Thor Ernstsson

Childcare is a movable barrier and the care economy is workforce infrastructure. Siran Cao dropped so much truth on First Builders this week and shared why even capitalists in a vacuum should care.

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Building a startup is hard. It is especially hard in a country like Nigeria, where the ecosystem is yet to mature, and there are still many challenges to navigate. It is confusing, lonely, and full of uncertain decisions. Founders, especially early-stage founders, need as much support as they can get. Not “inspire to perspire” posts, but practical support on hiring, operations, funding, customer research, and navigating the regulatory landscape. Too many founders are surrounded by noise, surface-level advice, and generic content that does not reflect their current realities. What they need is a community that understands exactly what they are going through and can offer context that is immediately useful. Sierra Collective exists to be that community. A space where founders learn from one another’s live experiences and shorten the painful trial and error that usually defines the early stages of building. At Sierra, we believe that the most valuable support comes from those who are active in the trenches, navigating the same obstacles. If you are an early-stage founder, you should join the Sierra Collective. You do not have to figure everything out alone. As the African proverb says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Join Sierra: https://lnkd.in/d-Nzmtkq

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NEW: NY’s OCM has decided to transition to Metrc for their seed-to-sale tracking system. This comes after the partnership between Metrc and BioTrack, BioTrack of course was the tech company initially given the seed-to-sale contract in New York. Things to keep in mind as per https://lnkd.in/g_gunAbG: • Licensees who were sending data via the BioTrack NY STS API can now stop. • All licensees are still required to maintain an electronic, real-time inventory tracking system. • Metrc UIDs will cost $0.10, and any BioTrack tags previously purchased will be credited. • Third-party integrators will not be charged to transition from BioTrack’s API to Metrc’s API. • Labs will send testing data to Metrc under the new system. • Until Metrc goes live, transfers must use paper manifests, and licensees should keep historical data in their own systems. • OCM and Metrc will provide updates on API access, sandbox testing, training, and tags in the coming months. • Operators are advised to continue to submit inventory/sales reports to the Office via the portal. • They are aiming to help operators go live with Metrc in early 2026 Distru is a validated third party software integrator with BioTrack in NY, and we are committed to working with Metrc as OCM figures out what next steps are in the coming months. #NYCannabis #Metrc #SeedToSale #Compliance #CannabisTech #Distru

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What does it take to create speed in a regulated industry? For Allie Carey, Chief Strategy Officer at SEI, it meant designing a system that could turn hundreds of ideas into real ventures (without adding chaos). Over three years, she: • Built a culture of experimentation across SEI. • Launched a company-wide innovation contest (with real stakes). • Narrowed 30 ideas down to 10 pitches, to 2 experiments, to 1 live business. • Took one idea from concept to paying customers in just 18 months. We tried something new this week on Beyond The Core and built her full playbook live. It’s how SEI increased decision speed, improved throughput, and built a pipeline of repeatable ventures. Catch the full episode, now live wherever you get your podcasts, and download the playbook at https://lnkd.in/gPRvAK_n

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Venture funding isn't success of course, but it's nearly impossible to win big markets without it. Unlike the AI hype, Ando is very, very real. And unlike others, Ando is here to make lives genuinely better for everyone. (*) #proudinvestor #micdrop #oversubscribed Big thx to Bradford Oberwager and James Kairos, Ben Metcalfe, Andy Mutz, Joseph Chittenden-Veal, Scott Sanders, Massy Ghausi, John Lyman, Thomas Wesley, John Holder… and of course Phoenix Toews and Paul Wellons (to name a few) — (*) Yeah yeah, some pencil-pusher will use AI to over-optimize profits over people, but as American Airlines is learning the hard way (WSJ: https://lnkd.in/ePz_QNzt ), net of competition, "people businesses" don't work that way. You HAVE to care for people or you lose. Ando plays a beautiful collaborative role in that dialogue, helping profit-focused management more clearly see the effects of a motivated labor force. That's why I'm truly #proudinvestor --- Posts co-authored with my LinkedIn secret weapon Dennis Buckley

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i don't think most people have priced in the fact that codegen is now trivial. the bottlenecks are shifting upstream -- why build, what to build -- and, importantly for us, downstream -- whether what's built holds up in the real world. no software will ever be perfect. bugs happen in production. new corner cases uncovered. reality wins. so the differentiator going forward is designing systems that expect failure, then learn from it. when something breaks, it should be detected, root-caused, and fixed -- fast. and the system should remember the issue so that it's more resilient in the future. anti-fragility will be the new baseline.

