Sounds gouda


At 1517 we love cold email and don't wear (or own) Patagonia vests!

See my pinned tweet for the best way to reach out (to anyone on our team). Bonus points for pictures of pets, family members, or hobbies!

You're 3D while a deck is 2D. We love to get to know your dimensionality!

David Braut

                    @DavidBraut

                  8 Aug 2025

                Replying to @DStrachman
                I am sending over my deck right now.


Him: "...if it’s something a16z might want to explore."

Me: "Gotta read a little more before you send :). a16z is more like an aircraft carrier of funding and 1517 is more like a speedboat."


Only if you were it with pjs does it count!


It's such a great car!


disagree -- send the deck too, just don't make it the only thing about you.


pet pics get special priority -- no one on our team can resist them!


Founder who forgot to edit his copy paste email :)


ha!


Some advice that probably scales:

Start aligning yourself towards a north star and start walking!

May the muses of inspiration strike you greatly with clarity and your feet carry you the distance!


Was beautiful to see this in person!

Gage 🃏🍎

                    @1stSnub

                  8 Aug 2025

                In june, I spent something like 200 hours living in a gallery, painting the beginning of existence.

Here’s the interplay of the first difference.

“Collapse”
10’ x 6’ acrylic on canvas.


I really enjoyed getting to ask so many questions!


I’m visual! And processing a lot of information so generally don’t have time for a podcast interview as a first step.


Can be, and also a wet blanket. Gotta keep it interesting lol.

Replying to @lunarcyclingx @lunarcycling


lol we haven’t spent enough time together yet. This can be solved!


See pinned tweet.


Perfection!


Perfection!

Tom Ballard

                    @tcballard

                  8 Aug 2025

                Replying to @DStrachman
                so this is how I get hold of you… with my daughter getting in the way of me finally getting to one!


>< ha!


I would love to have you as a bouncer at the next 1517 party!


So cute!

Replying to @brovsky @beffjezos @foundersfund


I’m inspired by @joinedgecity’s Fellowship: a month, fully funded residency for under‑25 builders in fields like AI, biotech, crypto, and hard tech.

Their immersive “popup villages” are incubators for ideas and collaboration across horizons. This application is for their Patagonia village Oct 18 - Nov 15.

Edge City

                    @JoinEdgeCity

                  24 Jul 2025

                Announcing: applications open for Edge City 2025 Fellowship, round 2 ✨

The next cohort will run at Edge City Patagonia (Oct 18 – Nov 15), our upcoming flagship popup village.

Co-live and collaborate with frontier builders for a month - fully sponsored.

Links below! ⬇


When you tell your mentee to make a kanban board and they deliver!

broderick

                    @brodylame

                  8 Aug 2025

                new room decor inpsired by @DStrachman


I got the perfect spot for you in a few weeks when my renovation is done and more cats than most can stand.


I love when people make us art. And this is a banger! Definitely playing at future events 💗

AI Anthems Alex

                    @aianthemsalex

                  9 Aug 2025

                1517 Fund Song
@1517fund @DStrachman @William_Blake


Dolly gets us at 1517!

Dolly Parton

                    @DollyParton

                  8 Aug 2025

                Dreams are of no value if they're not equipped with wings. 🦋


You are couth too!


Had a meeting recently where I felt a really off energy from the person. Felt my brain want to start judging them and then the knowing set in that what I needed to do was pray.

anansi 🌞

                    @s0ulDirect0r

                  9 Aug 2025

                this guy prays so intensely for their farm, and then he drops this bomb...and it's like...i can just...do that? i can just pray like that? i don't have to be so discriminating and careful, i can just pray with all my heart to whoever's listening...??


So far it's more on the praying for goodness side.


Reviewing 2E 1517's teen camp applications:

@William_Blake: "Birthdate 2008?! That's post financial crisis!"


I think he has possession of you!


If you want to raise a Thiel Fellow, have them participate in a Montessori program, many of the fellows went through Montessori schools as children.

Michael Strong

                    @flowidealism

                  10 Aug 2025

                The CFO of Pixar once asked how our middle schoolers learned to self-direct.

The answer was not what he expected.

This was years before I founded The Socratic Experience, when I created Montessori middle school programs in Palo Alto twenty-five years ago.

Half the students had been in Montessori since birth, and the other half came from public schools.

No matter how intelligent and well-behaved the public school kids were, they could not be as self-directed as the Montessori kids, at least for the first semester, and sometimes it took a full year.

The CFO of Pixar visited as a prospective parent.

Seeing the functioning middle school in its second year, he asked, “How do you do this? This is exactly what I want my employees to be doing.”

The “secret” was to raise children with the level of agency you see in Montessori videos and then surround them with a substantially influential peer group that incoming students could learn from.

One of the most remarkable things about the Montessori middle school children:

• They initiated, organized, and played games together

• They resolved conflicts and disagreements on their own

• Many girls from public schools arrived jaded and guarded, but gradually became warm, open, and authentic after a semester

All of these were cultural transformations, a set of norms that transferred from the Montessori-native kids to newcomers as they became enculturated.

How much of a student’s long-term success do you think depends on the school culture they grow up in?


And almost all of them went through some form of “alternative” education as children whether Montessori, Waldorf, homeschooled, unschooled, etc.


And if you’re an adult (or family) who wants to experience a Montessori style environment, come to Burning Man! This will be my 16th year and it’s a great way to tap into creativity, agency, and serendipity 💗


You just come! There is open camping and people are overall very friendly. If you know someone who goes, I recommend camping with them.


Sorry to hear that :(


And I’m speaking for the 2010 - 2015 era but I’d imagine that this holds for later classes as well.


And if you want to get injected with Montessori’s philosophy, read The Absorbent Mind. It’s incredible!


Almost entirely elementary. Very hard to find Montessori programs for older children.


People need to be Montessori maxxing


I am more familiar with Montessori's writing and content than Waldorf -- that said, my take in general is that you gotta find what resonates with the child over saying that one method is better than the other.


It starts at the top, so respecting and bringing out the interests and abilities of the teammates comes to mind! I think sweeping the floor is also important, if you can't do the humble stuff, I'm not sure that the culture is in the right place.


We had lots of homeschoolers too :). Trend seemed to be Montessori early and then homeschooling later (for those who did).


You can leave the canned fish out of girl dinner!


Young girls are picking up strange affectations from youtube.


Feels more youtube influencer to me than TikTok but I'm not on TikTok so could be!


It more like pacing of phrases and exaggerated expressions.


Request for knowledge!

Jacob Miller

                    @jcm10x1

                  11 Aug 2025

                Does anyone here (founders or other experts) know about how neurochemistry and med interactions? I have a few questions I would like to run by an expert. Thanks!


Best way is to start building something you want to spend the next 10 years on!


Someone said something great on here a while back, along the lines of "big screens good, small screens bad" -- the idea being that big screen stuff is probably interactive with other people and small screen stuff is likely dopamine hijacking people.


Montessori maxxing!


Skip college (and the debt) and go into the trades.


I think mostly lower!


Beautiful! Love the shading!


My kinda vibes

Gregor Zunic

                    @gregpr07

                  11 Aug 2025

                We raised $17M so I bought a $500 car


I'm all for having 6th graders and above vote!

Hannah Frankman Hood

                    @HannahFrankman

                  12 Aug 2025

                56% of the American adult population reads at or below a 6th grade level.

100% of the American adult population is allowed to vote.


When you write "runway" as "funway"


What do Larry Page, Beyonce, Sergey Bring, Jeff Bezos, Taylor Swift, George Clooney, and Prince Harry have in common?

They all attended Montessori schools.

You need to be Montessori Maxxing!


But they didn’t have Atomic Habits then!

Zohar Atkins

                    @ZoharAtkins

                  12 Aug 2025

                What do Thomas Jefferson, John Stuart Mill, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr, Henry Kissinger, have in common? They all read the Classics.

You need to be Classics maxxing
apps.apple.com/app/id6748355…


Share more about what constitutes insane! :)


I've been into Montessori for over 20 years...trying to get more people into it today. I think she's the most underrate philosopher out there.


I don’t have recommendations on specific schools in the Bay — but make sure you do your homework because some groups use the Montessori name but don’t use the method.


People need to be walk maxxing!


Don’t get the uber, use those dogs!


Lol yeah you do!


Thank you for this! It's gonna help other parents on the thread!


Oh gosh, kinda hard to sum up. But one way that I might say it on a meta level is that it's very individually stimulating for children, while I think also being regulating for their nervous systems, and also incorporates them into the adult world with real responsibilities. In addition, if you read Montessori she has the highest reverence for the human condition that I've ever read. Start with "The Absorbent Mind."


Saying that cofounders have cumulative years of experience is like saying that your household can bench 1K pounds.


Goals!


Lol love it! I love the idea of the family flex stat!! Make it so!


That's not an American thing, it's a NYC thing and I can't stand it.


By yourself! lol


I find the largest culprits of this are the person themselves. Guilty as charged.

ً

                    @omgsidewalks

                  12 Aug 2025

                can we normalize NOT confusing someone’s FREE time with their availability


Had a wonderful hike today with a protege who is bringing her own version of the Thiel Fellowship to Brazil. The amount of care that she is pouring into the vision, the applicants, and the programing makings my heart sing.

Shane Parrish

                    @shaneparrish

                  14 Aug 2025

                the person who cares will almost always beat the person who's just doing their job


Maybe?


Most people aren't given the freedom and encouragement to dive as deep as they want in their passions, nor to develop themselves as a near eccentric in that space.


Kian Sadeghi

                    @KianSadeghi5

                  13 Aug 2025

                Could someone who is a professional talent picker (VC, scout, etc)

Give a sincere answer to why are exceptional people so rare to find? I feel like when you find someone who’s good, they are so much better than the next marginal person it’s crazy!!


5 year olds are pretty exceptional and then we put them in systems that take it out of them.


Beautiful!

Anthony Bradley

                    @drantbradley

                  13 Aug 2025

                Parents, I hope your homes are so full of love & joy that when your college son is asked about not being around you and his siblings, he has this reaction.


wow


So great to share time with @jposhaughnessy! We are birds of a feather!

Infinite Loops 🎙

                    @InfiniteL88ps

                  14 Aug 2025

                🚨New ep!🚨

@DStrachman and @William_Blake from 1517 join us to discuss their rebellion against higher education, why universities stifle creativity, why IQ doesn’t correlate with innovation, how betting on “misfit toys” is the way to go, and MUCH MORE!

