Co-founder @Instacart🥕🛒, startup investor
San Francisco
Joined July 2007
- Tweets2.9K
- Following2.4K
- Followers29K
- Likes1.3K
Max Mullen retweeted
I had the chance to see this in person last week, and what was most amazing wasn't just the capability as of last Tuesday but the rate of improvement week over week. The Dyna team is on an exponential.
We are releasing Dyna-2.1, the first Physical Agent that achieves reliable super long-horizon whole-body autonomy. It combines our brand-new semi-humanoid hardware with an agentic system built around Dyna-2 to handle ultra-long real-world workflows.
Here is an uncut footage of Dyna-2.1 completing an entire hour-long laundry room workflow, just like a human does.
Max Mullen retweeted
Introducing Gumball
Model agnostic, proactive, self improving.
All in your company’s private cloud
Max Mullen retweeted
1/ The FDIC just approved @Mercury Bank, N.A.'s application for deposit insurance.
One step closer to opening Mercury Bank!. There is still work between here and opening Mercury Bank’s virtual doors, which should happen in 2027.
I started Mercury in 2017 because I wanted to build the bank I wished had existed when I was running my previous companies. Going from a fintech with bank partners to a tech company with an actual bank has been the vision from the beginning.
Max Mullen retweeted
THRILLED to share that Owner.com has raised a $240M Series D and is now valued at $2.3B! 🚀🦄
6 years ago, we set out on a mission to level the playing field for local business owners.
Why?
Because we believe local businesses are sacred. Each one reflects the unique DNA of its owner: their story, their spirit, their craft. They bring life and connection to our neighborhoods.
But they're being crushed by massive corporations with billions to spend on tech, AI, and marketing.
Running a local business is like being David facing an army of Goliaths. Owner exists to change that.
This round was led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives, joined by Meritech, Redpoint, Headline, & Jack Altman.
We'll use the capital to keep building the only platform local business owners need to succeed.
· · ·
Special shoutout to one of my best friends and cofounder @adamguild. It's an absolute privilege to be building this company with you.
Shoutout to the outstanding Owner team. You deserve all of the credit for getting us here. It is a joy to build alongside each of you.
Special thanks to our investors and earliest supporters - @jaltma , @jasonlk, @alexbard, @zoink, Fidji Simo, Shalini Rao, @atkurland, @Harris_Pollack, Stephen Kerns, @JonnyNemo, @chughesjohnson, @dharmesh, @cory, @jaentwistle, @Joshuabrowder, @seanrad, @scottbelsky, @maxaltman, @Max, @braveben, @alexisohanian, @kippbodnar, @ankurnagpal, @parkerconrad, @justinmateen, @marcuslemonis, @ShaanVP, @thesamparr, @tanay_tandon, and @rauchg.
And finally, to our customers: You're the reason I get up every day excited to build. I feel like a kid in a candy shop. It is a privilege to serve you. ❤️
Max Mullen retweeted
Every generation inherits a new medium.
Ours is taking shape.
Introducing @_nellofficial.
Built in San Francisco. Backed by Danny Rimer and @IndexVentures, alongside @antonosika, @gokulr, @rauchg, Jason Citron, @joshm, @lennysan, @mati, @Max, @saradu, @soleio, @Thom_Wolf, and several others.
More soon. – at San Francisco, CA
Max Mullen retweeted
Willow’s voice keyboard lets you type across all your iOS apps — and actually edit what you said techcrunch.com/2025/11/12/wi…
Max Mullen retweeted
Just launched on Product Hunt: @Talo_AI
→ producthunt.com/posts/talo
Real-time AI voice translation for calls, events, and streams - in Zoom, Meet, Teams, or via API for your own app.
Max Mullen retweeted
Bill is one of the best seed investors in the business. Incredible job opp for someone:
I’m kicking off a search for a Chief of Staff to join me @firstround in San Francisco.
This is a role we’ve had at First Round for more than a decade. It’s a rare opportunity for someone who’s interested in both startups and investing to learn about both from the inside. You’ll be my right hand in everything I do, from running customer references before we invest to supporting founders after we do.
Former Chiefs of Staff have gone on to lead operations at a venture firm (@natewcollins), build at a breakout startup (@juliagovberg), invest full-time (@almostcmb), and everything in between.
