and then nothing."
"It brings jobs. The people that work in them aren't getting paid pennies. And it also brings high tech talent. And then also infrastructure, and infrastructure powers everything you do. So if you have a data center nearby, your internet's faster. Things like that work better."
@BarrettLyon @YODELAGARZA
"That's the other thing that's driving me crazy, is people don't understand data centers at all... Data centers have been around for a very, very long time."
"People are this data center thing... It's very interesting to be in the know and then watch this and go, oh my goodness, these people are missing the mark."
"The big data center park in Virginia, you just see bunny rabbits in the field. There's nothing. It's just a big building and a bunch of parking lot and then nothing."
"It brings jobs. The people that work in them aren't getting paid pennies. And it also brings high tech talent. And then also infrastructure, and infrastructure powers everything you do. So if you have a data center nearby, your internet's faster. Things like that work better."
@BarrettLyon @YODELAGARZA
.@BarrettLyon built the first cloud DDoS-protection service, mapped the entire internet (now on display in New York's Museum of Modern Art), and got chased out of Moscow hunting Russian extortionists.
His new company is doxx.net, a parallel internet designed to ers, and creepy VPNs out of your life.
Barrett joins a16z's Joel de la Garza to explain what it is and how it works: a private network where messages, calls, and files travel directly between people instead of through someone else's server, and where nobody needs your name, number, or email to reach you.
They also get into why most VPNs are "just entry and exit points," why you can't set policy on equipment you don't own, the day Barrett's plane lost power over Oakland on the way home from a16z, and the data center myths that drive him crazy.
0:50 Meet Barrett Lyon
1:31 Losing an engine over Oakland
7:08 The hacker name behind the company
10:12 Censorship is coming to the US
13:17 Why VPNs barely protect you
14:21 Building a parallel internet
16:30 20GB files with no middleman
17:57 Free VPNs sell you
21:47 Why you must own the hardware
22:27 26 data centers, 12 people, run by AI
25:03 Data centers don't drink water
29:17 What ad trackers know about you
32:35 The DDoS attacks that built Prolexic
36:17 Mapping the internet for $50
39:46 Hunting extortionists in Moscow
41:47 Starlink at Burning Man
YouTube: youtu.be/bmDrbHOh7Bo
@BarrettLyon @YODELAGARZA
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Daniel Darling retweeted
Excited for the rest of the world to get to use @DoxxnetHQ too @BarrettLyon
I'm pretty sure it's been on 24/7 since I first started using it and I (+ my agents) won't use the internet without it on anymore!
I'm pretty sure it's been on 24/7 since I first started using it and I (+ my agents) won't use the internet without it on anymore!
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Daniel Darling retweeted
This is a global overlay network that runs its own internal BGP, and DNS. Supports ipv6. Is distributed with no centralized log retention. Fully U.S based. And has great method for connecting agents without pair the device bullshit. Private and secure, from the 🐐, Barrett.
Today we’re launching doxx.net, enabling Agentic Defined Networking for everyone. We raised $38M from @a16z, @AnimoVentures and Focal.vc.
Create private networks for you and your AI agents, without a server in the middle. 38M+ threats blocked since ivate-network call was a freedom call. Now it’s your turn.
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Daniel Darling retweeted
Today we’re launching doxx.net, enabling Agentic Defined Networking for everyone. We raised $38M from @a16z, @AnimoVentures and Focal.vc.
Create private networks for you and your AI agents, without a server in the middle. 38M+ threats blocked since ivate-network call was a freedom call. Now it’s your turn.
Create private networks for you and your AI agents, without a server in the middle. 38M+ threats blocked since ivate-network call was a freedom call. Now it’s your turn.
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Daniel Darling retweeted
Still buzzing from yesterday’s Miami Founder Summit 🔥🔥🔥
Huge thanks to @ClementDelangue, @nejatian & @BarrettLyon for amazing sessions , @focal_vc for our incredible partnership and Miami’s best founders for showing up, sharing, and building together.
We are so back 🚀
Huge thanks to @ClementDelangue, @nejatian & @BarrettLyon for amazing sessions , @focal_vc for our incredible partnership and Miami’s best founders for showing up, sharing, and building together.
We are so back 🚀
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Big launch from Coworker: OM2, 9x cheaper enterprise AI. Congrats Alex and team!
Today we're launching OM2.
Your AI re-reads your entire company from scratch every time you ask it something.
It’s why more than 50% of your token bill isn't in the answer, but in the search for it.
OM2 gives your AI a permanent memory of your company. 🧠
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Congrats to @coworkerapp and team on OM2, proof that memory beats bigger models.
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Daniel Darling retweeted
Token costs are exploding
Companies have to choose: cut AI spend or cut people?
Coworker is the 3rd option
> Same frontier AI
> Chat, Cowork, Code
> 5X more tokens per dollar
Live today.
Companies have to choose: cut AI spend or cut people?
Coworker is the 3rd option
> Same frontier AI
> Chat, Cowork, Code
> 5X more tokens per dollar
Live today.
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Daniel Darling retweeted
Fifi is one of the most impressive founders we're fortunate to have backed - even though she's barely 18!
She's now hiring a founding engineer for Maxed. The most important thing when joining a company as a founding engineer is the founder.
Fifi's track record speaks for herself: Self-taught coder since 7, three companies before 18, speaks five languages, played competitive chess, and SO MUCH more.
Now, at 18, she's rebuilding accounting from the ground up as an AI-native operating system at Maxed, with backing from angels including the founders of Notion, DigitalOcean, and SecurityScorecard.
