🚀 180M users for OpenAI

Hi Guy & Farzan here 👋 

This week, we have fashion, AI, candy and software. Let’s get into it.

Read time: 9 mins

In the mail:

1. Founder story: Shanya and her story with Rntr. 🚀

2. Founder playbook Sam Altman & the OpenAI founding story 🤖

3. Founder story: How Tara built a $360M candy company 🍭

4. Founder story: How David got Retool to a $3.2B valuation 👨‍💻

5. Video short: Founders have to do a lot of everything ⚡️

6. A quote: A Sam Altman quote on work 💼

1. Founder story

🚀 See how Shanya is transforming the fashion industry with Rntr., a revolutionary sustainable fashion tech platform.

"Try to leave this world a little better than you found it." - This quote has fueled Shanya Suppasiritad's entrepreneurial spirit, leading her to revolutionize sustainable fashion with Rntr., a groundbreaking tech platform. Here's a glimpse into her remarkable journey:

🇹🇭 Backstory: A love affair with fashion began in Thailand, where clothing became Shanya's armor against societal beauty pressures.

🛍️ Melbourne Stylist: Shifting to Melbourne, Shanya embarked on a stylist career, empowering people through fashion.

📽️ Epiphany Post-Documentary: In 2015, a documentary stirred her conscience, compelling her to address sustainability issues in the fashion industry.

👕 Tumnus Launch: 2017 marked the launch of her first startup, Tumnus, a peer-to-peer clothes-sharing platform, rapidly gaining 500 users.

🔁 Iteration to Coclo: By 2019, Coclo evolved, amassing 4000 users in weeks, reflecting a consumer shift towards sustainable fashion consumption.

🌍 Birth of Rntr.: 2020 saw the inception of Rntr., a platform reshaping our relationship with clothing and encouraging sustainable practices among brands and consumers.

📈 Milestones & Growth: Rntr.'s unique approach led to collaborations with reputable brands like Oroton, proving sustainable practices can be profitable and popular.

💡 Key Lesson for Founders: The journey isn't smooth. Shanya faced fundraising challenges and tough decisions, learning the importance of understanding investor intentions and resilience in adversity.

🚀 Advice to Fellow Founders: Focus and determination are crucial. Dive in, learn quickly, and understand if this path is for you.

2. Founder playbook

 🤖 The OpenAI Founding Story: Sam Altman's unconventional path to AI innovation.

🚀 "Imagine a world where AI benefits all humanity, not just a few. That's the vision that sparked OpenAI's remarkable journey." - Sam Altman

🌐 OpenAI's Expedition: A Founder's Playbook

1. 🍽️ The Visionary Dinner: 2015, Silicon Valley's Rosewood Hotel. Sam Altman and Elon Musk envision a world-safe AGI.

2. 💡 The inception: Formation of a non-profit, free from the clutches of commercial goals.

3. 🧑‍🔬 Building a dream team: Elite AI minds like Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever join forces.

4. 🌪️ Overcoming challenges: Facing funding hurdles, yet relentless in mission.

5. 🎮 Game-changing breakthroughs: From a dexterous robotic hand to mastering Dota 2, AI's potential unleashed!

6.  🌅 OpenAI LP: A new dawn: 2019 marks a strategic pivot with a "capped profit" model for sustainable growth.

7. 👑 TechtTitans step in: Microsoft's billion-dollar endorsement, propelling OpenAI into a tech juggernaut.

8. 📈 ChatGPT's rise: From GPT-2's 'deepfake for text' to the groundbreaking GPT-4.

9.  🌌 The future beckons: OpenAI now gears up for GPT-4 Turbo and beyond, promising an AI-powered tomorrow.

📚 Key lesson for founders: Adaptability & Vision! OpenAI teaches us the power of pivoting strategies and staying true to core values, even in the face of daunting challenges.

3. Video founder story

🍭 See how Tara built a $360 Million candy company at 26

Tara Bosch founded SmartSweets at 21, aiming to create healthier, low-sugar candies. She overcame financial challenges, using her own car as collateral for a loan, and successfully launched the product in a local Safeway. The company rapidly expanded, reaching 1,300 stores in the first year. A significant boost came from a Fox Business feature, leading to a global partnership with Whole Foods. After five years, Bosch sold a majority stake in SmartSweets for $360 million but remains involved. Her story highlights perseverance, innovation, and the power of a clear vision in entrepreneurship.

4. Video founder story

👨‍💻 See how David has grown Retool to a valuation of $3.2 billion

David Hsu, despite his Silicon Valley origins, founded Retool overseas following his philosophy studies at Oxford. His venture, known for providing developers with essential components to craft bespoke internal software tools, has soared to a $3.2 billion valuation, bolstered by major clients like Amazon, DoorDash, and the NFL.

In an interview with Forbes journalist Rosemarie Miller, Hsu delved into the challenging times he faced while developing Retool, shared insights on learning from setbacks, and offered guidance on recognizing when launching a company might not be the right move. 

5. Video short

⚡️ Startup founders have to do a lot of everything

6. A Sam Altman quote on work 💼

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See you next Sunday.
Guy + Farzan 👋 
Founderoo