I build AI systems that run companies, and I design them to scale to enterprises and whole ecosystems.
The 1-person billion-dollar company is real.
I'm building one.
Founder, Ethoz · agent-native founder · San Francisco · 🇻🇪 → 🇺🇸 · EN / ES
I run my company with a team of AI agents: they research, draft and check the work, and I approve what ships. See what I'm building on my site →
- Refreshing my site and profiles so the bet comes first.
- Ethoz in development. Agent team ships through reviewed pull requests.
- Shipped Kestrel. Kestrel is a small, fast maintenance app for Linux, Android, and Windows. Linux · Android · Windows
- Starting vertical, AI tools for Latin music and nightlife in San Francisco:
- 🎺 Encore AI for musicians: an AI crew for promo, inquiries and logistics. Live demo, example data. Early stage. Demo
- 🍸 Venue AI for bars: AI tools that help venues audit, plan and automate operations: QR ordering, marketing, inventory, SEO and AEO. Live demo, example data. Demo
- 💃 Montuno: a membership-first supper club and dining room with live Latin music in San Francisco. In development.
| Project | What it is | Link |
|---|---|---|
 Ethoz |
Ethoz: an AI workspace for founders (in development). AI agents help founders prepare each step from idea to launch, with human approval on every step, in English and Spanish. | weareethoz.com |
 Encore AI |
Live demo, example data. Early stage. Helps event planners and venues find and book working musicians, with an AI crew helping musicians with promo, inquiries and logistics. | Demo |
 Venue AI |
AI tools that help venues audit, plan and automate operations: QR ordering, marketing, inventory, SEO and AEO. Live demo, example data. The owner approves every step. | Demo |
More experiments
| Project | What it is | Link |
|---|---|---|
 Montuno |
A membership-first supper club and dining room with live Latin music in San Francisco. In development. A concept preview, not open yet. | Prototype, example data |
 Factory of Companies |
A playbook for running a company with one human founder and an AI team. | Demo |
 Factory Ventures |
Ready-made software companies with brand, code and docs. The demo uses fictional listings. | Demo |
 Kestrel |
Kestrel is a small, fast maintenance app for Linux, Android, and Windows. | Linux · Android · Windows |
 Chess Coach |
A personal chess teacher in one offline web page. | In development |
 Campfire Cards |
A pocket deck of storytelling prompts for pitches, posts and emails. | In development |
 Dawnly (working name) |
A personal AI briefing in two short emails a day. | In development |
 Y Batch |
A free pocket companion for writing and practicing a YC application. Built with AI coding agents. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Y Combinator. | Try it |
- Pull requests only. Every change from the agent team ships as a reviewed PR.
- Signed work. Each agent signs its commits and PRs, so I always know who did what.
- Human approval. Nothing consequential ships without my OK.
- Techstars mentor since 2023 · YC Startup School '18 · Harvard certificate in CS for AI
- Before startups: Wells Fargo (digital fraud), Comcast IT, Chase retail ops
Languages & frameworks
Data
Cloud & DevOps
AI & automation
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Works on
Want a team of AI agents to take work off your plate? Start on my site. Scan the QR to open it on your phone.
I'm a big open-source fan. Linux, mostly Debian-based, is my main system on a dual-boot machine because it is lean, fast and mine to control. I boot into Windows only when I have to, for a few apps I can't run natively on Linux, like Adobe Digital Editions for reading library e-books.
When I switch, I want both sides to stay fast and trouble-free. These are the things I learned the hard way. For Windows I turned them into a small tool, Kestrel. Kestrel is a small, fast maintenance app for Linux, Android, and Windows (Linux · Android · Windows). Its Tips page holds the full Windows list below, with links to sources.
Read what a command does before you run it. These work for me; your setup may differ. Back up first.
Fast and lean
- See what slows your boot.
systemd-analyze blameandsystemd-analyze critical-chainshow the slow parts. Turn off startup apps you don't need. - Turn off services you never use. List them with
systemctl list-unit-files --state=enabled, thensudo systemctl disable --now <name>. Only if you know what it does. - Keep packages tidy.
sudo apt autoremove --purgeandsudo apt cleanfree space. - Cap the log size.
sudo journalctl --vacuum-time=14dkeeps two weeks of logs. - Check weekly SSD trim.
systemctl status fstrim.timershould show it enabled. - Tune swap. On low RAM,
sudo apt install zram-tools. With plenty of RAM, a lowervm.swappiness(for example 10) keeps apps in memory. - Find the hogs.
htoporbtopfor CPU and memory,ncdu /for disk space. - Clean up Flatpak.
flatpak uninstall --unusedremoves old runtimes. - Update firmware.
fwupdmgr refreshthenfwupdmgr get-updates. - Pick a light desktop on old hardware. Xfce or LXQt use far less than a heavy desktop.
