Every summer, you have a choice: • Play it safe: intern at a big company • Play it fun: go to Cancun with your friends • Or… the secret third option: chase your obsession Most people pick option 1 or 2. We back the ones who choose option 3. I’m writing $100k checks to help them do it. This summer, we're running Off Season II: • June 24 – August 7 • 6 weeks on campus at @fdotinc in SF • For students recent grads building in AI/ML, hardware, robotics, or AR/VR Ends with Demo Day. Top teams get up to $250K in funding $500K in credits. Apps close June 7. Tell me what you’re building in the comments and I’ll send you the link to apply.

if a vc fell asleep on your call this week, that’s on them. but here’s how to make sure the next 50 meetings you take are with people who will actually fund you: don’t start til you’re ready. i review hundreds of founder applications a month, and most start fundraising too soon. if you’re using investor calls to figure out what you’re building, you’ll burn 4 weeks and come out more confused than you started. here’s the checklist i’d use to know if you’re actually ready to raise. you’re ready when: → you and your cofounder have shipped together 3 months → something real exists. ugly demo off localhost counts → proof people want it. 5 weekly users, LOIs, or a paying pilot → you can name your customer and their exact role in your sleep → one core metric moves weekly (and you know why) → you know your unit economics (CAC, payback, gross margin) → one channel works at small scale → your “why now” is sharp (tech shift, regulation, buyer urgency) → your materials are tight (deck, demo, metrics, milestones) → you have a process ready: target list, warm paths, 4-week calendar you’re not ready when: → you have a deck and nothing else → you’re raising to hire the technical cofounder you don’t have → your customer is “anyone with X problem” → you can’t explain why people churn → pricing is a guess → “we’ll go viral on x” is your channel plan → “AI” is your why now → the core is outsourced → no milestone plan tied to next round unlocks → you need the money to start learning 7 from the ready list? run a tight 4-week process. don’t drag it out. fewer than 7? spend 30 days flipping 3 items from the “not ready” list first. don’t spend 6 months chasing money you could’ve raised in 6 weeks.

10 spots left for the VIP early walk through from 3:30-5pm (investors, media/press, etc.) lu.ma/canopyvip

RSVP for Canopy Festival: luma.com/festival

Final call to RSVP for Demo Day TONIGHT. If you see me, please say hi! 👋 (and tell me what you're building) RSVP link comments

My team and I have been building some insane tools for our portfolio investor network at @fdotinc using @Lovable

i’m hosting the canopy vip investor preview this friday at fort mason. early access 3:30–5pm before the festival opens to the public. 120 founders live demoing underwater drones, $20 hearing aids, infinite no-upload storage, solar farm bots, etc. already have folks joining from @a16z @MoxxieVentures @outlandervc @generalcatalyst @obviousvc @blackbirdvc many more on the list. couple invites left. dm or reply “festival” if you want the link

starting a group chat

request for builders: • the 19-year-old who grew up flipping pokémon cards and is shipping apps at 2am • the single mom who built to $4k mrr during nap time instead of selling arbonne • the nurse coding patient tools on night shifts • the beauty creator showing off an app she built instead of another product haul • the gamer with 500k followers and more github commits than brand deals • the dropout with more paying users than classmates • the kid whose parents think they’re doing homework sound like you? drop the link below. ugly mvp, janky demo, messy screen recording. whatever you’ve got. i write $100-$250k checks for the underdogs p.s. if it’s cool, i’ll invite you to our campus

whimsy-maxxers: remember you can upload custom images as the folder icons in MacOS

apply here: f.inc/canopy

know a cracked builder? drop their @ finalizing invites for canopy. got a few slots open for interviews today tomorrow. first decisions out EOD friday. april 15 start. 100 teams irl. 400 online. hardware. software. media. investing $100k - $250k checks

bad v1 > no v1 ship before you're ready

Night Hack II is underway at @fdotinc Caffeinated by @UseCorgi, plus credits by @NebulaAI @cursor_ai @synclabs

one of the builders requested a magic 8 ball chat, do i buy them one? 🎱

Most hackathons: pitch decks PowerPoints. Night Hack: 6 hours to build & ship live demos working prototypes. All before midnight. Saturday 5pm-11pm at @fdotinc (Fort Mason) • Agents, tools, hardware • $200 @cursor_ai credits for everyone • Winners get $1,000 campus access luma .com/nighthack - 15 spots left

Apply to Canopy: f.inc/canopy?utm_source=adri…