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Hey builders,

Say it with me… AI, AI, AI…

This week, we saw big raises from a bank with no bankers, a $200M check for autonomous vehicle delivery, and a $100M raise for an AI mattress company to literally put you to sleep.

It’s like every corner of the world suddenly has an “AI-first” sticker slapped on it, and yet somehow the VCs keep nodding yes.

Is this a bubble that’s ready to burst?

Only time will tell.

Anyway…

In this week’s newsletter.

Let’s go.

Each month, I work with a curated group of cracked 0→1 engineers. The kind founders want to hire or co-found with.

As of this issue, only 5 spots remain.

If you’re building something on the side, bored at Big Tech, or just too good to be cold applying, this is your sign.

David AI is betting that audio is the missing bridge between today’s AI models and real-world intelligence.

They’re the first company to treat data collection like R&D, building studio-grade datasets that rival the rigor labs bring to model training.

Founded in 2024 by ex-Scale AI engineers, David AI has already locked in most FAANG companies and top AI labs as customers.

They have raised $25M from First Round, YC, and SV Angel, and assembled a lean but cracked team in San Francisco.

Their audio corpus is now 10x larger than any competitor, spanning 15+ languages with accent and dialect metadata that’s already powering leading speech models.

Now they’re hiring a Product Engineer to join as hire #8 and build the tools that make this dataset usable at scale.

— First audio data R&D company redefining how AI learns from speech

— Raised $25M from First Round, YC, SV Angel + more

— Customers include FAANG + leading AI labs

— Hire #8: Product Engineer with end-to-end ownership in SF

— Comp: $140K – $220K + equity, on-site in FiDi

This isn’t a feature-factory role — it’s one where your code directly shapes the datasets that train tomorrow’s speech models. If you’ve ever wanted to build tools that researchers and FAANG labs actually depend on, this is one of those rare chances.

Startups are raising money like there’s no tomorrow… Robots, beds, even nuclear reactors for AI. Big Tech and PE are circling like vultures, but right now it feels like the founders are running the table.

Let me know what you’re into and I’ll see if I can help. It only takes 30 seconds.

Question:

I keep seeing roles that are “hire #5” or “hire #8.” How do I know if I’m cut out for being that early at a startup?

Answer:

Amazing question.

Early hires are equal parts builder and firefighter.

You’ll ship code, fix ops gaps, sit in customer calls, and sometimes haul furniture into the office (I’m serious).

The upside is you learn more in six months than some engineers do in three years — but only if chaos energizes you more than it drains you.

— This question was from Sal.

Send me your question by replying to this email.

💡

If you could own just one percent of the upside from any startup you’ve worked at or interviewed with, which one would you pick — and why?