In July 2012, I launched Seed-DB, a database of seed accelerators around the world and the companies in which they invested. I had originally started compiling the data in Google spreadsheets when I was writing my MBA thesis, and wanted to quantify the nascent accelerator ecosystem. Over time I kept getting feedback that the data was valuable to people, and decided to launch a standalone webapp to make it easier to access.
Building Seed-DB was a very meaningful milestone in my life. Building a webapp by myself was a fun challenge, and proved I could take an idea and implement it. (I have training in aerospace and nuclear engineering; not computer/software engineering, but taught myself how.) Over time, Seed-DB became an important resource for founders, accelerators, and others looking to understand the ecosystem. I’m proud to say that Seed-DB data was the source for infographics in the Economist and was cited in the New York Times and Techcrunch! (It also led to two different jobs.)
But everything must end, and it’s time for me to shut down Seed-DB. I haven’t had the time to update the data in a few years, even for the most high-profile accelerators. Additionally, the infrastructure behind the site needs a total overhaul, which I just don’t have the time or heart to do anymore. Finally, the seed accelerator ecosystem is just much more known – warts and all. The site isn’t as valuable or insightful as it was when it launched.
Thank you to everyone who’s given me feedback or who’s shared data with me – from accelerators to investors and founders themselves. I also owe a huge thank you to Crunchbase who gave me API access for many years to get the funding data that appeared on Seed-DB. Thank you to everyone for your support.
I couldn’t recommend this book more highly if you’re interested in the evolution of humanity, the nature of intelligence, or the similarities and differences between human intelligence and artificial intelligence.
Obviously COVID brought a lot of attention to immunology, but at a pretty surface level. I found this book illuminating and hugely educational in understanding what’s going on inside our bodies, particularly when we get sick.
This book was written before the door blew off a 737 MAX, but that just emphasizes the validity of this book. It’s a real cautionary tale for any company.
I was a little wary of this book, but each chapter focused on a President and a specific story of the White House Situation Room and that person. What I found fascinating is just how… unsophisticated the tools and technology was for so long!
The 2024 NYC marathon was my fourth marathon, where I effectively dropped ten minutes off my personal best. And the reason is simple – I finally realized I needed electrolytes! I’m writing this to share what I’ve learned to help anyone else in the same situation.
Quick background
In my previous three marathons, I ran into the same problem – around mile 20/21, I hit the wall and had to start walking periodically for the rest of the race. It just felt like my body fell apart, and I always chalked it up to “that’s what hitting the wall feels like.” This got increasingly frustrating – even when I really controlled my pace in the first part of the race on a particularly easy (downhill!) course, this still happened.
Luckily, I’d been working online with a coach (HUGE shout out to Matt Day from McMillan) and he pointed out that I needed to think about electrolytes!
(This is where I should point out that I’d only ever drunk water on long runs & races – I avoided any electrolytes because I never wanted to drink something that I hadn’t used in training. Nothing new on race day!)
Fueling with carbs – what I was already doing
In the course of training for previous races, I’d already figured out how to get the carbs I needed. I learned to properly eat / carb load in the day or two before long runs (say over ten miles). I also learned about running gels and got into the habit of ingesting a gel about every 30 minutes in a long run or race (starting about an hour in). This approach worked. [Runner’s World article detailing this]
Fueling with electrolytes – the missing piece of the puzzle
My coach Matt pointed me in the direction of a free online calculator to help me understand what I needed – check it out here. My results:
With my existing gels, I was 44g of carbs per hour already – a good chunk of what I needed. And I had been fine with overall fluid intake – that 15 oz/hour was probably what I was getting at the water stations.
HOWEVER! The gels I had been were only giving me ~100 mg of sodium per hour – just 20% of what I needed. (1000mg/32oz = 500mg/16oz, so ~500mg/hour)
The NYC Marathon offers Gatorade Endurance Formula Lemon Lime drinks at aid stations. When I looked up the key stats, I saw that this provides (per 12 oz):
300mg of sodium
22g of carbs
Additionally, I found alternate gels – Gu Roctane Energy gels – that would provide 250 mg/hour of sodium (versus the 100 mg/hour from my previous gets).
Putting this together, if I drank about the same amount (roughly 12-15 oz of fluids per hour spread across various aid stations) and used the Roctane Energy gels, I would be taking in:
66 g of carbs per hour (44 from gels, 22 from Gatorade)
550 mg of sodium per hour (250 from gels, 300 from Gatorade)
Results – the 2024 NYC Marathon
For the first time ever, I ran an entire marathon without needing to walk a step!