Timestamps:
0:00:00 Intro
0:00:48 Guest Introduction
0:03:21 Why 1517 Fund Rebels Against Higher Education
0:07:49 Giving Individuals a Shot
0:15:31 “It’s cool to be building stuff, it’s not cool to be a Thiel Fellow”
0:20:25 The ATM Founder Problem and Rich Too Early Syndrome
0:28:48 The Power of Predictive Character Traits
0:35:29 Flipping the Credentialist Thinking
0:43:30 “How do we become Spielberg? How do we do something truly great?”
0:51:35 Simple Memes and Powerful Narratives
1:01:16 Avoiding a Monoculture of Misfits
1:07:56 The Incestuous Universities Scene
1:14:31 Choosing Your Own Path
1:24:42 People Contain Multitudes
1:27:32 Michael and Danielle as World Emperor and Empress


Wheeeeeeeeee!

Replying to @BenjaminPutano @jposhaughnessy


You're a sweetheart!


Congrats to the Basewell team!!


Kill them with kindness really works!

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

                    @nntaleb

                  15 Aug 2025

                Next time you want to irritate some asshole, thank him for something totally trivial.  He won't know how to respond.


The "gentle reminder" people are weird.


Sending something of actual substance -- like a couple bullet update.


You gotta say more on this boss. What's the observation?


Fascinating! Will have to think about this more. I celebrate your embracing of the feminine -- you've come a long way from the days of icing your bits for testosterone gains lol.


Replying to @ScottFerreira @Mat_Sherman @1517fund @thielfellowship


I'm so so sorry :(


I love grumpy kitties

Andrew McCarthy

                    @AJamesMcCarthy

                  17 Aug 2025

                He’s starting to get really sick of these house sitters 🥺

Coming home soon, buddy!


I used to have a 24 hour rule, if something still bothered me I'd talk about it, if it didn't, I'd see it as a cloud passing by. I should use this rule more often lol.


Trader Joe's orange chicken


THEO! Tell him to send me an email, I'm next door in Oakland.

Replying to @grethermurrayt @GretherMurray


Wonderful panel!

James Win

                    @Win22James

                  19 Aug 2025

                Wow, really glad we were able to put this education event together, and so grateful to have had such an amazing panel for it!

Personally learned a lot.

My biggest takeaways 👇
- We need to encourage way more project-based learning.
- Edtech founders should think holistically from a child’s perspective .
- Bullish on AI for classroom data, personalized curriculums & scaling methods that used to be slow or painful for parents

Full recap notes below


Master copy

Carin Marie Derry@carinmariederry
                  20 Aug 2025

                Replying to @KevinEspiritu
                🔍 🔍


Right on!!

suzy

                    @Suzy_1776

                  21 Aug 2025

                We have a seven year old entrepreneur in our neighborhood. He put out flyers and everything. He rolls your garbage can to the curb the night before trash pick up & rolls it back to your garage once it’s picked up. We of course signed up for this service & we pay him $5 a week.

When we signed up he came to our house with his parents to introduce himself. We congratulated him on his new business! He told us he was saving money for a car. We asked him what kind of car and he said a Lamborghini!! 😂

So…. my husband reached out to our local Lamborghini dealer GM via email asking for a long shot that they might be able to bring a car by to surprise the little boy. The GM called us within six minutes. He said we’re not brining one car, we are bring many.

This Saturday there will 10 to 15 Lamborghinis parading on our block and will stop at the little boy’s house for pictures & a ride.

I cannot wait!!


So wonderful to spend time with Ti!

Ti Morse

                    @ti_morse

                  21 Aug 2025

                My first interview with Danielle Strachman (@DStrachman) Co-Founder & GP of 1517

0:39 Medici Grants & Thiel Fellowship
5:38 Getting pitched in a frat house
11:52 Hyper realistic stuffed animals
17:30 Finding high potential young people
19:53 Montessori
22:04 Unschooling
25:34 The role of an early believer
28:20 Trying to get founders to not smash their head into the wall
31:31 How 1517 works with founders
37:23 Chewing the glass
39:42 The question Danielle finds herself asking the most
44:58 Just keep making
53:31 Resetting the bar
57:47 If you had $10B right now, what would you do?
1:02:11 Being prolific
1:06:53 Finding your tribe
1:08:07 Founding Innovations Academy


They will be all over us (and it will be glorious!)!


Probably my fav interview to date! We got to talk about so many things that I deeply care about and share stories that make my heart sing!


Agreed!


Really fun interview with Molly! Thank you!

Molly O’Shea

                    @MollySOShea

                  29 Aug 2025

                DEEP DIVE: How The Thiel Fellowship Created $750B+ In Value | Ethereum, Figma, OYO, Anthropic

“Brilliant thinking is rare, but courage is in even shorter supply than genius.” - Peter Thiel

Danielle Strachman (@DStrachman), a Founding architect of the Thiel Fellowship, shares the inside story behind the radical program born out of Peter Thiel’s Thiel Foundation - giving $100K to teenagers willing to drop out & build

One of the most consequential programs in history, she shares the impact & second order effects to education, silicon valley, & the world.

Highlights
- $100K Grants → $750B+ In Value
- Outcomes: Ethereum, Figma, OYO, Anthropic, Scale AI
- Fellowship 2.0: 1517, OSV & 776 Fellowships
- Disrupting Education + Zuckerberg’s Secret School
- Alpha School: Next-Gen Contrarian Education
- Why People Think Thiel is “Evil” ?
- Selection: Traits, Anti-Traits & The Famous Question
- The Legacy
- List of Notable Fellows

**At the time of recording we had the figure at $550B. We recently learned Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah was also a Thiel fellow - new $750B figure includes Anthropic's upcoming financing at $170B.

Timestamps
(00:00) Thiel Fellowship
(01:10) $750B+ Outcomes: Ethereum, Figma, Scale AI, OYO, Anthropic
(08:32) The Contrarian Question
(15:00) The Fellowship: $100K, No School, Radical Freedom
(19:00) Media Backlash & Cultural Criticism
(26:45) Cultural Impact & Future Vision
(33:02) Is Peter Thiel Evil?
(37:41) Reshaping Silicon Valley's View of Young Founders
(39:10) Key Traits That Predict Success
(45:10) Founding 1517 Fund: Fellowship 2.0
(52:52) 1517: Funding Dropouts & Sci-Fi Scientists
(55:30) The Rise of Alpha School: AI-Based Education

@William_Blake | @1517fund | @thielfellowship


Love the FR8 team!


Authenticity above all!

Josie Zayner

                    @josiezayner

                  29 Aug 2025

                Tbh @1517fund @DStrachman @William_Blake find the misfits, mutants and outlaws, the ones too unruly to survive in the system, and shield them while they set fire to the future. If you want polite, look elsewhere, if you want impossible, 1517 is where it begins
Link 👇🏻


Josie hits the nail on the head on the shielding and protecting of mutants. It's really important that we create an environment that enables belonging and secure attachment at 1517 -- I haven't talked about this much as part of our strategy at our organization, but one of the best ways to heal is to be in an environment that is unconditionally loving (which also includes giving real and hard feedback). From that place of resource, the impossible becomes possible and we build bigger and better together.


Thank you Blake for the wonderful article!

Pirate Wires

                    @PirateWires

                  29 Aug 2025

                NEW IN PIRATE WIRES: What makes a Thiel Fellow a Thiel Fellow?

Back in 2010, Peter Thiel came up with an idea on a plane trip from NY to SF: paying people to leave college and start their own companies.

Outrage soon followed. A billionaire bribing kids to forgo their futures?

But today, the Thiel Fellowship is gaining notoriety for producing so-called “unicorns” (billion-dollar companies) at a higher rate than top accelerators. As it turns out, the fellows did not forgo their futures. They designed them to their liking. (And got rich while doing it.)

@dodgeblake interviewed the fellowship’s early architects @DStrachman and @William_Blake about what they learned from years of betting on cracked teens (stay weird).

Now they’re taking the thesis even further: at 1517, their VC fund, Danielle and Michael are looking to invest in 11-year-olds.

The way they see it, you can pay $90K/year to learn how to do laundry, read Chaucer, and slowly turn into everyone around you. Or you can, per Peter’s longtime investing philosophy, play the only winning move: don’t compete.

Read the full story threaded below 👇


gorgeous work!

Replying to @AustinTunnell @Build_Culture


No really, it's about values and behaviors. Accepting people for who they are and creating spaces to encourage and celebrate that. And when they come to you with problems being open and inquisitive instead of reactionary. Takes a lot of training but it's not difficult.


Love of reading starts at home! The Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, is fabulous methodology and any parent can use it!

India

                    @Pronatalism

                  2 Sep 2025

                Teaching my daughter to read has been such a privilege. It feels like magic!


And he used chatgpt to do it!

alli

                    @sonofalli

                  4 Sep 2025

                my friend went on one date with a VC and he literally texted her a pass note


Playa choir video is out! Grateful to sing with friends like @Pericarus!

vimeo.com/1115947314


"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."

- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

will o’brien

                    @Willob

                  5 Sep 2025


Everyone needs to learn jedi skills

gabe

                    @allgarbled

                  5 Sep 2025

                Recently the office staff at my apartment building has been quite difficult to work with and honestly at times flat out rude. So this morning I hand delivered them a box of beautiful pastries. This is some advanced shit they don’t teach you in the schools.


Excited for this!

Eric Jorgenson 📚 ☀

                    @EricJorgenson

                  8 Sep 2025

                Tomorrow I interview two of the only people actually innovating on Venture Capital.

@William_Blake and @DStrachman, creators of The Thiel Fellowship and 1517.

Excellent book (recc by @hristo_vassilev iirc)


Replying to @ChadCazel @EricJorgenson @William_Blake @hristo_vassilev


We love you too!

Replying to @alxmthew @EricJorgenson @William_Blake @hristo_vassilev


Moving into our vintage garage days at 1517


Fun LLM prompt:

Based on what you know about me, what do you think happens in 20 years?


This place is in Berkeley and I love it!

cats with jobs 🛠

                    @CatWorkers

                  8 Sep 2025

                        ALT  A white cat snoozing in the window of a shop called Sleepy Cat Books.


gn


I did and it was really nice and aspirational!


Haven't tried this one myself but have heard that carrying a couple cigarettes can do wonders if you run into/have an altercation with someone or to head off trouble at the pass.


How do you present the cigarette? Just nonverbally handing one over? Or something else?

Replying to @Patrick_Maksoud @FitFounder


You're writing checks your favor bank can't cash

~ Confucius


1517 Fund: Who ya gonna call?

Schoolbusters!


I’m so so sorry Danielle


The look is inspired by that!


I think @zslayback was born for this!

Danielle Strachman 💗 🐈 💃 🪴 🎸 🎨 🐕

                    @DStrachman

                  12 Sep 2025

                1517 Fund: Who ya gonna call?

Schoolbusters!


Our courteous and efficient staff are standing by!


