D. Scott Phoenix (@fuelfive) / X

D. Scott Phoenix

1,344 posts

D. Scott Phoenix

@fuelfive

Partner at @fiftyyears investing in deep tech and a flourishing future. Former AI founder ($250M raised, acq by Alphabet). Host of thisisprogress.substack.com

Bay Area Megacity

Joined April 2008

Pinned
D. Scott Phoenix
@fuelfive
Jun 16
Are we the woolly mammoths? Progress ep06 is live with @justinkan, co-founder of Twitch. Mammoths built the grassland they lived on, then changed it too fast to survive. Justin thinks we might be next. We talk AI job loss, his bet on a Mamdani-style president in 2028, and what
00:00
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D. Scott Phoenix
@fuelfive
Sep 12, 2023
Hard truth: 99% of founders pick nearby problems instead of valuable ones. How do you build a company that matters? Richard Hamming’s advice changed my life:
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D. Scott Phoenix
@fuelfive
Nov 19, 2023
Replying to @jasonkwon and @sama
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D. Scott Phoenix
@fuelfive
Sep 6, 2023
Big news: I’m joining @fiftyyears to help more founders build deep tech startups! Last year, Alphabet bought my startup Vicarious AI ($250M raised from Elon, Zuck, Bezos…). Why switch to VC as my next thing? ⬇️
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D. Scott Phoenix
@fuelfive
Oct 5, 2023
Today we're launching the 50Y Progress Index, an open source project to quantify and track humanity's advancements. Food, energy, timber, and steel are 80-90% cheaper today than in late 1800s, air travel is 30X cheaper per mile than in 1950, computing is 10 trillion times
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D. Scott Phoenix
@fuelfive
Nov 20, 2023
Live feed from inside the OpenAI board room
00:00
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D. Scott Phoenix
@fuelfive
Jan 1, 2022
What happens when @vicariousai makes robots ubiquitous? A 🧵 Today we live in a world of infinite digital abundance because bits are ~free. Information at marginal cost ~0 makes the poorest person alive today information-richer than kings and presidents even 30 years ago.
D. Scott Phoenix
@fuelfive
Sep 12, 2023
Replying to @fuelfive
2/ Hamming worked on the Manhattan Project and led Bell Labs at its peak. He asked new researchers 3 questions: - What are you doing? - What are the top problems in your field? - Why are the two different?
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D. Scott Phoenix
@fuelfive
Sep 12, 2023
Replying to @fuelfive
6/ Regardless of the problem you choose, the road to success is brutal. Knowing this from the outset, you might as well pick something that is worthy of the sacrifice. As Hamming says, “If you do not work on important problems, you will not do important work.”
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D. Scott Phoenix
@fuelfive
Sep 12, 2023
Replying to @fuelfive
3/ Most startup advice (Lean Startup book, YC "make something people want") is the opposite of Hamming. Founders are encouraged to react to customers rather than think from first principles about what new tech might push humanity forward most.
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D. Scott Phoenix
@fuelfive
Apr 3, 2023
After a whirlwind year integrating Vicarious + Intrinsic, I’m leaving Alphabet to begin a new chapter! No immediate plans to start something new – I first want to catch up with all of the progress in AGI and hard tech. If you’re working on something cool, feel free to reach out!
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D. Scott Phoenix
@fuelfive
Jul 1, 2020
Replying to @TaylorLorenz and @balajis
@TaylorLorenz his tweet is a copy and paste of yours (cropped out of your screenshot, how convenient). Honestly asking, why is it OK for you but not for him?
D. Scott Phoenix
@fuelfive
Sep 10, 2023
Love to see it chemistryworld.com/news/lithium-d…
8.1K
D. Scott Phoenix
@fuelfive
Jul 13, 2023
Replying to @dileeplearning
I propose a six month pause on all gzip development until we can guarantee its safety
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