Battery
- Install TLP.
sudo apt install tlphandles most laptop power tuning. Don't run it next to another power manager like power-profiles-daemon. - Find power hogs.
sudo apt install powertop, then runsudo powertop. - Shorten screen and sleep timers. The screen is the biggest drain.
Privacy and safety
- Opt out of Ubuntu reports. On Ubuntu-based systems run
ubuntu-report send noand removepopularity-contestif it is installed. Debian only reports if you opted in. - Turn on the firewall.
sudo apt install ufwthensudo ufw enable. - Get security updates automatically.
sudo dpkg-reconfigure -plow unattended-upgrades. - Use a blocker in your browser. uBlock Origin and EFF's Privacy Badger are open source.
- Encrypt the disk at install. Full-disk encryption (LUKS) is a checkbox during setup and hard to add later.
- Snapshot before big changes.
sudo apt install timeshiftlets you roll the system back.
Dual boot (Linux side)
- Fix the clock once. Linux keeps the hardware clock in UTC and Windows expects local time. Make Windows use UTC (a registry setting called
RealTimeIsUniversal), or tell Linux to use local time withtimedatectl set-local-rtc 1 --adjust-system-clock. Do one, not both. Check withtimedatectl. - Windows missing from the boot menu. Install
os-prober, setGRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=falsein/etc/default/grub, then runsudo update-grub. - Windows drive "in use" or read-only. Windows Fast Startup leaves it half-saved. Turn Fast Startup off in Windows, and restart (don't hibernate) when switching.
- Linux vanished after a big Windows update. Windows can move itself first in the boot order. Pick Linux from your firmware boot menu, then repair with
sudo grub-installandsudo update-grub, or reorder withefibootmgr. - Never format Windows partitions you don't understand, and resize Linux partitions from Linux.
- Share files on a separate partition. Use exFAT or NTFS for a shared drive instead of writing to the other system's drive.
- Keep a live USB for both systems.
Quick wins (5)
- Restart your PC once a week. A restart clears stuck apps and finishes pending updates.
- Turn off apps that start with Windows. Fewer apps at sign-in means a faster start and more free memory.
- Free up space with Storage Sense. Windows can delete temp files and empty the Recycle Bin for you.
- Install Windows updates. Updates fix bugs and often make things run better.
- Find what is slowing your PC. Task Manager shows which app uses the most power or memory.
First day with a new PC or fresh install (15)
- Make a restore point first. A restore point lets you roll back if a change goes wrong.
- Run Windows Update before anything else. Fresh PCs ship with old software.
- Choose Required diagnostic data only. On first boot, pick the minimum.
- Turn off advertising ID and ad tips. Switch off the ad ID and tailored suggestions to see fewer ads aimed at you.
- Cut Start menu recommendations. Turn off recommended items and promoted apps in Start so it stays quiet.
- Silence Windows suggestion notifications. Open Notifications, then Additional settings.
- Remove apps you did not ask for. Many new PCs have trial software and maker apps.
- Trim startup apps on day one. New PCs often start many extras at sign-in.
- Set your default browser and apps. Pick the browser and apps you want so Windows stops nudging you toward its own.
- Home or Pro: what you can change. Home has only Required and Optional diagnostic data switches.
- Pro only: set diagnostic data in gpedit. Open gpedit.msc, then Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Data Collection, Allow Diagnostic Data.
- Encrypt the drive: Home vs Pro. Home can use simple device encryption on supported PCs.
- Local or Microsoft account. A Microsoft account syncs and backs up but shares more.
- Optional: debloat tools (Win11Debloat). A free open source script removes preinstalled apps and some ads.
- Still on Windows 10?. Free security updates ended in October 2025.
After every big update (11)
- Re-check diagnostic data level. Big updates can reset your choice.
- Re-check advertising ID. Confirm the ad ID and tailored suggestions are still off after the update.
- Re-check default browser and apps. Updates sometimes switch defaults back to Microsoft apps.
- Re-check startup apps. New or reinstalled apps may add themselves to startup.
- Re-check Start recommendations. Updates can bring back recommended items or promoted apps in Start.
- Re-check suggestion notifications. Look for tips and suggestion notifications that came back after the update.
- Re-check camera, mic and location. Confirm app access is still how you left it.
- Look for apps that came back. Removed apps can return after a feature update.
- Re-check Pro policies (gpedit). If you set Group Policy on Pro, confirm Allow Diagnostic Data still holds.
- Re-run your debloat tool settings. If you used a tool like ShutUp10++, open it and re-apply your saved choices.
- Make a repeatable update checklist. After each big update, spend five minutes on these tips, then restart.
