She had no CS degree. She used AI to teach herself to build.
Anastasiia Shumilo had no computer science background when she decided to build software. She taught herself Flutter and Xcode using AI, founded Shumi Technologies, and is now developing Draw Flow — an AI-powered construction technology platform that automates drawing analysis, quantity takeoffs, and cost estimation for construction professionals.
This week
The most important act of a founder this decade will not be building. It will be deciding what not to build. Restraint is the unwritten chapter of every great company — and the next four years will reward it more than any cycle in memory.
The feed
Agentic Video Startup Clueso Raises $10M Series A *Validates Emerging AI Category*
Clueso's $10M Series A spotlights 'agentic video' as a new frontier for AI in enterprise content automation, signaling robust investor confidence in autonomous AI solutions.
VCs Become AI Chip Suppliers: A16z & General Catalyst Reshaping VC-Founder Dynamics
Top VCs like A16z and General Catalyst are directly procuring Nvidia H100 GPUs for their AI startups, transforming venture capital into active supply chain facilitation.
Ramp's $8.1 Billion Valuation: The Real Story of Fintech Growth Not $60 Billion
Explore Ramp's confirmed $8.1 billion valuation from March 2022, its rapid ascent in fintech, and why claims of a $60 billion valuation lack credible evidence, offering crucial insights for founders.
Andreessen Horowitz Under Federal Probe: New VC Scrutiny
Andreessen Horowitz faces a federal probe over alleged 'pay-to-play' schemes, marking a significant regulatory shift for the VC industry and prompting new considerations for founders.
Nvidia Eyes Reflection AI: Strategic Shift to Open Model AI
Nvidia is in preliminary talks to acquire Reflection AI, an open model AI startup, signaling a major strategic pivot beyond hardware into the AI software and model stack, with significant implications for founders and market dynamics.
Founders desk
Plate 01Anastasiia Shumilo
Anastasiia Shumilo is a Ukrainian-born technology founder who started over in Canada and built her career in technology from the ground up. She founded Shumi Technologies, an international B2B softwar
Plate 02Cover · Issue 47Tony Loeb
The man who decided hospitality needed just ten minutes — co-founder of 10minutes.news, the quiet media engine now read by 220,000 hoteliers across Europe and North America.
Plate 03Kateryna Eisen
Founded Momploy to solve a problem she lived on both sides — as a small business owner who struggled to hire part-time, and as a mother who needed flexible work. Now building Toronto GTA's local trust layer for skilled parents and the businesses that need them.
Plate 04Dylan Field
Dropped out of UPenn on a Thiel Fellowship, spent six years building a design tool that ran in the browser, said no to Adobe's $20B all-cash offer when the regulators killed it, and IPO'd anyway.
By desk
Read with the people who build the next decade.
Wednesdays at 7am Pacific. One letter, four minutes, and the five stories that actually mattered — chosen by the desk, not by an algorithm.
- ✓ The week's five most important reads, briefly
- ✓ One short interview, often unpublished elsewhere
- ✓ A memo from the editor — three minutes, one idea
- ✓ No ads, no roundups, no growth tactics