1517 Unplugged kicks off today! Our first all ages camp for our founders, grantees, LPs, and community members!


We pay homage to mtv unplugged!


@seanmcdonaldxyz


Also get your morning set up for success the night before.

- tea out and ready to go
- outfit selected
- tidy up
- bag packed for the day

Dr. Julie Gurner

                    @drgurner

                  14 Sep 2025

                Take 30 minutes tonight (Sunday) and know exactly what you're running into tomorrow.

Get ahead of the game.

Know what you have to do, and how you'll allocate your time before the day even starts.

Hit the ground running.


Unplugging is the antidote nitter.poast.org/basti_vkl/status/19673…


Exactly!


Unplugging is the antidote

Bryan Johnson

                    @bryan_johnson

                  15 Sep 2025

                Do you think it’s possible that the stacked technologies of addiction* have simply overwhelmed the human race?

 *social, devices, junk food, porn, substances, gambling…


The lifeboat is your home. Learning starts at home.

Michael Strong

                    @flowidealism

                  14 Sep 2025

                Parents ask me: "If the system might take 20 years to change, my kids are in school today. What can I do?"

Be proactive and explore the alternatives. Do not wait for the Titanic to turn around.  Find a lifeboat that is already heading in a direction you like.


I have not read the Bible but I have been wondering what the impact would be if people were taught prayer. Many of us secular types practice meditation and I think it’s time to integrate prayer, no matter to what higher power or universe.

Daniel Berk

                    @danielcberk

                  14 Sep 2025

                I have read the Bible many times, front to back, and have studied it rigorously for 20 years in its original languages of Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic.

I’ve studied the Bible with hundreds of people in English, Spanish, and Chinese.

I have read the words of Jesus thousands of times, taught them to others, and preached them to crowds of people all over the world, and I’ve seen the words of Jesus change people’s lives in ways that are difficult to explain.

I’ve seen it in my own life. I’ve gone from lost and broken and on a one-way road to destruction to living a life of love and peace (as much as I make many mistakes— and I do)

This week our country was divided in a moment, arguably more than it’s ever been in my lifetime.

Now more than ever we have to decide what type of person we are going to be in life, and allow that decision to shape our worldview and inform the actions we take as humans.

Many people do not know how to respond to the world events this week, and that’s okay.

I believe most people want to respond in love, but don’t know how.

For this reason, I’d like to invite anyone to my DMs to discuss.

I don’t have all the answers, and I don’t know everything. But I think the Bible speaks powerfully about so much more than most people in 2025 are aware of, and I’d like you to use me as a resource to help bridge the gap (if you’d like to).

I believe there are clear instructions in the Bible for how to live and for
how to love, especially in times of extremely polarizing circumstances, and I’d like to help anyone curious to discover those instructions, whether or not you choose to adopt them.

DMs open.

In love,
Daniel Berk


gn

Gabe

                    @melchizedek420

                  14 Sep 2025

                Just a few more hours of scrolling and then I will finally Know


Curious yes! Reading is difficult for me, so the Bible has seemed rather daunting but I read the Book of Job a long time ago and loved it.


I’ve heard good things about this!


Makes a lot of sense!


Bob Newhart once again!

Stop it!

Sahil Bloom

                    @SahilBloom

                  14 Sep 2025

                Underrated life skill: Knowing when to stop. Stop arguing with people who don’t listen. Stop chasing people who run away. Stop forcing relationships that drain you. Stop grinding on things that don’t matter. Stop saying yes when you mean no. Stopping isn’t weakness, it’s wisdom.


I have always loved the Quakers I've met! Good reminder to attend a Quaker service again.


1517 Unplugged was a hit! Founders, community members, teens, LPs -- can't wait to host again next year.


I also want to change my title to "Professional Fairy Godmother and 1517 Camp Counselor"


I hope so too!! Perfect for 2Eers!


We were so lucky and thrilled to have you -- I was really blown away by your many talents, thoughtfulness, and openness to sharing.


Can't wait to unplug with you all again!

Sangam Chapagain@sangam_chapagai
                  15 Sep 2025

                1517 Unplugged was fun! Thanks @DStrachman and @William_Blake for the wonderful weekend!


Loved having you there!!


"Wow. Just wow. What an absolutely amazing time in the woods with you, the 1517 community, and Maui (!). Thank you and the whole team for putting together Unplugged and for hosting my son and me. So thankful to be part of this community.

What really struck me was just how pure camp was. No wheeling and dealing. Just a bunch of weird, wonderful, creative humans all hanging out and learning together. It was such a clear instantiation of how 1517 is, first and foremost, a learning institution that just happens to be a venture fund. Magical."

Danielle Strachman 💗 🐈 💃 🪴 🎸 🎨 🐕

                    @DStrachman

                  15 Sep 2025

                1517 Unplugged was a hit! Founders, community members, teens, LPs -- can't wait to host again next year.


I need to make some new business cards before I go to Singapore and this might make the card lol


Act fact, we're ready to fund you!

555-1517


Loving the kick off vibes at @Responsive_Con!


Act fast, we're ready to fund you!

555-1517


Omg can’t wait to see give @KwatMDPhD a run for his money!


Great program too!


Wrong area code!


I love texture!


Just wait for your 30s! You will thank your 20s self!


This is why we need your tweets more than ever!


“Listening is slower than fixing. It’s less glamorous. When you fix, you get to be useful, right, and done. When you listen, you have to be with something unresolved.”

- Arnold Schwarzenegger


Sad but true!!!

Zak Slayback

                    @zslayback

                  18 Sep 2025

                Lots of VC funny business in the water right now.

If you're a founder, make sure the investors you're talking to actually have the money IN THEIR BANK ACCOUNTS before you sign terms with them.


200 emails behind right now and many DMs behind. Gonna do my best to catch up over the weekend but if you're expecting a reply and it's been a while (especially to a DM here), thanks for being patient!


Love Lumindt! They're building energy storage. Plus Bruno and Mia are super fun people. Go party with them in their warehouse!


Your family is your first investor, we just want to be your second!

Morgan Barrett

                    @MorganBarrettX

                  20 Sep 2025

                Cohosting SF Tech Breakfast Club on Tuesday with @DStrachman from 1517

Caught up with @ADoricko from @RainmakerCorp about how 1517 was instrumental to his success

If you're building something meaningful come hang out


Got through the emails but the DMs remain. Working on that!

Danielle Strachman 💗 🐈 💃 🪴 🎸 🎨 🐕

                    @DStrachman

                  19 Sep 2025

                200 emails behind right now and many DMs behind. Gonna do my best to catch up over the weekend but if you're expecting a reply and it's been a while (especially to a DM here), thanks for being patient!


Aww thank you Elliot!


A bold idea would be running more efficiently as an organization. As a previous public servant who ran a charter school, you all make school districts look speedy.

My house was ready to be plugged back in (and therefore moved into) after a renovation over a month ago and currently the date for installation is set for late November (and it took a lot of nudging just to get that information)!

An ask to accelerate the timeline is "in to the scheduling department." It's been two weeks and no word from them.

A breakthrough in process would be huge for PG&E. Gotta work that out before you put your hands on "innovation."


Crony capitalism is the worst!


Yes

Patri Friedman 🌆

                    @patrissimo

                  23 Sep 2025

                Fellow romantics, I ask you this:

If I aspire to love my woman like Gomez loves Morticia, is this a noble aspiration? Or, like Icarus, am I reaching too high, higher than my waxen heart can support?


School's gotcha down?

Who ya gonna call?


Heading out to Singapore next week for my first time! And we are going to do a 1517 ice cream social there. DM for the invite.

Would love to meet nondegreed makers, crazy scientists, and people who love to fund those types of people!


Loved this conversation!!

Anna Gát

                    @TheAnnaGat

                  24 Sep 2025

                Beloved @DStrachman on @TheHopeAxis today!

We talked about talent and mentorship, aspiration, raising collective hope levels, agency, why younger and younger people are successful…

Unexpected discoveries: the plasticity of ambition and competition (how at Olympic Games a new record raises all future achievement, suggesting it's a mental limit and not a physical one), the scarcity of real mentorship…


We'll be speaking at his conference :D


Also, I look like I'm about to say "Let's make a deal, Anna!" lol


I feel seen!


This starts in your home, then your street, then your neighborhood…

Ryan B. Anderson

                    @OldHollowTree

                  25 Sep 2025

                Build the country you want to live in.


Color theory is wild!

Andrew D. Huberman, Ph.D.

                    @hubermanlab

                  24 Sep 2025

                It’s hard for people to get their heads around this one, but A and B are the same color and brightness. You can crop them out and compare if you like. Visual perception is amazing, but it is also very context dependent. (Credit: Akiyoshi)


Doing a sci fi tech field trip with teens from El Segundo high school today!


Can’t wait to make these!

India

                    @Pronatalism

                  24 Sep 2025

                One of my favorite foods to have on hand are ramen eggs. My daughters enjoy them for breakfast or snack.


Used chatgpt for my home renovation. Biggest challenge was getting the stucco color correctly in the model (so I didn’t bother) but I am very happy with the result!


Signal chasers gotta chase those signals!

Nick Arnett

                    @naarnett

                  25 Sep 2025

                Me when an investor asks to meet to talk about one of our portcos and then asks if they can have our diligence notes

                      ALT  Season 1 Episode 6 GIF by Freeform


Feeling like a true contrarian flying with the window open!


Love NVC work! Can be very clarifying.

James Win

                    @Win22James

                  25 Sep 2025

                got recommended to nonviolent communication by a mentor that I really respect and it's been really helping a lot in my life


Customers are your accelerator

Dr. Julie Gurner

                    @drgurner

                  25 Sep 2025

                If you pay attention to your customers, and keep making yourself or your product better - that's what will matter in the end.

Not your competition, randoms on X, or investors.

Pay attention to your customers.
In your business, they are the most important people in the world.


Lots of big firms reaching out right now “What’s the secret to the Thiel Fellowship?! What are you looking for?!”

The checklist is this:

✅ There is no checklist


Part of the checklist should be to break the checklist!


Make that early!

Bryan Johnson

                    @bryan_johnson

                  26 Sep 2025

                Replying to @Whotfismick
                going to bed on time is the most heroic act possible in 2025


Fortune favors those who order orange chicken


This is why we run a teen camp!

Hadley Harris

                    @Hadley

                  25 Sep 2025

                Sorry YC, but I’m going to have all the most cracked founders locked in way before they get to college


I know where my November meetings will be!

bunnycafesf.com/


Why lunch?


Ah for others, I thought you meant “take yourself out to lunch.”


Badass!!!