Dual boot (Windows side) (10)
- Fix the clock for good. Linux keeps the hardware clock in UTC and Windows expects local time, so the time is wrong after you switch.
- Or let Linux use local time. Instead of changing Windows, run this in Linux: timedatectl set-local-rtc 1 --adjust-system-clock.
- Date way off? Check the battery. If the date is off by weeks or years, not hours, the small battery on the motherboard may be dying.
- Turn off Fast Startup. Fast Startup saves part of Windows to disk instead of fully shutting down.
- Restart, do not hibernate, to switch. Before you boot the other system, choose Restart.
- Save your BitLocker recovery key. Changing the boot order, Secure Boot or installing Linux can make Windows ask for a 48-digit recovery key.
- Linux gone after a Windows update?. Big Windows updates can move Windows to the top of the boot list, so your Linux menu does not appear.
- Leave Linux drives alone in Windows. Windows shows Linux drives as unformatted or unknown.
- Share files on a separate drive. Keep shared files on their own exFAT or NTFS partition.
- Keep recovery drives for both. Keep a Windows recovery drive and a Linux live USB.
Speed (3)
- Uninstall apps you never use. Old apps take space and may run in the background.
- Check Optimize Drives is on. Windows tidies your drive each week by default.
- Pick a faster power mode. Best performance makes your PC more responsive when plugged in.
Use fewer resources (3)
- Turn off fancy visual effects. Animations and see-through windows use a little power.
- See hidden startup items (Autoruns). Microsoft's free tool lists everything that starts with Windows, even items Settings hides.
- Memory cleaners: small gains only. Windows already manages memory well.
Battery (8)
- Turn on Battery saver. Pauses background work and dims the screen when power runs low.
- Pick Best power efficiency mode. This mode makes the PC use less power on battery.
- Shorten screen and sleep timers. The screen uses a lot of power.
- Use Energy recommendations. Windows 11 lists the settings that save the most power in one place.
- Find apps that drain your battery. Settings shows which apps use the most power, even in the background.
- Turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth if unused. Radios keep searching for signals and use power.
- Check your battery health report. A free built-in report shows how much charge your battery still holds.
- Go easy on charging to 100 percent. Staying full or fully empty wears lithium batteries faster.
Privacy (10)
- Turn off your advertising ID. Windows gives your account an ad ID so apps can show ads aimed at you.
- Send less data to Microsoft. Windows reports how your PC runs.
- Check which apps use your location. Some apps ask for your location, camera or mic.
- Clear and stop activity history. Windows can keep a list of apps, files and sites you used.
- Keep Recall off (new Copilot+ PCs). Recall takes screenshots of your screen as you work.
- Block ads and trackers with uBlock Origin. This free add-on stops most ads and the hidden trackers that follow you from site to site.
- Add Privacy Badger to your browser. Made by the EFF, it learns which sites follow you around the web and blocks them.
- Encrypt your drive. If your laptop is lost or stolen, encryption keeps strangers from reading your files.
- Tune many settings at once (ShutUp10++). One free window with about 300 Windows privacy switches.
- Clean browser traces with BleachBit. A free, open source cleaner that wipes browser history, cookies and temp files.
Debloat (3)
- Debloat with Win11Debloat. A free script that removes preinstalled apps and turns off some tracking in one go.
- Tweak and debloat with WinUtil. One free window from Chris Titus Tech to install apps, trim Windows and fix common problems.
- Customize Windows with Sophia Script. A big PowerShell script that changes hundreds of Windows settings, including privacy and clutter.
Make Windows feel more like Linux (7)
- Install apps with one command. winget is like apt for Windows.
- Snap windows and use desktops. Like workspaces on Linux.
- Press Alt+Space to launch anything. PowerToys Run is like rofi or Spotlight.
- Use Windows Terminal. A modern terminal with tabs, like GNOME Terminal on Linux.
- Install tools without clicking installers. Scoop is like Homebrew for Windows.
- Run real Linux inside Windows. WSL gives you a real Linux (like Ubuntu) in a window, with no dual boot.
- Tile windows automatically. GlazeWM is like i3 or Sway on Linux.
Free and open-source apps (7)
- Browse with Firefox. A fast, free browser run by a nonprofit, with strong tracking protection built in.
- Edit documents with LibreOffice. Open Word, Excel and PowerPoint files for free.
- Keep passwords in KeePassXC. A free password vault that stays on your computer.
- Play any video with VLC. Opens almost any video or audio file with no extra codec packs.
- Open any archive with 7-Zip. Free tool to open and make zip, 7z, rar and more.
- Edit text in Notepad++. A free, fast text editor for notes, code and config files.
- Find duplicate and huge files. Czkawka scans for copies of the same file and for very large files so you can reclaim space.