Having done YC before, it's amazing to be back. The energy is the same 14 years (!!) on. Also, the quality of the folks I met was just as a high, if not more. So many have done a ton already, some are early. All are moving super fast. Crazy achievement by the YC team and @garrytan. My personal takeaways from the kick off of P26: - the vibe/how folks/users feel matters - prolly even more for hardware - what is the smallest thing one can actually ship rn - watch out for hero-mode; are we solving the real problem, or the easy one - strong cofounder bond is key, and the easiest way to fail, even vs funding - building a pro sports team, not family - post more to LinkedIn, as spaced rep is a thing, and starts a brand - create a tribe. convert people. if founders don't no one will: but build one tribe, not more

IndyCars hitting 180 MPH down Pennsylvania Avenue is a good reason to leave the office. The Forterra team spent the weekend at the Freedom 250 Grand Prix with our friends at @SecondFront. History on the Mall, and great company to watch it with.

Radars can be cost effective, and tiny! This is cool.

The U.S. Army tested a self-driving truck that can clear obstacles and shoot down attack drones at the same time, no soldier inside. Read more: defence-blog.com/u-s-army-te…

The breacher can now defend itself. Forterra's autonomous mission systems were put to the test at Fort Bragg, with a Ford F-250 carrying a @9Mothers counter-drone turret. The truck clears the lane and kills the drone hunting it, with no soldier exposed. @Defence_blog has the story.

Sandhills 2.0 - now with cUAS

The U.S. Army tested a semi-autonomous Ford F-250 equipped with the Edda counter-drone turret during Project Sandhills 2.0 at Fort Bragg on August 18. The vehicle combines Forterra’s AutoDrive autonomy system with the Edda turret from 9 Mothers. The system is intended to provide point defense for autonomous breaching vehicles against small drones. The 23 kg (50 lb) Edda turret uses acoustic sensors to detect drones and an optical tracking system to engage them with a shotgun effector. It is designed to counter fast-moving drones measuring around 7 inches at ranges of 10–100 meters (33–328 ft). During the test, an Edda turret reportedly engaged a Bumblebee V2 small UAS, demonstrating the system as part of the integrated autonomous breaching package. The Sandhills 2.0 program combines autonomous mobility with obstacle-clearing and counter-UAS capabilities, aiming to reduce soldiers’ exposure during breaching operations. #USArmy #CounterUAS #DroneDefense #UGV #AutonomousVehicle #FordF250 #Forterra #Edda #FPV #MilitaryTechnology #DefenseTechnology

Apple is delivering on its promise to bring advanced manufacturing back to America. $600 billion invested in America. Mac mini made in Texas. American workers building the future.

A smart use of audio; the lurking part has been around for a while though. Countering this requires super super fast reactions.

Are they going to send this to China too?

Today, many were shocked by yet another video of the drone “safari” Russians are carrying out against civilians in Kherson. A Russian drone deliberately hunted down a man selling vegetables and detonated right next to him. The Russians even admitted to the crime, showing zero regret and openly boasting about tormenting people. The man was wounded in the blast. Every single day, ordinary people in Kherson face these Russian "safaris." The world must see this. It must see every piece of evidence that Russia has gone mad and that its soldiers take pleasure in killing and abusing civilians. Without pressure on Russia, the dismantling of its capacity for aggression, and real security guarantees, it is simply impossible to imagine the world being able to coexist with this evil. We must remain resolute in defending life. We must act and support life in ways that force Russia to seriously think about peace rather than expanding the range of its drones. This is not just about Ukraine. Russia’s campaign against human life must be stopped here in Ukraine before it spreads further. Finland and Kazakhstan, the Baltic states and Poland, the countries of the South Caucasus, Romania, and Moldova—all should work together to ensure real security guarantees and bring Russia’s war to an end. Peace is needed, which requires cooperation among everyone in the world who truly values peace. Thank you to everyone standing with Ukraine!

Petraeus: The death zone in Ukraine extends 35 kilometers on either side of the front lines — defined by drone battery life. Tanks can't survive. Armored vehicles can't survive. Nothing can. Neither side even drives vehicles anymore. Russians keep trying and keep proving it. Petraeus: No trenches — drones fly through. Soldiers in survivability positions hundreds of meters apart, not mutually supporting. Resupplied by ground robots. Commanders can't visit the front line. Soldiers stay 60+ days. In urban areas, some couldn't be extracted for months. Petraeus: Russian advances mean individual soldiers running forward trying to dig in. Drone units pick them up immediately, cycle surveillance drones, then FPV attack drones arrive. You see them hitting around the soldier in the woods until one connects. It doesn't end well. Petraeus: Ukraine is about to isolate Crimea. Gasoline so short they won't sell it to civilians. Tourists who came for beaches are trying to get home any way they can. Kerch Bridge rail no longer works. Ferries knocked out. Land bridges destroyed. Pontoon bridges now targeted. Petraeus: Ukraine took down Russia's air defenses steadily. Russia pulls them to Moscow — vulnerabilities open everywhere else. Moscow refinery hit three nights running, out at least six months. They're going after fuel storage, refineries, gas lines from Siberia to the west. Petraeus: Real prospect now that Putin might need a cessation of hostilities himself. Oil sanctions reimposed, national welfare fund running out of money. Crimea isolated, front lines cut off, economy crushed — all of this could force Putin to recognize he should end this war. Source: text of Tymofiy Milovanov

We're excited to be working on this with @ForterraDrive - "US Army to experiment with C-UAS for autonomous breaching vehicles" - janes.com/defence-intelligen… via @JanesINTEL

@9Mothers & @albacoreinc @ Pennsylvania Defense & Innovation Summit🇺🇸 @DVaisbort John Huddleston @rhs

"Jarred was already writing slop well before he had access to LLMs" Dang. A good read: andrewkelley.me/post/my-thou…

One of the weird constants about YC is that the disses are always the same. Investors always claim valuations have become impossibly high. Competitors always claim we've jumped the shark because the batch sizes are now too big. Historically both have always been mistaken.

Missing @9Mothers @rhs

🙃🤷‍♂️

At least 1,200 people died of heatstroke in France last Wednesday, mostly elderly people indoors. Even crazier, about 70,000 Europeans die from the same every year, akin to a bi-weekly 9/11. Eurobros, please vote for leaders who will let you open your windows and install A/C!

Interview about @Inc and @lisabonos - @9Mothers , @ployai, @ApolloAtomics, and more @ycombinator P26 folks! inc.com/lisa-bonos/5-compani…

PSA: before anyone goes premium or more, @x doesn't let companies doing defense use ads or ad credits, at all. it's not listed publicly. it just gets flagged. support can't tell you why. you have to escalate, a lot.