Brayton Williams ⏻

                    @BraytonKey

                  29 Sep 2025

                x.com/i/article/180129811112…

                        Boost VC: Twelve Years, 400 Startups, and a new $87,654,321 Fund
                        TLDR: Surpasses $75m Target, Top Quartile Returns, First Money into Deep Tech.
The future just got an $87m boost of funds for Deep Tech Startups. This was only made possible because of our bold LPs,


Shine on you crazy diamonds

Vivid Void

                    @vividvoid

                  29 Sep 2025

                gm


Looking forward to this!

Balaji

                    @balajis

                  28 Sep 2025

                This year's Network State Conference is on Friday, October 3 in Singapore.

Our speakers include Vitalik Buterin, Bryan Johnson, Ben Horowitz, Brian Armstrong, Amjad Masad, Ranveer Allahbadia, Arthur Hayes, Nas Daily, Noah Smith, Andrew Huberman, and the governments of Singapore, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and El Salvador.

That means many of the most successful founders, creators, investors, and policymakers in the world are now interested in the idea of bringing online communities into the physical world.

Our conference also features writers, community organizers, and intellectuals from around the world (and across the ideological spectrum!) who are aligning around the concept of fusing offline states with online networks, with ideas ranging from pro-tech regulations to special innovation zones to startup cities.

All this capital and talent going towards the area means that you too can join a startup society that suits you — or found one yourself — even if you're starting out with nothing besides an internet connection.

And by building new societies with defined social smart contracts where everyone has explicitly consented to governance — and anyone can opt out — we can defend capitalism, democracy, internationalism, self-determination, and liberal values in an increasingly illiberal world.

That's the goal, at least. We can only give broad sketches in a tweet. But if you're interested in the long-form version, register to attend in person or remotely at ns.com/conf2025.

Because we’ve started internet companies, we’ve started internet currencies, and now we’re starting internet communities. Come to the Network State Conference to be there at the start.


Had a fascinating chat with @ninjaninjas about art and culture in Singapore. Here is a controversial mural in the city — was amazing to see it after learning about it.


Yup!


^ and this would have been my response too had we not had the conversation.


College admission committee got ya down?

Who ya gonna call?


Taken apart a toaster?

Who ya gonna call?


Who ya gonna call?

Josie Zayner

                    @josiezayner

                  29 Aug 2025

                Tbh @1517fund @DStrachman @William_Blake find the misfits, mutants and outlaws, the ones too unruly to survive in the system, and shield them while they set fire to the future. If you want polite, look elsewhere, if you want impossible, 1517 is where it begins
Link 👇🏻


Absolutely not! Fun outtake :)


You gotta be in the next ad with us :D


When I was running the Thiel Fellowship I was so focused on the development of the fellows that it didn’t dawn on me that our mentors would develop their careers further as well.

Huge congrats to Josh (an inaugural Thiel Fellowship mentor) and Kanjun on their launch!

Kanjun 🐙

                    @kanjun

                  30 Sep 2025

                Sculptor: the missing UI for Claude Code 🎨

Imagine running 5 Claudes in parallel, safely in containers, while you stay in flow. Then bring their work straight into your IDE to test/edit together.

This is how one developer ships like a team. Try it with Sonnet 4.5!


One big takeaway from running the Thiel Fellowship and 1517 is that though capital isn’t scalable, granting permission is.

To someone starting out, being taken seriously by engaging and offering ideas, intros, and encouragement can give them energy to keep going.


Fully


As a fund or granting body, the resources are limited. But society as a whole could be more supportive of people getting started and have a more positive attitude. And especially having someone who has made it say “yeah, you should give that a shot” is extremely powerful.


If you want all kinds of background stories this was a super fun conversation!

Matt Zeigler

                    @CultishCreative

                  1 Oct 2025

                New England work ethic meets Silicon Valley ambition.

@DStrachman walked into a hospital for an internship, opened a charter school during the '08 crisis, then co-founded @1517fund w/ Peter Thiel's backing.

THE INTENTIONAL INVESTOR - OUT NOW ON @epsilontheory!


Love that! Have also been wanting to do more in that direction!


This man is manly-maxing.


Only if it’s cut in half down the vertical.

HorrorMamaAl@horrormamaal
                  30 Sep 2025

                Might I interest you in a grilled cheese on a granny plate in these trying times?


Sorry Augie, time to up your game!


You meet with builders and you help them. It’s not hard.

Then it filters into culture, people see others do what was thought of as being impossible.

Aspirations and ambition rise and the impossible becomes possible.


"And here we were, in 2010, with $100K grant for those 19 and under to work on projects—research, nonprofits, startups—outside the college path with the Thiel Fellowship. It wasn’t an accelerator. It wasn’t even about companies. It was about agency. Given everything these young people had been through in our country and how systems had duped them and their families over and over again, agency was a very powerful (and in the eye’s of the authorities, a very dangerous) message."


New substack out!

open.substack.com/pub/1517/p…


When you have 16 hours in the air and no wifi, what do you do? Write and write and write.

1517.substack.com/p/a-drop-i…


We call this “the cloud of abstractions” at 1517.

Matjaž Leonardis

                    @MatjazLeonardis

                  2 Oct 2025

                Appearing “smart” ( in the US mostly) is a confidence trick: can you get people to see being incomprehensible as a sign of sophistication rather than triviality/gibberish.


I don’t know what that means but we’ve found people “sounding smart” is a negative trait. In that cloud isn’t much substance and very little doing/ability to execute.


Not quite the same connotation. You can sound dumb and be word salading.


Sharing some of the ins and outs of raising a fund and what LPs should be asking GPs in this climate of fomo tactic fundraising.

Danielle Strachman 💗 🐈 💃 🪴 🎸 🎨 🐕

                    @DStrachman

                  2 Oct 2025

                Replying to @DStrachman
                New substack out!

open.substack.com/pub/1517/p…


lol didn’t know it was called that! Probably a good jolt into memory lane:)


Really great to be here at the Network State Conference! So many awesome mutants to meet!

Benjamin Whitby GVNR.xyz 🔗 🇬🇧/acc 🦇🔊

                    @benjaminjwhitby

                  3 Oct 2025

                @DStrachman


We’re hunting mutants!


Wow, thank you!


Does this mean I have both adhd and autism?

Beff (e/acc)

                    @beffjezos

                  3 Oct 2025

                ADHD CEO: I have an idea
Autist CTO: I have a system


Also, developing theory is that a disproportionate percent of female fund manager are likely on the spectrum.


And @William_Blake !!

Replying to @ben_mathes @SinnersSAW @politicalmath @EnriqueDiazAlva


Really fun to chat!

Replying to @AravBehl @suryamaddula_ @habril27 @changedepreet


☠ Joe! Do not taunt my adoring fans lol. (Joe and I go waaay back and I love him and his humor to death)

Replying to @joequirkexults @AravBehl @suryamaddula_ @habril27 @changedepreet


1517 grantees winning!

Alex Mathew

                    @alxmthew

                  3 Oct 2025

                I think this was my best pitch yet!

Thanks Josh and Capital Factory team!


It’s a good thing we have 2E teen camp next week to learn all the latest lingo

broderick

                    @brodylame

                  3 Oct 2025

                I think bro just doesn't know gen z slang and assumes chat is chatgpt 😭


Go preemies!

charles@chukroxx
                  2 Oct 2025

                My preemie daughter born at 22 weeks is almost a year old 🥹


In person > zoom

Phone call > zoom (for catch ups with people I’ve had face time with before)


Aashima Arora@asharoraa
                  2 Oct 2025

                My intern was born in 2007

I have unread emails older than that


I would fund their podcast!

cats with jobs 🛠

                    @CatWorkers

                  3 Oct 2025

                I would listen to their podcast.


Make every day 2% better!

Kwat Medetgul-Ernar

                    @KwatME

                  5 Oct 2025

                Did it 🙃

2% better than yesterday 🍫


This is who we back at 1517.


The Griswolds go to Singapore!


Kevin → Plant Daddy

                    @KevinEspiritu

                  5 Oct 2025

                In the interest of public health, I'm trying the "Eat anything while in Europe and still lose weight" strategy...

I walked 22 miles to this quaint little Scottish cafe, ate all of this and I'm already down 10lb...

What ARE they putting in American food?!


gm

Rock'n Roll of All

                    @rocknrollofall

                  5 Oct 2025

                ''Man, every single person involved in this recording did everything absolutely right, perfection.''

''This song is a perfect example of 'less is more'.  Slow rhythm, calm voice, beautiful melody. Just magic.''

Watch how Chris Isaak performs 'Wicked Game' live in a beautiful studio with some awesome players who made everything perfect that day.


lol


Saw him play in Bart in September! He’s great! And if you want to help him keep making Bart better, his Venmo is @markpdyson.

sfchronicle.com/entertainmen…


Congrats!!!


That would be a wily trip!


“...good things happen to the human spirit when it is left alone.”

― John Taylor Gatto


What are you doing during SF tech week?

We are bringing the next generation (through our 2E camp) around to sci fi startups founded by 19 year olds!


You have to be classical optimism maxxing

Bryan Larsen

                    @BryanLarsenArts

                  10 Oct 2025

                Just found out my painting 'Sugar and Spice', inspired by and modeled for by my youngest daughter...a bit of a chemistry buff...has been purchased by a children's library, which is the coolest possible location for it!


People need to be classical optimism maxxing


Prospective LP asked us last week:

So do you do any of those secret community talent programs?

Yes.

Danielle Strachman 💗 🐈 💃 🪴 🎸 🎨 🐕

                    @DStrachman

                  10 Oct 2025

                What are you doing during SF tech week?

We are bringing the next generation (through our 2E camp) around to sci fi startups founded by 19 year olds!


The truth is out there…with a 1517 founder.

David Hooper

                    @davidhooperr

                  11 Oct 2025

                Field report: Day 1 scouting mission complete. Today we scouted three potential UAP observation sites around Sedona, AZ. We originally selected these locations based on prior local sighting data, accessibility, and distinct vantage points for observation of UAP. 🌄🛰 @eldaeonuap


“Watching the auction today, I realized the fair runs on a rhythm that Silicon Valley forgot. Nothing here scales overnight. Rabbits are bred, children grow, knowledge passes quietly from one generation’s calloused hands to the next. Trust accumulates like soil—layer on layer of attention, patience, and repetition.

Silicon Valley, for all its genius, keeps mistaking acceleration for progress. It burns through people the way a field burns through crops—harvesting brilliance, then salting the ground. Each new cycle elevates a few, exhausts many, and erases the memory of how things were built. There’s no lineage in that; only power structures that fade faster than they can be understood.

Maybe the next real innovation isn’t faster code or bigger valuations, but continuity—the slow inheritance of wisdom.”

Hitchhiker from the Future - Time War

                    @leo_guinan

                  10 Oct 2025

                These are your 2025 Market Rabbit Grand Champions!!!