I’m looking for someone who’s a learn-it-all, unreasonably organized and proactive, as well as unusually high-agency. They should be able to manage me more than the other way around. This person should also consider themselves a “work enthusiast,” as one of our founders likes to say.
I’d really appreciate getting the word out and anyone can apply below.
Application is here: jobs.ashbyhq.com/firstround/…
Max Mullen retweeted
Today @FortuneMagazine ran a piece on @Mercury celebrating:
* 3 years of profitability
* $650m in annualized revenue
* 40% year on year active customer growth
* Building a long term + sustainable + trusted service for our customers
Thanks @agarfinks for the write up.
Max Mullen retweeted
After 12+ years of publishing tactical company building playbooks on The Review, we’ve decided to start a brand-new publication, dedicated to AI actually working in production. We're calling it Applied Intelligence.
The aim is to close a gap we’ve spotted: Everyone's talking about AI transformation, but few are sharing the actual mechanics of how it’s unfolding inside companies.
We’re incredibly fortunate that our first piece is with @fnthawar from @Shopify, going deep on how they turned @tobi’s famous memo into reality. There’s lots of interesting real-world workflows, behind-the-scenes demos, and non-obvious insights that they’ve picked up as they’ve pushed everyone to build with AI first. (You can read it in full below.)
We’ll be sharing detailed new stories every week, so make sure you’re subscribed.
And if your company’s using AI in an interesting way internally that you think readers would find, feel free to DM me or email ai at firstround dot com.
Max Mullen retweeted
The only thing more stunning than the current capabilities of the models is the pace at which they are improving. Most business leaders are dramatically underestimating the impact AI will have on their business and the speed at which it will happen. New blog below:
Max Mullen retweeted
We’ve barely just launched Community Carts on Instacart and we are already delivering thousands of bags of groceries and daily essentials to emergency centers in LA. One of the leaders of a YMCA we work with was watching the cars pull up and said “omg, what are these magical cars showing up with food we need so much of!” - magic indeed. And the number of bags is growing by the minute, with many orders in excess of $1000+. In the middle of this tragedy, we’re really witnessing the best of humanity. And we’re just getting started. Thank you to everyone who is jumping on to help LA; you can donate the exact items these centers asked us for and desperately need here: instacart.com/donate
Max Mullen retweeted
We're excited to announce Gumloop's $17m series A led by @NexusVP with participation from @firstround, @ycombinator and angels like @max, @ShaanVP, @bryantchou, @rxin to name a few
The future of AI automation is bright and we're thrilled to help shape it
blog.gumloop.com/gumloops-17…
Max Mullen retweeted
It was very fun to help test and improve the Predicted Outputs API. Give it a go, it's really fast.
Try it out in Exponent too: exponent.run
Introducing Predicted Outputs—dramatically decrease latency for gpt-4o and gpt-4o-mini by providing a reference string. platform.openai.com/docs/gui…
Speed up:
- Updating a blog post in a doc
- Iterating on prior responses
- Rewriting code in an existing file, like @exponent_run here:
Max Mullen retweeted
“For its practical use of AI, Instacart’s Caper Cart is a winner of Fast Company’s 2024 Innovation by Design Awards.”
Such a compliment since we obsess over creating technology that improves people’s lives in very practical ways. Proud of the team!
fastcompany.com/91128560/ins…
Max Mullen retweeted
Check out what @dkhos and I have been cooking - so excited to partner with @Uber Eats to bring restaurant delivery to @Instacart! bit.ly/3UyeZ5p
Max Mullen retweeted
Don’t create teams based on the products you want to ship; instead, create teams around the problems you want to solve. The problems you’re solving should be long-lasting, while the best way to solve these problems will - and should - often change.
Max Mullen retweeted
plans should be measured in decades, execution should be measured in weeks.
you gotta have both.
Max Mullen retweeted
Congrats @apoorva_mehta, @max, and @shiftb on the @Instacart IPO!
What started in 2012 with a beer delivery to @garrytan has transformed how we all shop today.
Max Mullen retweeted
We are proud to have partnered with @apoorva_mehta, @Max, and @shiftb since @Instacart's first funding round in 2012. Thrilled for the entire $CART team and their impressive journey to today's milestone!
👋 We're in stock. $CART is now listed on the @NasdaqExchange. We’re excited for what's next and - most importantly - to bring more food and joy to your $CART!
Learn more about our public debut here: instacart.com/company/update…
