Exclusive: Bald man proves he can read

This was surprisingly unsurprising. If you're a founder reading this, here's the biggest takeaway: your idea isn't unique.

Yes, boohoo, you thought you were the only one who knew. You're not. Every single idea I read, there was another one just like it. Often many. This isn't a problem. It's natural. Ideas come from problems and opportunities, and chances are someone else has seen or lived the same one.

It shows on the map. The payments, remittance, savings and financial-infra stuff mostly came from Africa, with a few from South East Asia. India sent the ed-tech and a surprising amount of the AI infra. South America had the most artists, and someone should check in on them, because a lot of the work was about death. Europe, mostly the UK: vertical AI trying to kill inefficiency and bureaucracy. Quelle surprise.

Crypto was everywhere, and what I liked was how much of it sat outside the usual trading stuff: tamagotchis, energy infra, shopping.

There was a healthy dose of robotics, drones, and software to build them better. What was missing was bio. Nine ideas, all of them software, none of them in a lab. Would love to see more next time. Note for the marketing team.

So here's a little secret. The reason you talk to an AI version of me instead of filling in a form is that we're obsessed with the people behind the idea, not just the idea.

First off, I just loved seeing the sheer number of people who decided this university stuff wasn't for them, dropped out, and went on to do something epic instead.

A 15-year-old is making six figures and has a team of 30. They collect spices from the hills and sell them to the city.

A 17-year-old had a childhood friend who lost her hand at six and had gone eleven years without a working prosthetic. So he took his science-fair prize money and built her one. Fully battery operated, holds up to 20kg. Nuts.

There were people who cold-called and cold-bluffed their way into S-tier connections and contracts. No shame, no overthinking, just action.

A 16-year-old who didn't know LinkedIn existed cold-emailed Zuckerberg, Dorsey and eight other CEOs with a Pokémon combat system and a Nike clone as his credentials. One of them replied.

Another sat in startup calls at 16 with his camera off so nobody would know his age.

Another cold-walked into surgical centres with zero intros and walked out with three of the biggest hospital systems in America as design partners.

And the hackathon guy. 70 hackathons in three years, from his parents' house. Won 42. $76k in prize money. Told his family none of it, because he thought they'd find it foolish.

Which brings me to the other half.

You often hear VCs talk about "chip on the shoulder" or "founder trauma". Man oh man, is it real. Some of these conversations were extremely difficult to read. Like really.

People applied from war-torn countries. Founders who were abandoned by their own parents and had to find their own way. Severe financial stress and poverty. Random unexpected job losses, grief, rejection. Debilitating health struggles.

The fact that despite all this people still chose to build, and to find some hope and joy in creating something new, was some solace.

It also made me think about SF tech bros who think trauma is a prerequisite for success and wear it as some badge of honour. It is not. So fucking lame.

If you're one of these people, you're reading this, and you didn't get in: I want you to know that I saw you, and this is by no means a verdict on you or your abilities. We had 1,082 applications and 16 places.

You're building despite a bad hand. Most people don't build at all. Be proud of that.