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🚀 Ship with Claude — Build. Demo. Fund. AI is dominating headlines right now. But the real opportunity isn’t in the headlines — it’s in the applications being built. Recent economic research from Anthropic highlights something important: there is a large gap between what AI can theoretically do and what businesses are actually using it for today. That gap is where the next generation of venture-scale startups will be built. At G2C Ventures, we invest in founders who turn AI capabilities into real companies — translating foundation model breakthroughs into: • productivity gains • GenAI-native workflows • new business models • entirely new B2B markets that disrupt incumbents The founders who win in this cycle won’t be the ones just talking about AI. They’ll be the ones shipping real products. So we’re bringing together builders, engineers, founders, and early-stage investors for an evening focused on building and funding venture-scale applications with Claude. 📍 Palo Alto — March 26 📍 San Francisco — April 27 🕔 5:00–8:30 PM Hosted by AI Collective & G2C Ventures Sponsored by Anthropic Registration link in the comments (approval required) What to expect - Networking + team formation with founders and AI builders - Build products live (with free Claude credits) - Pitch your venture-scale idea - Live demos of what you ship with Claude - Awards for standout teams and projects - Connect with early-stage investors This will be a high-agency builder event designed for people serious about turning AI into companies. If you're building — or thinking about building — with Claude, join us.

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I’m thrilled to officially announce our $3M seed investment in Propel People, a company we built inside the 1848 Ventures studio to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing the #construction industry today: the skilled #labor shortage. For small and medium-sized contractors, hiring isn't just a challenge. It's the number one threat to their growth, profitability, and safety. With 94% of contractors struggling to find qualified workers, it’s clear that traditional hiring methods aren't built for the trades. That’s why we built Propel People. It’s a mobile-first, AI-powered hiring platform designed for how construction actually works: in the field. By leveraging smart candidate ranking, instant #SMS-based screening, and a fully #bilingual interface, Propel helps contractors build great crews faster and more efficiently. I’m also thrilled to formally announce that industry veteran Dexter Bachelder is at the helm as CEO. Having worked with Dexter and the team over the last few months, we've already seen the impact of his leadership. His 25 years of experience scaling construction tech companies will be instrumental as Propel People enters this initial stage of growth. This investment reinforces our core thesis at 1848 Ventures: building AI-native companies that solve fundamental pain points for the #SMBs that form the backbone of our economy. A huge congratulations to Dexter and the entire Propel People team on this milestone. We are incredibly proud to partner with you to support the people who build our world. Read the full announcement below. #constructiontech #venturecapital #seedfunding #ai #skilledtrades #smb

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📣 Female Tech Founders in NYC — New Accelerator Alert! Scale Ready Studio is a new 12-week, revenue-focused growth program for women building tech startups in NYC, created by Women.NYC in partnership with Get Sh!t Done. This program is designed to help founders scale sustainably through: - Revenue and profit growth - Strong systems and operations - Weekly strategy labs - Hybrid coaching (1:1 + group) - Technical assistance - In-person Founder Days The program culminates in a Deal Day, where participants pitch to a curated group of investors. 🗓 Applications close January 12

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A week can look productive on the surface, yet still lack any real coherence. Constantly moving between maker/manager mode is exhausting, but more importantly, it breaks momentum. Since the start of the year, we stopped trying to patch around this problem and built something to solve it. If you're a technical founder who feels this problem firsthand, please reach out or sign up in the link below.

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I’m thrilled to announce defy.vc’s investment in Birches Health as part of their $20M combined Seed and Series A funding round, alongside incredible partners like AlleyCorp, General Catalyst, Will Ventures, and others. As someone deeply passionate about backing companies that tackle important problems for our society, I couldn’t be more excited about what Birches is building—a national virtual clinic dedicated to treating gambling addiction and related behavioral disorders like gaming, sex, porn, and internet addictions. What excites me most is Birches’ innovative health assurance model: proactive, accessible, and affordable care that’s evidence-based and delivered right at home. With the explosion of legal sports betting—think nearly $1.5 billion wagered on this year’s Super Bowl alone—we’re staring down a looming public health emergency. Traditional options like hotlines or generic therapy fall short for this high-acuity issue, but Birches changes that by offering specialized therapy from trained clinicians, multimodal treatment, and peer support, all covered by major insurers like United Healthcare, Cigna, Aetna, and Blue Cross Blue Shield. It’s available in all 50 states, breaking down geographical and financial barriers that have left so many without help. The impact is already profound: 96% of patients report an improved quality of life, and 94% give Birches a 5/5 rating. By partnering with state governments, payors, and policymakers, Birches is pushing gambling addiction into the spotlight of behavioral health conversations, where it’s been neglected for too long—often leading to shame, worsened outcomes, and higher suicidality risks. This funding will supercharge their growth: expanding the provider network, boosting clinical excellence, scaling infrastructure, and deepening insurance and state partnerships to meet surging demand. Very excited to partner with Elliott Rapaport and the entire Birches team! See more about our POV in the blog post linked in the comments. #GamblingAddiction #BehavioralHealth #HealthTech #VentureCapital #Innovation

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