Chief’s Post

A little under two months ago, I (Ian Sidman) was sitting in my room, thinking of the highest leverage opportunity given my skill set at the time. At the time, I was running my clothing brand, which was making me good money, but I knew I was worth more and that this wasn't the most fruitful use of my time (good is the enemy of great). A lot of ideas ran through my mind that were quite good, but none were challenging enough. I had an intuitive feeling that there was a bigger fish hiding in the pond that would be able to help more people. Moments later, I had a flash of light, which was this unrealistically ambitious idea of automatically producing viral videos on social media with AI. It honestly didn't seem possible, but for some reason, some inner intuition guided me into pursuing it. Since that moment, through sheer will and dedication to the idea, I've met my co-founder, whose super steeped in tech and AI, named John Moore. We've garnered over 500 applicants on LinkedIn (and 10+ local applicants), built the beginnings of a great team, and I've been more motivated than ever to learn in order to fulfill the necessary roles for this project. With each growing day, our vision seems more probable and viable. While the technology for my main ambition is a long way from being developed (but believe me, we're going to be at the forefront of that technology as it comes out), we have thought of several other ideas that will help businesses, creators, and people be able to pick up traction and get seen on social media. The number of people this tool would be able to help and the amount of possibilities in regards to positive externalities with it are unbelievably motivating. With each growing day (and the long nights, lol), our vision becomes more alive, and I can't wait for the good and the bad that the future has in store. Thank you so much to everyone thus far who has taken the time to talk or work with us. The advice and value you've bestowed on us have played a major role in developing this vision, and we're unbelievably grateful for all of you. God bless.

Technology has always unlocked creativity, by freeing the artist from physical limitations of a given media. We saw the transformation from traditional painters and illustrators to digital artists, going from mouse to writing tablets to tablet screens, each new wave bringing more freedom to artists. In the motion picture space we went from chemical process and physical cutting of film to digital video and non-linear editing. AI diffusion models are unlocking the next major shift, allowing creators to go from idea to creation without the limitations of specific tools. With filmmaking in particular I think we will see an incredible new art form, where artists can create motion graphics in real time, effectively painting directly into “live action” sequences seamlessly. The days of rotoscoping and even what we thought of just a few years ago as CGI VFX are disappearing. The promise for this technology to enable visual storytelling experiences unlike anything we’ve ever seen before is unparalleled since the “talkies” first brought sound to motion pictures.

I knew Aleph was part of my hiring process with Sequence, but I had no idea it happened through Ampliphy. Ampliphy is a tool that @Aleph created to automate serendipity - AKA mapping networks and providing unique access and connections to people. To be honest, I’m still not totally sure what it is, but I love working at Sequence so I’m here for it ;) Check out the video below.

Austin, TX will make state #3 for me, regarding DisruptHR. From my very 1st one in Gainesville, FL to now, feels like it has only been months and yet, also feels like a lifetime apart. From all the way back there to today, I have always seen the gem that this series is. This is where fresh ideas find their roots. This is where disruption is embraced. This is where real change becomes not only possible, but entirely probable. "But I'm not an HR person!", you say? Whether you own a company or work for a company, this is the place for you! Even if you are at the lowest rung of the ladder at your workplace, this event will provide valuable insight into the ever changing workplace. In fact, this event is a perfect opportunity to educate yourself on what HR does, and has the potential to do, for your career advancement. You may get lucky and someone will come along and explain everything you need to know to you and introduce you to people who can help further your career... OR You can invest in yourself and your future through a ticket to this event! #choicesmatter #disrupthr #austin #disrupthraustin #positiveimpact

In my last post here which got over +8000 impressions (😯), I mentioned to be back to share some bits from some side projects I've been working quietly in the corner. And here I am, between "You should be proud" and "Man... really?!"; announcing the first post of my writing series. After many hours of brainstorm and burned brain cells, I chose the title "Trail to Thrive" for this series, resembling the life journey we are on, knowing I am not the only one on the way, some behind and many ahead. My goal is to share my learnings on certain topics that I outlined in my post, some through testing proven tools and concepts out there and some through sweet and/or bitter personal experiences on the way, hoping to trigger an easy action (where needed) to create a positive change regardless of scale/magnitude. Actually, let's rephrase, to create a very small change towards the positive direction. Hope this one is a good and easy read, thank you for your time and visual energy spent! https://lnkd.in/e7YeJG8z

This tool is a dream come true for enabling healthy improvement in our lives. Great place to start when asking those questions about any aspect of your health.. - What can I do to improve my gut health? - What specific exercises does Peter Attia recommend for improving longevity? - Why are flax seeds good for you? — Bonus: Convince me to do regular cold exposure.

We’re really bad at talking about Ampliphy. So bad at it that founders like Ami Daniel and Michal Beinisch thought it was either “magic” or “complete bull$HiT” (we love you Ami!). What actually is it? Ampliphy is an operating system we built to service the hell out of our entrepreneurs, by automating serendipity and creating goodwill at scale. This software platform changes companies’ trajectories by mapping and navigating networks and providing unique access and connections to people, knowledge, companies, and insights. There’s an entire team at Aleph dedicated to improving the tools and products that fall under the Ampliphy umbrella, in order to map these networks, facilitate warm intros to investors and companies, help recruit top talent…and hopefully the video below will explain better than we can. Big thank you to Erez Dickman, Noy Madorsky, Maya Sover Eivensitz, Yonatan Bakalash, Jonathan (Yonatan) Adiri, Matan Bar, Daniel Schreiber, Dor Yakobovich, Michal Beinisch, Ami Daniel, Oz Alon, Naama Alon, and Yuval Samet for helping to tell the Ampliphy story. Check out the video 👇🏼

So apparently we’ve been hiring candidates through robots. I thought the intro to Nitzan Shenkerman came from Aleph, but this video made me realize that we actually got connected through automation. Relationships founded on trust are the catalysts for building companies – from funding and talent to sales and business development. Ampliphy leverages the power of using your network at scale, so that the trust element is already built in when we hire. Check out the video to see what I mean. 

Oh Ampliphy! I miss it so much. How can you create a report detailing all the investors who have previously approached you and are able to invest a specified amount? How do you track who the BD team met with and tag them as someone we have a good relationship with? How can you quickly locate that one needle in the haystack that will help you smash your KPIs? Eden Shochat, Michael Eisenberg, Tomer Diari, Yael Elad - reiterating my longdue request - please give your portcos full access to this already!! ;) (and until then, I had to build something similar at Simply 🤷🏽♀️) Seriously, Ampliphy is my forever crush. Check out the video to see why.

Happy November! Here in New York, the days shorten and cool, and there's more time for after-hours reading. I'm actively re-balancing my reading diet. That means re-training my brain away to focus on long-form reads that aren't necessarily for work or doomscrolling. It also means actively working to explore new subjects and new authors, to diversify away from the same old voices I default to in my light reading. Here's what's on my list today: 1. The Time Regulation Institute by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar. A bureaucrat complains to his friend and ad hoc therapist about the absurd machinations of getting people to modernize their clocks. 2. Noor by Nnedi Okorafor. An Afrofuturist take on discrimination and corporate capture seen through the eyes of a cybernetic woman, AO. 3. Unmasking AI by Dr. Joy Buolamwini. Ok this is one work-related, but at least it's not a research paper or report. Thank you for the generous giveaway at yesterday's All Tech Is Human event at the Ford Foundation!! Joy's research on algorithmic bias needs no introduction, and I look forward to reading her poems. What's on your reading list?