Blake Resnick couldn't quite process what he was seeing on his screen. Like many entrepreneurs, he was struggling to find money, in this case for his tactical drone company, Brinc Drones, which he founded in Las Vegas in 2017. As a 17-year-old. He already had a $100,000 Thiel Fellowship, funded by the PayPal co-founder, so he could pursue his vision as a college dropout. And he had proof of concept for his drones from early customers, including the Las Vegas Police Department.
But by 2020, his business was seriously hungry-enough so that Resnick accepted an invitation to a video meeting from the manager of some Tik Tok influencers because he claimed to know somebody who knew somebody. When Resnick tapped "join" on his laptop, he saw a couple of men, sitting on a bed, half-naked. Their informality was a bit jolting, but Resnick started pitching, without much enthusiasm, thinking, "This is 45 minutes of my life I'll never get back." The Tik Tok manager was interested, though, and said he'd like to introduce Resnick to some friends. Whatever.
Several hours later, the manager's buddy called, and he seemed rather more promising. "I'm Sam Altman's ex-boyfriend," he claimed. "I want to introduce you to him." Altman, the former head of Y Combinator and current CEO of OpenAI, would appearfully clothed-on a later call, and apparently liked Resnick's pitch: Brinc had developed tactical drones that could radically improve SWAT team outcomes, replace police helicopters, and make policing safer and more efficient, and he needed money to ramp up operations. Altman had to hop off the callhe said some guy named Elon was ringingbut when he and Resnick later connected via email, Altman told him that he would take Brinc's entire $2.25 million seed round via OpenAI's investment vehicle. Resnick had progressed from an iffy Tik Tok manager to landing one of the more famous investors on the planet.
This story is from the April 2024 edition of Inc..
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 2024 edition of Inc..
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Screen Play
Joe Thomas and his co-founders were two weeks away from running out of money for their software startup when, in 2016, they launched a new product and went all in on prerecorded videos as a workplace communication tool.
THE GUY WHO PUTS COPS IN THE SKY
BLAKE RESNICK, A 24-YEAR-OLD WITH FUNDING FROM SAM ALTMAN AND SAM BANKMAN-FRIED, IS ON A WILD RIDE TO REINVENT THE FUTURE OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE.
AI Gets to Work
It's leading-edge, it's downright scary and it's here. Following AI's breakout year, we take a look under the hood at how entrepreneurs are applying the tech and what you need to know to stay competitive.
THE CRUSADING KOMBUCHA CEO AND 200 YEARS OF STARTUP-DESTROYING LEGAL DOCTRINE
Michael Peter wants to dismantle a longstanding legal precedent that can prevent entrepreneurs from getting their day in court. His not-so-secret weapon: A small-business superhero named Reverend Justice.
ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE FEMALE FOUNERS 250
SUCCESS often breeds success-but triumphs also arise out of necessity. Consider that Airbnb, Uber, and Rent the Runway started during the Great Recession. In many ways, the past year was defined by similar tumult. While the U.S. never technically entered a recession, the retrenchment in investment and ad spending paired with the psychological-if not direct-toll of tech layoffs yielded tough times indeed. But female founders are nothing if not resilient, and their achievements defied the conditions they faced, giving us cause to expand our list to 250 of them. They're not ranked, but they are organized around themes. In the pages that follow, you'll find snapshots of courage from women who've overcome trials-such as keeping the internet running in war zones, coping with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, or facing personal crises. You'll also learn how this year's top female founders grew their collective 2023 revenue to more than $8.86 billion, raised $6.2 billion in funding to date, and kept it together not just to survive, but to thrive.
Shelley Zalis
On that elusive work-life balance, her own version of perfection, and pivoting with positivity.
Steve Young Shares Lessons From the Private Equity Playbook With a First-Time Founder
The athlete-turned-investor helps Tessa Barton prepare to scale her bootstrapped photo-editing startup, Tezza.
AI in HR Tech: A New Era in Human Resources Technology
The next generation of HR software is here, powered by artificial intelligence (AI). Now, your business can harness the transformative power of AI in HR tech.
Think Liberally and Deliberately
Why do I devote four weeks a year to reading and thinking? So I can supercharge all the other days.
At Board Meetings, the CEO Should Get Lost
Directors need to candidly discuss company leadership. They can't do that if the top manager is also the board chair.