I’ll confess as I got to miles 20 and 21 in the Bronx, I was pretty anxious – this was the point in my previous marathons (and training runs!) where I had previously hit that wall. But as I got through those miles and crossed into Manhattan I got increasingly confident that I’d solved this problem and was ready to go. (Seeing my family cheer me on around mile 22 was also a huge mood lift!)
Instead of falling apart on Fifth Avenue as the hill rises along Central Park, I felt strong! I was energized as I passed loads of people, including those other runners that were forced to walk. Those final miles in Central Park to the finish were electric – I felt strong and the race photos with some of my biggest smiles are along this stretch of the course.
Instead of my body feeling like I was on the ragged edge (despite my legs feeling fine), I ended the race feeling strong… but with very tired legs!
Going forward from here
I’m honestly much more excited to run more marathons in the future – being able to crack this bonking problem is incredibly motivating! Now that I know I can finish strong, I can train with a new purpose. And I know I’m absolutely capable of dropping a lot more time off my new marathon PB/PR.
I’m definitely going to tinker with the specific gels and electrolytes I use, when I take them, etc. Toward the end of the race I was getting annoyed by always taking electrolyte, and could/should have taken water once or twice instead. But I’ve found a solid platform of an approach that will serve me well.
I’m writing this because there are a bunch of resources about getting carbs during the race, I haven’t seen the same about electrolytes. If you feel like you’re fit enough to run a full marathon but have had problems “hitting the wall” harder than you like, I strongly encourage you to use a calculator like I did and figure out if you need to change your approach to electrolytes in your racing.
It’s been about a year since my last post comparing Rivian and Tesla’s production ramp, and I wanted to share an update.
Specifically, this chart compares growth of deliveries quarter-by-quarter for each company based on when each started production (Tesla = 2012 Q3, Rivian = 2021 Q3).
Rivian continues to deliver more vehicles per quarter than Tesla at the equivalent point in development. Additionally, Rivian is producing three vehicles: the R1S (SUV), the R1T (pickup truck), and two sizes of delivery vans. Based on Rivian’s guidance for 2024 (purple dashed line on the chart), this will continue for probably at least another 6-12 months.
To be fair to Tesla, Rivian has taken advantage of Tesla proving that there’s a market for electric vehicles. Rivian was likely taken more seriously by suppliers because at least there was a new all-EV car manufacturer that had been founded in recent history.
Rivian, however, started production at possibly the worst time: just as the economy saw rocketing inflation and supply chain problems throughout the automotive sector. The effects of this certainly hit their early financial results, but they’ve been making great strides in efficiency and cost-cutting, particularly with the Generation 2 updated vehicles.
Looking forward to 2025-2026
Rivian is aiming to start production of R2 vehicles in the first half of 2026. This would mean that their lower-cost / mid-range vehicle would start deliveries approximately 3-6 months ahead of Tesla at the equivalent point in development.
Tesla started Model 3 deliveries in Q3 of 2017, which aligns to Year 6 – Quarter 1 in the timeline above. If Rivian starts deliveries in Q2 of 2026, that aligns to Year 5 – Quarter 4 on the same timeline.
With Rivian saying that they’re going to start R2 vehicle manufacturing at their existing Normal, IL plant, it certainly removes a lot of risk in achieving their goal of launching in the first half of 2026. There’s no risk of construction delays, no risk of poor knowledge transfer from experienced Rivian line workers, no risk of splitting effort across two very geographically-separated plants at a key milestone, etc.
That said, at some point Rivian will need to expand manufacturing space beyond the existing Normal, IL plant if they want to scale. (The existing plant can manufacture approximately 200k -ish vehicles per year; Tesla is currently manufacturing over 400k vehicles per quarter, over multiple plants.)
I believe the interesting test for Rivian will be their ability to ramp manufacturing in 2025. Will they be able to use the newly updated Generation 2 R1 platform to drive more throughput in manufacturing? How will preparations for manufacturing the R2 platform affect throughput?
Tesla was able to continue increasing production of the Model S and Model X in the four quarters before launching the Model 3. Will Rivian be able to do the same, or will they be limited by factory space in Normal?
As a Rivian fan, I’m looking forward to seeing how the company will execute. (And really hoping they’re able to pull forward product development on the R3X – that’s a really exciting car!)
Jed Christiansen