If you want to build with a founder who'll definitely raise your bar and intensity, take a look: maxed.life/hiring
She's now hiring a founding engineer for Maxed. The most important thing when joining a company as a founding engineer is the founder.
Fifi's track record speaks for herself: Self-taught coder since 7, three companies before 18, speaks five languages, played competitive chess, and SO MUCH more.
Now, at 18, she's rebuilding accounting from the ground up as an AI-native operating system at Maxed, with backing from angels including the founders of Notion, DigitalOcean, and SecurityScorecard.
If you want to build with a founder who'll definitely raise your bar and intensity, take a look: maxed.life/hiring
I'm hiring our first, full-time founding engineer at Maxed 👇
Accounting is one of the largest professional services markets on Earth and it's about to be rebuilt from the ground up.
Maxed is an open-source, AI-native operating system for CPA firms.
Design partners are live. eath has never been built before and as a result, most of what we're doing has no playbook - you have to be the kind of person who finds that energising.
I'm technical, obsessed and this is my whole life. I need someone wired the same way.
Help rebuild a trillion-dollar industry from the inside out - apply here: maxed.life/hiring
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Big news today. @coworkerapp just dropped Opus-quality enterprise AI for one-fifth the price. Same frontier models, 82% less cost.
Today, we dropped the price of enterprise AI by 80%.
Same frontier AI. Same chat, cowork, and code experience.
Just 5x more tokens for the same spend.
Here’s how and why. 👇 Also, we made a video. Please enjoy.
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Privileged to be joining Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as a Corporate Board Member.
I feel most at home in the water. From marine research diving in Africa to ocean swims along the Australian coastline, the ocean has shaped some of the most meaningful parts of my life. Joining WHOI feels like an opportunity to channel that lifelong connection into something with real purpose.
I see us entering a remarkable era for ocean science. Despite covering most of our planet and being integral to life, the ocean remains one of the least understood frontiers on Earth. Over the next decade, breakthroughs beneath the surface could reshape how we think about medicine, food systems, climate, materials, energy, and biodiversity itself.
We have so much to learn, I can't wait.
A few things that make WHOI such an extraordinary institution:
- The world’s largest non-profit dedicated to ocean research and engineering
- $500M endowment supporting long-term scientific discovery
- 1,000 employees, including ~500 scientists and engineers
- Joint program with Massachusetts Institute of Technology training the next generation of ocean scientists
- A fleet of world-class research vessels and deep-sea submersibles
- Nearly a century of advancing humanity’s understanding of the ocean
For 90 years, WHOI has been behind some of the most important discoveries in ocean science. It’s a privilege to now contribute, in some small way, to what comes next.
Special thanks to David Scully and Paul Salem for the introduction, encouragement, and leadership.
If you care deeply about the future of our oceans I’d love to connect.
Let’s get to work.
I feel most at home in the water. From marine research diving in Africa to ocean swims along the Australian coastline, the ocean has shaped some of the most meaningful parts of my life. Joining WHOI feels like an opportunity to channel that lifelong connection into something with real purpose.
I see us entering a remarkable era for ocean science. Despite covering most of our planet and being integral to life, the ocean remains one of the least understood frontiers on Earth. Over the next decade, breakthroughs beneath the surface could reshape how we think about medicine, food systems, climate, materials, energy, and biodiversity itself.
We have so much to learn, I can't wait.
A few things that make WHOI such an extraordinary institution:
- The world’s largest non-profit dedicated to ocean research and engineering
- $500M endowment supporting long-term scientific discovery
- 1,000 employees, including ~500 scientists and engineers
- Joint program with Massachusetts Institute of Technology training the next generation of ocean scientists
- A fleet of world-class research vessels and deep-sea submersibles
- Nearly a century of advancing humanity’s understanding of the ocean
For 90 years, WHOI has been behind some of the most important discoveries in ocean science. It’s a privilege to now contribute, in some small way, to what comes next.
Special thanks to David Scully and Paul Salem for the introduction, encouragement, and leadership.
If you care deeply about the future of our oceans I’d love to connect.
Let’s get to work.
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Congratulations to Nima Aghaeepour & Joe Phongpreecha for bringing Takeoff41, Inc. out of stealth today.
A Stanford-incubated startup modernizing care for pre-term babies in the NICU. Science published in Nature, first hospital live, grant funding secured and a big year ahead.
I’ve written recently about two ideas:
(1) category-defining missions, and
(2) AI as the wedge for offline monetization.
Takeoff embodies both.
Their AI software guides nutritional recommendations for TPN drip bags, often a premature baby’s only source of intake. Yet what I admire most is their ambition from day one to build a full-stack neonatal care platform focused on outcomes, not just tools.
Manufacturing and delivering next-generation TPN bags guided by their AI software — greater value to the customer, and greater value capture for Takeoff.
Deliver the outcome, not the software.
Proud for focal to lead their pre-seed alongside our friends at @BasisSet
A Stanford-incubated startup modernizing care for pre-term babies in the NICU. Science published in Nature, first hospital live, grant funding secured and a big year ahead.
I’ve written recently about two ideas:
(1) category-defining missions, and
(2) AI as the wedge for offline monetization.
Takeoff embodies both.
Their AI software guides nutritional recommendations for TPN drip bags, often a premature baby’s only source of intake. Yet what I admire most is their ambition from day one to build a full-stack neonatal care platform focused on outcomes, not just tools.
Manufacturing and delivering next-generation TPN bags guided by their AI software — greater value to the customer, and greater value capture for Takeoff.
Deliver the outcome, not the software.
Proud for focal to lead their pre-seed alongside our friends at @BasisSet
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