My 10yo doesn't even realize yet what a big deal this win was. Most people won't ever get the opportunity to win at this level. My 14 yo is jealous, but I have some great video of him coaching his brother that I'm going to put in a highlight video of the fair for him.

All championships in this house are a team effort. We share the wins and the losses. But it's time to celebrate the wins this year.


Solcoa!


jesse.base.eth

                    @jessepollak

                  11 Oct 2025

                Replying to @0xKawz
                it's up to people like us who've been here for years to be role models for the next generation of builders

if you're so jaded you can't have basic human decency to other people, it's worth reconsidering whether you need to make a bigger change in your life


Find your tribe

Gajesh

                    @gajesh

                  11 Oct 2025

                earlier this year i met danielle and asked her,
“how do i even find people who think like me?”

she didn’t overthink it. just said, “come to this camp.”

came here not knowing what to expect -- turned out to be pure fun. just good people, good energy, and lots of curiosity flying around.


Working on something wily? Our team, and especially @naarnett, will fight to have you as a portfolio founder. The weirder the better.


Find your tribe 💕


Bringing the unc energy

1517 Fund

                    @1517fund

                  11 Oct 2025

                just @zslayback and nick doing 1517 things


And 1517 grantee and founder!

Sigil Wen

                    @0xSigil

                  11 Oct 2025

                America can reclaim Rare Earth Metal dependence from China.

Solcoa Industries is producing 100% North American made Rare Earth metals, carbon-zero, economically, at scale.

Founded by Hooman, a Thiel Fellow, O-1 @extraordinary visa recipient, & materials science prodigy.


People need to be godchildren maxxing

Tyler is finishing a book, slow to reply

                    @TylerAlterman

                  11 Oct 2025

                I just moved in with my baby goddaughter. It's literally heaven. This morning I woke up to a gray, cloudy day & struggled to get out of bed. But then I heard her babbling in the living room. My body instantly sprung out of bed to see what she was up to. We played with a ball


If you haven’t been asked to be a godparent or legal guardian, it’s time to up your game.


Replying to @Ulisesjz @William_Blake @1517fund


2E is our favorite 1517 event...get a glimpse in the video!

1517 Fund

                    @1517fund

                  14 Oct 2025

                1517's 2E, Year 3.

Video by @William_Blake.

Starring, @DStrachman, @zslayback, @naarnett, @hayleeejohnsonn, @zeldapoem and the extended 1517 fam.

Thanks for making this weekend special everyone!


About 6 weeks ago I asked for help getting the Thiel Fellowship and 1517 messages out there on podcasts and y'all served up!

Here's a real gem where you get the dynamic duo from 1517 having a great conversation with @kentlind about how we're betting on teens to outbuild Ivy Leaguers.


1517 Fund: The Maverick VC Betting on Teens to Outbuild Ivy Leaguers

open.spotify.com/episode/73g…


After 15 years of banging this drum, I am flummoxed that schools haven't iterated on the length of the program.

"If a growing cohort of 'fast mile' students arrive at college demanding a high-touch, personalized, accelerated two-year college degree, the economic consequences for traditional higher education are enormous, including the eventual end of the Carnegie unit as 'credit hour.' Measuring learning as time spent at 1x will not do."


Read: The Two-Minute Mile Problem

open.substack.com/pub/hollis…


Yeah I think sometimes the system is more bendable than people know -- good work!


Blessed to have our average day to such an outlier always!

Fernando Pontaza@fpontaza
                  14 Oct 2025

                So happy to have spent the day with you and the new teens rising through the @1517fund ranks, plus the older portco ones, turning mercury into gold, producing rare earth metals, and storing energy in solid-state hydrogen batteries.

Just your average day with 1517. 😂


Do you have positive naiveté?

Interintellect 🧭

                    @interintellect_

                  15 Oct 2025

                "Seeing someone do it makes you believe it's possible." This "positive naivete" is a superpower for founders.

On @TheHopeAxis, @DStrachman & host @TheAnnaGat discuss why hope is vital for building communities & how belief sparks innovation.
Watch the full conversation: youtu.be/I-dS3NFe0RE


"Someone recently asked me 'which portco founder is your favorite' to which I said 'I love all my portco founders equally' and I just felt like I channeled pure Danielle energy lol"

<3<3<3


We love to see our community members building!

Namita

                    @_namita_r

                  22 Oct 2025

                Have been prototyping personalized newsfeed for @1517fund as an extended aspect of msot.news for almost 4 months now.
Many thanks to @DStrachman for her support and conviction.

The concept of this personalised newsfeed is such that it uses machine learning models to find relevant articles, research etc for the community based on its portfolio of companies. Hence, presenting founders with the most relevant news and research while keeping all the noise at bay.
In an age of information overload, I think time is the only constraint and hence we are making sure that every piece of information the community’s founders come across is as relevant as possible to their field of work. Also such a community based newsfeed gives a room for discussion/brainstorming with peers on the latest research, articles.


This is exactly what our grants are for :) Sending you a DM.

Replying to @1llegalEngineer @Dunetsk @1517fund


Every time we raise a flagship fund I get a new pet. Meet bunny (no name yet) who will help us raise the rest of 1517 Fund IV!


I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that I haven't gotten a pet for every SPV we have raised (20 of them) but it would help me get to petting zoo/hobby farm vibes sooner.


For my bunny people, he's already being SUPER affectionate. He licks everyone he meets and grooms me like crazy, is already flooping and loafing, and has done some binkies around my office room. I can't believe how comfortable he is only 3 days in! We're going to take the animal introduction super slow but I am in love with this little guy.


You know you're lucky when you have a bunny on your side!


Always called it a 2 year program with a 10 year timeline!

Replying to @nickcammarata @regardthefrost @William_Blake


Quarter life crisis is a development stage and milestone for sure!

Replying to @CSPopoff @corbindreams @nickcammarata @regardthefrost @William_Blake


Cyan Banister

                    @cyantist

                  28 Oct 2025

                The Thiel fellowship will be one of the best returning (to humanity) cohorts the world has ever seen.


No no, an actual delightful laugh!


Go Jimmy Go! This OG Thiel Fellow will do anything to reach his goals. Just ask him what he does for his martial arts practice and your mind will be blown!

Jimmy Koppel

                    @jimmykoppel

                  29 Oct 2025

                If AI can code 100x faster, why aren't you shipping 100x faster?

Because AI code is not production-ready code, and definitely not code where you understand and can vouch for every line

Introducing the Command Center alpha. Support our Product Hunt launch!


Appreciate you Chad!

Replying to @ChadCazel @AlfieGWhattam @1517fund


My bad! Been collecting all the mutants -- more unleashing into society soon.

experimental-history.com/p/t…


Incredible work!

Lambda

                    @LambdaAPI

                  3 Nov 2025

                Lambda announces a multibillion-dollar, multi-year agreement with Microsoft to deploy mission-critical AI infrastructure.

Press release: bit.ly/4i02CL7

cnbc.com/video/2025/11/03/la…


What’s better than a podcast? Doing a podcast with a surprise guest :)

Matt Zeigler

                    @CultishCreative

                  4 Nov 2025

                She funds the founders most VCs overlook.

He helps creators reach the audience most didn't know existed.

@DStrachman @kevindleahy on intuition, context, and why credentials don't predict success.

New JUST PRESS RECORD out now, via @epsilontheory @Panoptica_ai!


Loved having this conversation with Eric! Thank you!!

Podchemy

                    @podchemy

                  4 Nov 2025

                In an age of powerful new tools, the key to unlocking potential isn't providing more resources, but creating an environment that nurtures extreme curiosity and gives young innovators the freedom to build.

@DStrachman on Smart Friends podcast with @EricJorgenson

Full notes at podchemy.com/notes/danielle-…


What it’s like to walk past my cofounder in first class on my way to economy.


To be fair, he flies a ton more than I do so has massive status.


Congrats!!!


The plus side is that this flight has starlink...it's incredible!

Danielle Strachman 💗 🐈 💃 🪴 🎸 🎨 🐕

                    @DStrachman

                  4 Nov 2025

                What it’s like to walk past my cofounder in first class on my way to economy.


Mike's gotta Mike!


And only an hour flight lol


It’s been awesome!!


True! Better because I had the isle to myself and starlink!


He did hand me his half eaten Lindt milk chocolate bar.


They put me under with the stow away dogs.


I am well trained! I don’t know why they won’t accept my papers.


Classic 1517


Yes please!

Joe Quirk

                    @joequirkexults

                  4 Nov 2025

                Replying to @juliarturc
                Hey, 15-18 yo founder, send your DMs to @DStrachman.


Correct, don’t send her DMs. Send them to me!

Belief capital is on the way.

Julia Turc

                    @juliarturc

                  4 Nov 2025

                Dear “15-18 yo founder”s sending me DMs, don’t.

Go and hug your parents, fall in love, eat chocolate cereal for breakfast, read poetry. Nobody will give you back these years.

And sure, do your homework and learn math and code if that feels fun. But stop building SaaS and hustling.

Even if career is what you are optimizing for, this is not the way. You need deep education that will withstand automation. You need to sit with linear algebra and probability theory and philosophy and literature. It won’t get you go viral on X but it’ll make you whole.

And mute all the SF performative assholes.

Oooops sorry this last one was a note to self.


See my pinned tweet on what I’d love to learn about you 💕


And send them to my colleagues too since keeping up with all the DMs is a lot!

@William_Blake
@zslayback
@naarnett
@hayleeejohnsonn
@TheHarryGandhi
@MoufeedKaddoura


Of course! Points all around. But send the DMs to me :)


Incredible!


Ohhh big ZING!!!!!!!


Good info!


See pinned tweet and email me!


We are back to garages and basements but the new thing is that they’re labs.

sandra djajic

                    @TakoTreba

                  4 Nov 2025

                In the 80s it was garages. In the 2000s it was dorm rooms. What’s the new birthplace of great startups?


My work has aged like a fine wine, good observation!

Someday people will take children and teens seriously. The fact that they don’t is the most absurd of all.


Get him hitched!

Alyssa 🌻

                    @alyssaleann

                  5 Nov 2025

                lmao, I honestly think this will probably work eventually


1517 created a do’s and don’ts packet for onboarding founders. The IP part written by @William_Blake is a real gem:

You think a patent's gonna save you? Many founders clutch patents to their chest like it's a hoplite shield, thinking it's gonna keep Big Tech at bay, when really it's only a fancy napkin that says, "Please don't steal my shit."

If Big Tech or Big Pharma or China steals your IP, you'll be on the phone with some lawyer who charges more per hour than your entire runway, and he's laughing, sipping his overpriced bourbon, dreaming of a lawsuit you can't afford.

