Very cool! I've been wondering why more messaging based assistants based in AI aren't emerging versus human-aided (Magic, Operator, etc.). (I was excited about carla.io but disappointingly it never really worked very well.)

This one is fast but still very natural. The suggested query in the onboarding flow obviously works very well, but I tried to throw it for a loop by asking where I can take a party of 20 for dinner in SF tonight (real problem so if anyone has suggestions would love to hear them!).

The response wasn't tremendously useful, but it was still an intelligible and coherent response (recommended 20 Spot--kind of a smart response actually!).

Asking friends, they've suggested Amici's or Buca Di Beppo so I can imagine the algorithm learning or being taught over time to incorporate characteristics like that (large groups). I like that it's a narrow use case to start--focus on that and build from there. Much more optimistic than the wide and shallow approach of Magic and Operator.

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Atlassian Valued at $3.3 Billion 12 years ago

Veeva Systems (VEEV) took just a touch longer at 6 years and did it with remarkable capital efficiency. Founded 2007. Raised $4m from VCs. IPO in 2013. Opened at $2.4b mkt cap, closed day at $4.5b, $5.6b today.

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Hacking Kids - Part 1 14 years ago

I've just found my thinking to be much clearer. Meditation is essentially practice in awareness: awareness of your thoughts, awareness of your focus, awareness of your emotions. It doesn't mean being able to ignore or eliminate them, just becoming aware of them and reacting accordingly.

Ideally, I'd like to do it twice a day for 20 mins each, but right now at least I average every other day or so for 20 minutes after the kids are asleep.

I first heard about it when reading stuff by Ray Dalio, founder of the hedge fund Bridgewater Associates. He called it the best return on investment he ever made so that piqued my curiosity.

There's a great online resource at http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/medita...

There are a couple of different types of techniques that seem to be variations of each. Transcendental Meditation is possibly the most famous (or notorious). It's expensive and has a "secretive" air to it.

Sara Lazar, who does research on the effect of meditation on the brain, was really helpful. Check out her talk here: http://www.tedxcambridge.com/thrive/sara-lazar/

She recommended a few places that eventually led me to the Insight Meditation Center.

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Hacking Kids - Part 1 14 years ago

Great post! As a father of a 2.7 yo and a 1.3 yo, I agree with your points and would add the following (among others):

- Having kids makes you a better communicator generally. It's easy to get frustrated with kids and adults when they don't do what you say. Having kids makes you realize that you need to look at yourself first. Repetition matters. Consistency matters. Being the best example of what you want them to be matters. Having high expectations and then doing your part in helping them get there matters. And so on. The maturity that comes with these realizations make you so much more effective in other ways as a communicator.

- Having kids makes you INCREDIBLY efficient. After I had kids, I decided to be home by 6.30p every day with my mind cleared and ready for my family. Per Parkinson's law ("work expands to fill the time you give it"), I figured any level of success can be had while meeting that constraint, provided you (and your environment--a big factor) prioritize accordingly. So I've become incredibly efficient. Once I made efficiency a priority, I realize that improving my thinking was a necessary step. Among other things, I started meditating as a way to improve mental clarity and the ability to switch efficiently between tasks. It's had a huge impact on my life in ways beyond what I intended. I now do more things than I did before I had kids and wonder what I did with all the time I had before I had kids!

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