If you're six months in and thinking about a pivot, you're probably right. You can try new messaging first, but without strong pull from your target market by then, a full pivot is usually in order. More from @thestartuphd ⬇️

My first adventure as an involuntary, amateur plumber. I made it past 40 doing minimal DIY but our kitchen shut off valves failed so I had to replace them and the supply lines. YouTube “University” saved the day but I may have taken a few minutes longer than the demo video.

The AI Security Apocalypse Is Here This week brought the news that PHP, the most used programming language on the web, has urgent security loopholes that AI can now easily discover and exploit. And this has been happening for a while, with AI-enabled breaches up 56% year over year. Ultimately, AI makes anyone a potential hacker if they choose to be one. The PHP bugs also provided a frightening preview of how our species will behave during these times - badly. The security embargo on these exploits failed: Amazon detected an attempt four days before the disclosure and Cloudflare saw thousands of attempts in the hours leading up to the public announcement. If we can't rely on the security community's infrastructure, we're on our own. So what can you do? The baseline is an industry-leading password manager like 1Password, with a minimum of two-factor authentication but ideally passkeys. You need to be fastidious about software updates across the board, on all devices used by your family and any servers you control. If you run websites and apps, you should have your coding agents conduct regular security reviews and use alternative models to perform 'adversarial' reviews. I also recommend using a 'skill' like gstack's CSO review on a weekly basis to stay on top of potential risks. And if you're running an agent, you can also have it regularly check the news for hacking risks against your software stack. The world's cybersecurity landscape is changing rapidly and it doesn't seem like anyone is coming to save us. Protection from AI is your own responsibility. "I say your civilization, because as soon as we started thinking for you it really became our civilization" - Agent Smith, The Matrix (1999).

How to Make a Great Startup Demo I review dozens of demos a week. Most mistakes fall into three buckets: 1. Too long. You have about 30 seconds. 2. Live instead of video. Bugs happen. 3. Too complicated. Anyone should understand it.

(Periodic Reminder) We invest up to $150k at the idea stage. We’re often the first check and usually decide in the first meeting. We’re looking for hard tech founders who want to build for the US market. And you don’t need an introduction, you can apply on the website and it reaches me directly.

I beat the odds!

Thank you, NYC 🗽 We will be back soon!

Investors: have you ever fought a founder to keep your pro rata? I've seen this play out many times. I'm still waiting to hear from anyone who thought it was worth it.

If you want a tool, I don’t need you to justify why you need it. But I will have high expectations for your output. If you don’t hit the goals, there might be consequences. Listen to the full episode of The Startup Help Desk anywhere you get your podcasts.

Thank you to everyone who came out for @ycombinator alumni feedback night in New York yesterday. It was a great time and there were some big ideas. More NYC events to come!