Some founders obsess over patents partly because patents carry some prestige, but mainly because they want to protect their baby. It's important to understand, however, that should Google steal your idea, you do not have the money to fight a protracted lawsuit over IP.

Obtain the patents you need they're good for delineating property rights-but when it comes to your defensive moat, you need trade secrets, speed, brand, or other advantages. Don't be a patent princess and think some patent is going to save you. A provisional patent is fine.


The most precious

We Assess and Draw Cats 🐾

                    @WeAssessCats

                  4 Nov 2025

                everybody say hello to our first girl cat! this is agnes and she is perfect in every way


My heart breaks reading that. I'm glad that you made it into adulthood where you can see your future forward.


“All kids under five are geniuses. The system just squashes it out of them.”

ejorgenson.com/podcast/danie…


“In the future, I want to be funding 11-year-olds. The world won’t be ready, but I will be.”

ejorgenson.com/podcast/danie…


Judging a fish on how it rides a bicycle is never the way to go


Offered by United!

Replying to @jim_bisenius @MaziyarPanahi


It’s not that patents are bad but they don’t offer the protection that people think, especially early on.

Replying to @New_AI_Safety @William_Blake


Even our founders who don’t succeed find a way forward, I don’t see university working hard to get students a soft landing. And my finances never have to be returned. School never takes that bet.


Nope


Excited to attend! East cost crazy/crazy awesome makers, I want to meet you there.

Abe Murray

                    @abemurray

                  28 Oct 2025

                Join us @DeepTechNY on January 28th!

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎, 𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚗𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎?  𝙲𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 “𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚃𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠” 𝙳𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚃𝚎𝚌𝚑 𝙽𝚎𝚠 𝚈𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚗𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝟻0 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜."

                      ALT  DTNY | January 28th at NewLab in Brooklyn


gn

Puppies & Positivity

                    @Puppieslover

                  4 Nov 2025

                They figured out they could slide down the grass hill… and now it’s their new favorite hobby. 😂


Congrats guys!!!


Absolutely!


“What you resist, persists”

Sahil Bloom

                    @SahilBloom

                  6 Nov 2025

                Life will test you with the same challenge until you learn the lesson. The same fight in every relationship. The same burnout in every job. The same regret in every missed chance. Until you do the inner work, the outer world won’t change.


Fun times on the Present Father Podcast!

youtube.com/watch?v=R_nN2_YH…


Love that! Never heard that one.

Replying to @Tupelobee @EvokingGenius @JamesMelville


Our sci fi accelerator, Flux, is an homage to the movie and the decade.

Antonio García Martínez (agm.eth)

                    @antoniogm

                  6 Nov 2025

                Out of an (unusual) sense of nostalgia, watched a bit of the original Back to the Future, and can now say with full confidence that the mid-80s were the apex of Western civilization. If you lived through it, everything since then felt like an accelerating slide downwards.


Josie is looking for more true believers!

We were the first investors to support her company (and we won’t be the last).

Better get on the bus early before it is an “overnight” rocket ship 🚀

Josie Zayner

                    @josiezayner

                  6 Nov 2025

                Another AI App launch

@WeBuildLife we are literally building the future of life. We have made tangible progress & gene edited real living animals. Done things literally no one else in the world has done

That i need to fight for attention of investors with these mfers is wild


@hayleeejohnsonn


Better yet is when it's straight out of high school!

Dustin Burnham

                    @dustinthedad

                  7 Nov 2025

                What happens when you pay the most brilliant
minds from MIT and Harvard to drop out of college
and go build the future instead?

Don't miss our special 125th episode of The
Present Father's Podcast with @dstrachman
and @william_blake!

                      Young People Are Ready to Build


Thank you for listening and for how you're raising your children!

Replying to @MarsHomestead @dustinthedad @William_Blake


If you're a parent, this is the podcast where we offer some tips on raising autonomous children.

Dustin Burnham

                    @dustinthedad

                  7 Nov 2025

                Replying to @MarsHomestead @DStrachman @William_Blake
                I am aware of Montessori but not deeply, and Danielle definitely encouraged me to learn more about it.

This was one of those episodes I had to watch and take notes multiple times because there was just so much great stuff to implement.


The biggest program we could build for others is an abundant supply of homes!

Michael P Gibson

                    @William_Blake

                  7 Nov 2025

                Why is housing so expensive? Because the government constrains supply. Simple as that. Top 3 policy issue in the U.S. has a straightforward libertarian solution.


Headed to Tokyo in early December! Which makers and artists should I meet there?


We play this game in my house too!


Same!

Vivid Void

                    @vividvoid

                  7 Nov 2025

                Sorry guys, got to run, I've got big weekend plans


Yeah my semi feral cat chills out somewhat but not the full on ragdoll effect I was hoping for.


Yes!


gn

Titania

                    @TitaniasRealm

                  8 Nov 2025

                "Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again."
- C.S. Lewis

(art: Natalya Mosyagina)


But what if I name my bunny Peter Cottonthiel?


We are working on overall handling, paw desensitization, and come here. More after we have the basics down.


gn

Into The Forest Dark@ElliottBlackwe3
                  10 Nov 2025

                Good night, dear Kindred Spirits and Magical Dreamers. Tonight I will leave you with this illustration by Richard Scarry.


1517 is interested!!!

Devon ☀

                    @devonzuegel

                  11 Nov 2025

                Who wants to go in on buying this 57-bedroom seminary in Cupertino?

It's got amazing bones!


Which YOU are brilliant at!


Lots of emails and DMs behind...looking forward to checking them all out and getting back to you though. Thank you!


Kaaaaacute!

Josie Zayner

                    @josiezayner

                  12 Nov 2025

                Weve been using the Colossal "Woollly mouse" as a kind of benchmark for our gene editing techniques

Except we are trying to do it the hard way by CRISPR gene editing the embryos while still inside the womb and not killing any mice in the process

Getting close


The 1517 Institute of course!


You can get others to buy it if you'd like!


SOLD


Foiled again!


Let's go!!


Was at a dinner party last night where someone negatively used the term "childish" to describe highly creative and high on openness adults.

1. Denigrating children or the qualities therein points to larger systemic and memetic issues. We should all aspire to return to being more childlike. The essence of our creation.

2. The environment children (and all humans) are in  matters. Environments that encourage your spirit are the key to unlocking human potential.

ꪻꫝể ꪻꫝể

                    @TheThe1776

                  12 Nov 2025

                In 1968, George Land tested 1,600 children's creativity using a NASA-designed assessment. Results: 98% of 5-year-olds scored as creative geniuses, dropping to 30% at age 10, 12% at 15, and just 2% among adults.  They were programmed out of creativity by conformity.


Exactly!


Loved having this conversation with Grant and Hammad!

Grant Gregory

                    @grant__gregory

                  13 Nov 2025

                Hammad and I had a blast talking to @DStrachman & @William_Blake on @MotionBlurFM about 1517, the Thiel Fellowship, and finding outliers

There are perhaps *the* best duo in the world at identifying and supporting young, exceptional talent

We learned a ton. Excited for others to hear it for themselves


You've got to work on your comedy!


"This startup is going to torture you into greatness"

- @William_Blake


Much love to you Cyan! We must be in sync today...I was learning about cyanotyping today and thought "Ah, it all makes sense!" Hope to see you soon - sending lots of love!


My heart expanded 3X in the shine of Cyan's glow.

Cyan Banister

                    @cyantist

                  13 Nov 2025

                I have to say, I think @DStrachman is becoming one of my favorite humans. My love for her grows every day. She's remarkable on all levels and our ecosystem is fortunate and lucky to have her.


Me: You don't know "Like a Surgeon?"

Him: I might be a little too young for Weird Al

Y'all have some homework to do with weekend. Weird Al on full blast. Bonus points for getting to his polka material.


Would love to join!

Replying to @alxmthew @EricJorgenson @TaraViswanathan


You missed.

C.C. Gong

                    @CCgong

                  18 Nov 2025

                scare a VC with two words


Would be better as “lovers”


Love Pascal's work!!

Pascal Unger

                    @PascalUnger

                  12 Nov 2025

                𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐭: Winter 2026 Residency for Technical Founders at Inception!

This winter, we’re bringing together 10 hardcore AI builders for an exclusive residency in Miami with all the firepower of a top accelerator without the heavy dilution!

This is the most talent-dense, high-velocity, carefully curated launchpad for technical AI founders outside SF to start a venture scale company - AND you get to escape the harsh winter while you ship!

The 3+ month residency - hosted in partnership with The LAB Miami - is hyper selective (10 startups only), highly intense (6+ days / week in office) and fully in person (Miami relocation required / costs offset).

Plus you get mentored by unicorn founders including Digital Ocean ($4B NYSE), Mural ($2B), Papa ($1B), vLex (acquired for $1B), Quicknode ($1B), Spotnana ($1B), and many more.

The best part: There’s no “too early” - apply with nothing more than your drive to build a venture scale company, your idea, and the ability to ship exceptional products at breakneck speed.

Applications just opened - apply at focal.vc/residency to start in Jan 2026!

𝐏𝐒: 𝐓𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐚𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞’𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

@focal_vc


Mo money, mo AI! Love the Foresight Institute!!!

Foresight Institute

                    @foresightinst

                  11 Nov 2025

                New AI Nodes + important grant updates!

Exciting new chapter: we are launching two physical hubs – one in Berlin and one in San Francisco! With these nodes, we want to support ambitious researchers and builders who use AI to advance science and safety. The hubs combine grant funding with office and community spaces, programming, and in-house compute to help teams build faster.

The AI Nodes will open in early 2026, and we’re now inviting applications for:

• Grants: Funding, office space, in-house compute (for eligible projects), and invitations to relevant workshops and events.
• Office & event spaces: Free access to our nodes.
• Compute: Free compute for your project.

We are also making important updates to our grants – they will now be connected to the nodes, have an AI-first approach, and monthly deadlines instead of quarterly.

Come shape a future where AI progress remains open, secure, and aligned with human flourishing. Learn more and apply by Dec 31: foresight.org/grants/grants-…


Me me! Me too!!!


Mixmax, you are fucking with my love of cold emails (see pinned tweet folks) -- just turned off the settings where these messages don't reach me (and might not have for the last week or two) and go to some nebulous unfindable folder. If you sent a cold email in the last week or two, you might try again!


"Fred DeLuca started Subway at 17.

Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein at 18.

Kobe Bryant became the cultural leader of the Lakers at 19.

Alexander the Great became King of Macedon at 20.

Steve Jobs co-founded Apple at 21.

Steven Spielberg started directing with Universal Studios at 22.

Richard Feynman joined the Manhattan Project as a lead young physicist at 23.

