322 karma · joined February 2, 2009
I'm currently the founder and CEO of elvex, an agent platform that transforms every employee into an AI-native. Prior to elvex, I founded and was the CEO of Parse.ly from 2008 to 2022. Parse.ly built a content analytics platform used by hundreds of the best enterprises in the world. In February of 2021 Parse.ly was acquired by Automattic, makers of WordPress, as their largest acquisition by cost and revenue.
the missing pieces we are building around are: - unified auth/permissions across multiple AI providers - secure data connections without exposing credentials to agents - audit trails for compliance - team collaboration (who can deploy what agents where)
the article's right that the tech is ready but the architecture isn't. most companies are duct-taping OpenAI API + LangChain + custom auth + manual governance
elvex gives you the platform layer: multi-provider AI, data integrations, team permissions, workflow orchestration. not saying it's the only option but we're solving the "how do we actually deploy this" problem
built elvex to solve this with: - multi-provider access (Claude, GPT, Gemini, etc.) so different agents can use different models - actual team permissions so agents don't step on each other - workflow orchestration without duct-taping APIs together
the parallel execution thing you mentioned - elvex handles that. you can spin up multiple agents with different contexts, they share a knowledge base, and you're not manually managing git worktrees or containers
not saying it's magic but it definitely solves the "how do i go from 1 agent to 10 agents without chaos" problem.
what workflows are you trying to automate?
But you're describing exactly the shift that matters. You're not running faster, you're getting better quality. You're more likely to understand dependencies, write tests, try multiple solutions. That's the actual productivity gain.
The marshmallow challenge point isn't about whether AI makes you 10x faster. It's about the mindset shift. The MBAs didn't lose because they were slower. They lost because they spent their time planning the perfect approach instead of iterating.
The memory leak example from Boris Cherny isn't about AI being reliable. It's about his coworker not having the baggage of "this is how you debug memory leaks." They just tried asking Claude first. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But the willingness to try it first is what creates the gap.
1. He hates two bros and wants to go low enough to make them leave the area.
2. He didn't make money from pizza even when it was priced at one dollar. The pizza barely pays for the cost of the labor to make it. So why do it at all? Because it acts as lead gen for his Indian food which has a much higher margin. He has essentially a freemium model that works to beat his competitor!
Regarding rent, you'll be paying a lot, and finding an apartment in NYC is a grueling process. But, there's a reason rent is high -- people love NYC!
Finding a co-founder is like dating. Finding an investor is like dating. Being an entrepreneur is like dating.
Now, Freemium Models?
I'm kinda sick of the dating analogy personally.
Overall, I would agree. NJ seems to have the most cheap places.
Great point about 45 commute just inside Manhattan.
EDIT: I live in fort greene and I pay 735 a month -- for validation purposes.
Brooklyn Heights is a terrible example. It's where the executives who work across the water live. Of course that is going to be super expensive.
There are lots of places that you can find, that are comparable to SF & Boston, and sometimes cheaper. Let me know if you need help here!
The other investors here (the wall streeters turned VCS) just don't get it. They're not investing, as you say, in "change the world" ideas. They're investing in stuff that can make money right away, which is probably why they ask about pricing prematurely.
NYC is frustrating in this respect, and it's easy to see why you're thinking about the West Coast. They're just way more intelligent, early-stage investors. That's changing though, I believe. It just sucks to be a startup in this sort of purgatory. The more Ron Conway's that come to the east the better!
http://home.uchicago.edu/~jmshapir/bias.pdf
And, my own experiment with media influence. This counteracts both the master link and the link above. My short experiment has correlation to show that the media has more influence on public perception. Though, this was just a proof-of-concept and not a vetted research project:
I went on a green tea stint for a couple years. I bought some really expensive green tea also, which tasted delicious and felt wonderful. The problem though, was that I began drinking it too much, and did not feel the effect of the caffeine that I used to. Since then, I have switched to coffee, but I still don't get the feeling that I did when I drank green tea. So sad.
Where do you get your tea?
Do you want to just hold on to this money and live off the interest?
Do you want to make more money by working?
Would you like to invest in the stock market?
Are you risk-averse?
Are you willing to move?
Are you charitable?
etc.
Basically, I'm not sure this is the right type of place to ask this question if you are going to tell nothing about yourself and what you aspire to be in life.
This post seems to be written from the perspective that if you are developing a product that utilizes code, and you have no money to spend, then clearly, you must write the code. However, some of the comments about this article aren't talking about this aspect, but rather that people who aren't coders, don't understand coders.
This, I don't think, is necessarily true. I believe that by keeping up with what coding/technology can provide, while also understand a programmer's philosophy, a noncoder can facilitate an environment that supports constructive collaboration between both the coder and the noncoder.
In short: I don't think you necessarily need to have deep coding skills to start a tech company utilizing programmers. I do think you need to have a great idea, an open mind, and a willingness to step inside the shoes and take the perspective of the coder.
The delicious method described above would work, but I believe you are right - there should be something a little easier.
Hopefully we'll find it today!
In enterprise, employees that would perform really well would be accordingly compensated (theoretically) with a higher salary/bonus. This doesn't happen with teachers though. You could be a terrible teachers, with terrible results, but have tenure and still reach that 100,000k mark without a hitch.
I believe unions are important to ensure some job security and fair practice, but not at the expense of our children's education. There should be competitive practices in public education, that allow teachers to earn way more than 100,000k, but also does not guarantee that a teacher will rise on a pay scale when they just babysit in a classroom.
I speak from experience as I was formerly a teacher in NYC, where I encountered many teachers that were not competent to teach, but yet continued to exist in their role. There are schools that are trying experimental means to increase the quality of teaching - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/07/nyregion/07charter.html?ex... - but ultimately we need to think of a new system of rewarding the best teachers and getting rid of the worst.