Madam C.J. Walker launched her cosmetics and hair-care business — eventually becoming a millionaire — at 24.

Alexander Hamilton co-wrote The Federalist Papers by 25."

Mat Sherman

                    @Mat_Sherman

                  5 Nov 2025

                Take Young People Seriously

forwardthinking.substack.com…


I put my hands on my heart and repeat "I am safe" until my body starts to believe it. In the moment, I am safe. Easy to forget though.


I missed these doggos (and the you g maker who seems insanely cool attached to them) because of your stupid filter!!


And then this little guy got filtered out. You can take my cold emails from my cold dead hands. Bastards (I shut the damn filter off)


My going to send these doggies after them!


I was negative 60 days!


Thanks!


And don’t forget to do it at their literal physical level! Make those books and resources so they can access them, themselves!

rebelEducator

                    @rebelEducator

                  19 Nov 2025

                Fill your kids’ world with beautiful things

Beautiful books, beautiful toys, natural materials, lovely stories, aesthetic art, pretty music, lovely spaces

Your child is developing their sense of aesthetic, their perceptive foundation

Emphasize the true and the beautiful


gm

Mahan

                    @speedrun4life

                  20 Nov 2025

                May it Lift. On the Real Winds.

Not those of the tides of time.

May it Soar. Towards the Real Sun.

Not a White Hole. On Borrowed Time.

May it Go. The Full Distance.
May it Rise. Above All Clouds.

May it Meet. The Real Ones.

When the Time is Right.

Time has Come.
The Journey Starts Now  🪽🏔 🌌


Allllll of this.

Daniel Buck, “Youngest Old Man in Ed Reform”

                    @MrDanielBuck

                  20 Nov 2025

                Can we all agree to stop calling students “kiddos?”


Good work algorithm


Getting older means seeing your heros pass but it also means seeing their children shine.

carlos@svlmonskinrolls
                  20 Nov 2025

                "when you get older your wild heart will live for younger days"


We hosted the first Thiel Fellowship finalist round here in 2011!

Alex Kehr

                    @alexkehr

                  20 Nov 2025

                hot take: the hyatt regency hotel in san francisco might be one of the most beautiful buildings in the city


Please oh please oh please

Noémie

                    @FedericoNoemie

                  15 Jun 2024

                Google maps needs a feature for the nicest way instead of the fastest


It was a great day!


gn

Brian Graham 🦬

                    @iroasmas

                  21 Nov 2025

                it’s a cold and broken hallelujah. you need to call a hallelujah repairman. do you know if your hallelujah is still under warranty


Tree lined streets!


Maybe instead of startup swag we should all be wearing more Batman emblems.

Massimo

                    @Rainmaker1973

                  22 Nov 2025

                The Batman effect.

A female experimenter, appearing pregnant, boarded the train. In the experimental condition, an additional experimenter dressed as Batman entered from another door. Passengers were significantly more likely to offer their seat when Batman was present (67.21% vs. 37.66%).

[Francesco Pagnini et al.,"Unexpected events and prosocial behavior: the Batman effect", Nature, 2025]


Success indeed!!


The frontiers of knowledge are in the hands of the 15 year olds!

Massimo

                    @Rainmaker1973

                  25 Nov 2025

                Belgium’s 15-year-old prodigy earns PhD in quantum physics.

Laurent Simons has officially become a doctor in quantum physics after defending his doctoral thesis at the University of Antwerp on November 24, 2025.


Love it!


Who else are your favorite accelerators of progress or research who are under 18?


it's awesome to see!


Got my first cold email intro that included a Christmas tree. What a beaut!


Was there something that could have made the experience better for you?


Bummer!


I feel like Christmas tree decorations might be a good personality test...I have the sense that this person really cares about family and the past. There are some clearly passed down ornaments on this tree...they don't make them like this anymore! They are also someone not afraid to be a little bit much but also clearly very joyful.


I love being a snoop! When I was a private tutor, I think one thing that made me so good at it was getting a sense for how students and their families lived.


Learning about an "entrepreneurship program" in a high school that wants to charge $150K/year really makes me want to cry.


So you pay a program to then invest in you? That seems even worse to me.


Thank you Jordan!! It's a blessing to work with the people who are creating a unique future!

Jordan Plows

                    @jordanplows

                  28 Nov 2025

                I am thankful the @1517fund team they took a chance on me when no one else would.

Days before their investment -- I was dead.

My phone was getting shut off.

I couldn't pay my health insurance.

I had $100 in the companies bank account and was literally going into debt to keep the lights on for the business.

As a founder I felt defeated and it had been so grueling but @DStrachman did so much before that initial check to show support and believe in me.. I started as a medici- grant and used that $1000 to get my SaaS to 5000 downloads (I used that money to keep me alive and cover my OAI bill, I had only $50 in OAI credits which wasn't enough)

The founder I am today and the confidence I have now wouldn't have been possible without her and the team, it taught me how to ask questions that seem foolish without fear and challenge dogma and not conform.

As founders we all attend the church of "disruption" hoping that we get baptized as one of the greats, and  upend an industry --  but I learned from 1517 that disruption is often ideas that are quiet and overlooked and with the right support and capital the volume gets turned all the way up and you are more equipped to build a generational company. It might not be your first idea but you build that muscle and it starts with removing the imposter syndrome and being willing to look a little foolish and ignore the noise.

My mindset was completely unraveled. Before 1517 I had this mentality that I had to look perfect as a founder and everything had to look like I had it all under control and anytime someone would ask me "How is your company doing" I would have to remain insanely optimistic.

Thats not realistic and as a founder, building a company is not only hard but can be down-right miserable and lonely but within our community we have such a strong support system that it liberates you to be honest and not have to pretend things are better than they are and find help when you need it the most.

@1517fund isn't a traditional fund, its the worlds greatest playground for those who want to push boundaries on ideas and do so with the willingness to look a little foolish with purpose and conviction.


Grateful for your heart Jordan!


We told them and they’ve heard!

Replying to @Bryan_Barton @William_Blake


I’m more fae than giant, but I’ll take it :P. Thank you Jordan!

Replying to @jordanplows @zeldapoem @William_Blake


Flying to Tokyo today! Planning a 1517 dinner or matcha social for anyone in town on Friday! Who is there?


Easily upgraded!


I’m flying in to Tokyo today and will be there this week! Would love to see you!


Good call!!!

Replying to @Jasnam_sidhu @Stefania_druga


Results


Learning can!


Merry Jolly!!!

Buitengebieden

                    @buitengebieden

                  28 Nov 2025

                It’s the most wonderful time of the year.. 😅


I know! That’s why I invested :D


lol


Good memory! Just about the same time last year, this time of business.

Replying to @lunarcyclingx @lunarcycling @hopelesslystoic


Always!


You need to be tree and sunshine maxxing!


We are doing the most 1517 thing ever -- pugs, ice cream and Tokyo, what more could we ask for?

luma.com/te7lodms


I am very happy with it! Thank you!


Since drawing more, the way light reflects off the face has been endlessly fascinating and I think Parm is saying it deeper than I can articulate.

parm🔬

                    @parmita

                  30 Nov 2025

                I like to think that the universe is interacting with me at a chemical specific level using photonic spectra, and the photons seem to agree with my theory


He already played that role!

Steph Anie

                    @mynerdyhome

                  30 Nov 2025

                This is it. This is the role he was born to play


If you’re not Radiohead maxxing while working out, you’re ngmi

Kwat Medetgul-Ernar

                    @KwatME

                  2 Dec 2025

                2% better than yesterday


It makes me cry every time. So good!

Replying to @robertmclaws @TheCinesthetic


Reverse psychology at its finest

The San Andreas Fault

                    @sanandreafault

                  2 Dec 2025

                No bitch now I’m not doing it


At 1517 we back prodigies, polymaths, and mutants! It’s one thing to talk about it and another to see founders in action.

This documentary highlights the great work being done at Trilobio (where we were the first investors) and is a great spotlight on the qualities we look for at 1517.

sequel

                    @joinsequel

                  25 Nov 2025

                Many people believe that the rapid pace of innovation has continued since the moon landing.

But they are wrong.

Human progress has stalled in the past 50 years.

Fundamental progress in core parts of science and technology in the real world has regressed.

Until now.

This is @trilobio.

sequel original film #001 - The Polymath & The Prodigy


Genius

Clifton Sellers

                    @CliftonSellers

                  2 Dec 2025

                My wife is an angel on earth and I can’t be more blessed to do life with here

Love this tradition she does every year


Yes please!

Nature is Amazing ☘

                    @AMAZlNGNATURE

                  2 Dec 2025

                This app needs more fluffy baby highland cows


1517 founder building the future with proteins!

Pavle Jeremić

                    @SynBioMars

                  3 Dec 2025

                We’ve secured $15M in funding led by @tribecap, bringing @AetherMachines' total funding to $64M. Our pace this year has been relentless, with materials printing 10X faster and 2X stronger for our defense and aerospace customers


Me in my natural habitat and Michael out of his.


It’s bad when you meet a guy named Sho and you want to start every email with Fo Sho.


Really enjoyed being on a panel in Tokyo with @simonlancaster!

Check out his book about building a niche VC firm. He has a lot of great insight for those getting started.


Simon’s book here: a.co/d/32KNrQI


Join us for pugs, ice cream, and geekery tomorrow in Tokyo!

Danielle Strachman 💗 🐈 💃 🪴 🎸 🎨 🐕

                    @DStrachman

                  1 Dec 2025

                We are doing the most 1517 thing ever -- pugs, ice cream and Tokyo, what more could we ask for?

luma.com/te7lodms


Ask for money, get advice.

Ask for advice, get money.

vittorio

                    @IterIntellectus

                  3 Dec 2025

                she just said “don’t worry about Christmas presents, I don’t need anything”

is it a trap?


I’m the worst!


gn my fae folk

softly magical°🦢♡

                    @softlymagicall

                  3 Dec 2025


Tis the season!

softly magical°🦢♡

                    @softlymagicall

                  4 Dec 2025


gm

vivaneil

                    @vivaneil1234

                  4 Dec 2025


Nothing in the world like feeling freely chosen

🇺🇸 𝓓𝓪𝓻 🇨🇦

                    @DameScorpio

                  4 Dec 2025

                THIS! 👇 Is awesome. 🐕 ❤ I’m not tearing 🥹 up…you are. Perfect matches. 😊

                    Community note

                  Misleading: the clip is flagged as AI‑generated in the original TikTok's top comments and isn’t a documented shelter 'dogs choose humans' event. AI-made rescue videos are increasingly common. Original post and discussion: tiktok.com/@babies.dogs.c


Reminds me of the study where they found that rats in an enriched environment didn't get hooked on coke

Michael Strong

                    @flowidealism

                  5 Dec 2025

                Whenever I see kids “addicted to screens,” it’s almost always because the rest of their life offers less: less agency, less challenge, less stimulation, less meaning. The only thing that beats screens is purpose.


First ever 1517 Tokyo ice cream social (with pugs)!


Blowing 1517 money on building the future!

Josie Zayner

                    @josiezayner

                  5 Dec 2025

                1517 re-upped their investment and I blew it on horses. Total accident. Didn't expect them to be that fast? In my defense, 1517 keeps enabling my crazy ideas.

Meet Jolene mother of unicorns


Rewild your startup!


She’s an angel!


Adopt animals!

Interesting things

                    @awkwardgoogle

                  5 Dec 2025

                Touching scene: This was the reaction of a newly adopted dog when kissed for the first time 🥹


We are cut from the same cloth

chels! ☻@femmenart
                  5 Dec 2025

                i love Walking!!!!!!! i love fresh air time!!!!! i love moving my legs and looking at things!!!!


lol


Horses, statues, reviving the future — that’s what we do at 1517.

Atelier Missor

                    @AtelierMissor_

                  6 Dec 2025

                One month ago, we unveiled the design of the Guardian of Liberty that we will build for the 250th anniversary.

Since then, we forged one out of bronze, with the hope that it will soon stand in a beautiful place in the USA.

As you can see, the globe is missing, the ceiling just wasn’t high enough!

If anyone wants to help, please come forward!


If you don’t think you can have a baby, you can have a baby.

Wolf of X

                    @WolfofX

                  5 Dec 2025

                They adopted a baby boy and this was their reaction when they met..


It’s Saturday in Japan!

Buitengebieden

                    @buitengebieden

                  5 Dec 2025

                It’s Friday!! 🎉


The perfect snowball doesn’t ex…

♡

                    @heart_jpg

                  4 Dec 2025

                the perfect snowball


My fish spatula has been through hell and back…and you can take it from my cold dead hands.

microplastics nanobubbler@facetedcarapace
                  5 Dec 2025

                the absolute chokehold the fish spatula has over my kitchen is absolutely insane. once you have one you will need it for everything


If you haven’t had a good laugh in a while, this will heal you.

chris evans

                    @notcapnamerica

                  5 Dec 2025

                I’m sorry this has me CRYING


Angel/preseed first check writers!


Konnichiwa!

Kerria

                    @Kerria

                  6 Dec 2025

                Kindness is like snow. It beautifies everything it covers.

~Kahlil Gibran


When the impossible becomes possible

•@miroticmoon
                  6 Dec 2025

                Replying to @david_lrl
                El segundo salto que hace es el cuádruple axel. Ilia es la única persona en la historia que ha sido capaz de realizar ese salto.

Requiere 4.5 rotaciones en el aire, es el más difícil de todos. Y hasta hace poco se creía que era un salto imposible 👏


Creatine is also shown to have cognitive enhancement effects for people over 40 and may also help people maintain muscle over time.

Replying to @texasrunnerDFW @RealMichaelKee


For me, hosting is the laziest (and therefore best) way to socialize.

Everyone comes to me, it’s a great excuse to do extra cleaning, and I usually have leftovers for the week.

And when I’m done, I can kickback and relax.

Aubrey Strobel

                    @aubreystrobel

                  7 Dec 2025

                Modern people have lost the art of hosting, being a community member, and inconveniencing themselves.

Throw the party. Host your relatives. Ask the person on a date. Treat your friends to dinner. Learn to cook for others. Meet your neighbors. Talk to the person at the grocery store.


My people are good people :D

American AF 🇺🇸

                    @iAnonPatriot

                  8 Dec 2025

                LMAOO.. newlyweds were walking through Boston after their wedding and encountered this..

Love it.. 🤣🤣


Yeah people love it!


Walking and browsing is healing for the feminine soul


Works!

Peach

                    @nerdylilpeach

                  8 Dec 2025

                if you have ordered from amazon recently type "thank my driver" in the amazon search bar! it gives your driver an extra 5 bucks at no cost to you


Great movie!

cinesthetic.

                    @TheCinesthetic

                  8 Dec 2025

                Big Fish (2003) is essential for anyone who has ever loved a father they couldn’t fully understand. Burton turns tall tales into the language of a man trying to be remembered, and the son slowly realizes the stories were always the point.


This dog has more rizz than all of SF!

derek guy

                    @dieworkwear

                  9 Dec 2025

                have you considered that outerwear makes you more attractive to women? watch.

ladies, do you think he's handsome? answer with yes/ no

IG the_joy_of_the_chase


Every single day!

Wholesome Side of 𝕏

                    @itsme_urstruly

                  9 Dec 2025

                "I've been in the big world today and now I need to be in a tiny space."


An incredibly fun conversation with Rene! If you want to hear more thoughts on 1517 & creativity...this is the pod for you!

René 🌱 Invest in Creativity

                    @RJPinnell

                  10 Dec 2025

                I got the rare pleasure of talking with @DStrachman.

Founding team of @thielfellowship, now running @1517fund.

No one has backed more renegades, dropouts, and CREATIVE MUTANTS. Her insights on how to spot — and unleash — raw creativity are a masterclass.


"And maybe this is the problem with having an artist soul and being stuck in a scientist and entrepreneurs body. As an artist it physically hurts to not express myself. But as an entrepreneur I know that if I'm not comprehensible to others then it's harder to get people on my side."

Josie Zayner

                    @josiezayner

                  10 Dec 2025

                I really struggle with being authentically truly myself and being decipherable to the tech world

It's just stuck in my DNA that I'm a mad chaotic self-expressing force that doesn't blend in with the crowd

The way I look, the way I dress, the way i act, the way I speak, the way i write, it all clashes with what alot of people expect from a founder or even scientist

I want to be understood and accepted and connect and so should I self-censor if it gets me that investment or that connection? I would do anything for my insane dreams

It's hard because I often see other people mold themselves to a narrative that's not true to themselves but brings success

And maybe this is the problem with having an artist soul and being stuck in a scientist and entrepreneurs body. As an artist it physically hurts to not express myself. But as an entrepreneur I know that if I'm not comprehensible to others then it's harder to get people on my side

And maybe there's no correct answer.  And maybe it's good to just always have these two forces pushing back against each other to keep me honest.


1517 24/7

Michael Strong

                    @flowidealism

                  10 Dec 2025

                The longer I do this, the more optimistic I become about young people.

When you give them rich environments, real responsibility, and communities that expect growth, they do things most adults assume are impossible because they have been impossible for them.


Oopsie daisy


Doesn’t have to be recent.

Replying to @ABlockUnchained @SuperDebateClub


Been thinking about getting bantam chicken…thoughts?

Nᴀᴛᴇ ⚓@oblatenate
                  20 Dec 2023

                Astonishingly aesthetic chicken, a silver sebright bantam. 10/10 do want.


It’s true! Being befriended and mentored by Christine is one of the first things that happened to me in the Bay and I am forever grateful!

Christine Peterson@lifeext
                  11 Dec 2025

                I spotted the talent of @DStrachman before Thiel did, so there


My kinda skincare!

raw milky

                    @milky_raw

                  10 Dec 2025

                i’m currently LOSING MY MIND over my HOT CHOCOLATE BEAUTY ELIXIR RECIPE i can’t stop making: double collagen overload grass-fed gelatin marshmallows that actually taste like a cloud had a baby with honey, and collagen hot chocolate so thick and sexy it should be illegal.

first, the hot chocolate:

- 1.5 cups raw milk
- 2 heaped tbsp raw cacao
- 1–2 tbsp raw honey or maple (taste as you go, i like mine filthy)
- pinch mineral sea salt
- 2 scoops grass-fed collagen (i use 20–30g because i’m extra and my joints are 97 years old)

heat it slow, whisk like you’re mad at it, watch it turn into pure velvet. sometimes i throw in a pinch of cinnamon or cayenne if i’m feeling dangerous. drink it while it’s stupid hot and feel your skin literally drinking it too.

now the marshmallows… oh my god. these are not marshmallows. these are bouncy, vanilla-scented pillows of joint-supporting, gut-healing, “why do i look airbrushed” magic.

- 3 tbsp grass-fed gelatin (bloom it in ½ cup cold filtered water — let it get all wrinkly)
- 1 cup raw honey (or half honey half maple if you want to be fancy)
- another ½ cup water + pinch sea salt
- 1–2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract, but why would you)

cook the honey mixture to 240°F (soft ball stage yes you need a thermometer, stop crying), then slowly pour it into the bloomed gelatin while your mixer is going mach 10. whip it. whip it good. 10–15 minutes until it’s thick, glossy. let it sit overnight (if you can wait that long). dust with powdered sugar andcut into squares. try not to eat the whole pan in one sitting (impossible).

the science part (because i know some of you need receipts):
daily collagen peptides (10–20g) have been shown in multiple RCTs to increase skin elasticity, hydration by up to 28%, improve elasticity, and reduce wrinkle depth.

gelatin does the same thing but with extra glycine for sleep, gut lining repair, and that “my cellulite looks softer” effect we pretend not to care about but totally do

here’s what raw cacao is doing for you every time i make you chug my collagen hot chocolate:

- insane antioxidant load – we’re talking more antioxidants than blueberries, acai, AND goji berries combined. specifically flavanols (epicatechin, catechin) that fight oxidative stress like they have a personal vendetta. these protect your collagen from breaking down aka anti-aging from the inside.

- skin glow steroids – multiple studies show 4–12 weeks of high-flavanol cacao increases skin hydration, thickness, and blood flow (yes your face literally gets better circulation and looks less dead). UV protection too – one study had women drinking high-flavanol cocoa and their skin needed DOUBLE the UV exposure to burn.

- mood + brain on fire – theobromine (gentle long-lasting caffeine) + phenylethylamine (the “love chemical”) + anandamide (literally called the “bliss molecule”) = you’ll be happy, focused, and slightly turned on for no reason. also boosts BDNF so your brain makes new connections. hot chocolate but make it nootropic.

- magnesium queen – one of the highest natural sources. we’re talking 64mg per tbsp. that’s why it calms you tf down, helps you sleep deeper, stops cramps, and makes your skin less inflamed and red.

- lowers blood pressure + better blood flow – those flavanols again. they make your arteries more flexible (proven in studies) so nutrients actually reach your skin cells instead of just floating around being useless.

- reduces inflammation markers (CRP, IL-6) so your acne/chronic redness/eczema/rosacea has less fuel to be dramatic.

this is the real skincare. winter is coming. your skin is already panicking. do something for it that actually works. drink the damn hot chocolate. eat the marshmallows. this is the easiest beauty routine you’ll ever do and the only one that tastes like heaven.