Into the belly of the…
Let's try something different this time around.
A quick word from the author:
Hey there,
Let’s do something different today. Here’s an excerpt from a potential new book.
Chapter 3, “Into the belly of the…”
Day 21, First Day of the Summer Cycle:
Ever since I was brought to their HQ, my hands haven’t stopped shaking. They all want to see me, see if I was real, grasp at me as if I was a rockstar on the way to the stage right before their final show.
I feel like I can’t breathe anymore, like the walls are closing in. Every minute I spend in their underground bunker is another opportunity for them to discover the truth.
But they mustn't, not ever. No one must know. How do I keep hiding this when they want me to do a demonstration tomorrow? I don’t even understand what they expect of me…
I’ll fake it, like I did before. They won’t be able to tell the difference anyway. If my examiner wasn’t able to, they surely won’t.
But Davey seems like he’s onto me. He tried to check under my jacket for hidden equipment when I first Delivered during the examination. The fact they were able to infiltrate the school for so long.. Just goes to show they’re the real deal. I’ve got to Deliver for real this time..
If only Dad was here…”
End of Entry (EoE)Julius put away his journal, making sure to re-encrypt his dMem with a new key and protocol. Nothing has been the same since he left home, since the exam…
Being exiled is not what he expected. June was always telling stories about the famous exiles that ended up being reintegrated and how they’ve changed the last 250 years Post-Distrum. What June often failed to mention was only 9 exiles were ever reintegrated, out of thousands. And 2 of them committed suicide 1 year later.
Writing down an entry used to calm Julius, but the shaking hasn’t disappeared. It even got worse. “How am I supposed to fake an entire Visual Delivery for tomorrow? I’ve barely got time to think about what I should make…”
Julius put down his tablet, stretched across the improvised bed and hugged his backpack tight.
“If only Dad was here… he’d know.. He certainly would know. Right?”
Sometimes, in this newsletter, instead of some pop-culture inspired article, you’ll receive an excerpt from this new SF book.
Set in 250 PD (Post-Distrum), the story follows Julius, a 14-year old who, after an unexpected outcome during his Majora Exam, ends up in the base of The Rebels, where he’s worshipped as if he’s the new Banksy. Julius however hides a deep, dark secret from everyone, even from his family: It’s all fake.
This week’s kinda news I guess:
“Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom came up with a crafty hack to make the app’s photo-sharing flow feel snappy and instant for the user on any network/device.
He applied a lesson from his time at Google’s Gmail team: don’t just optimise the speed of the technology, optimise the user’s perception of speed.”
“From an engineering perspective, it made no sense. You don’t use a massive image for a background when you can’t predict page height, because if everyone is getting a different view of the image, you can’t guarantee a coherent experience. Our approach violated other “best practices” of product design, too: You don’t add texture when flat colors load instantly. You don’t choose paintings over flat backdrops when you’re building software that needs to work on every connection speed.”
“When Claude detects memory invocation through phrases like “what did we discuss about,” “continue where we left off,” or “remember when we talked about,” it deploys two retrieval tools that work like web search or code execution—you see them activate in real-time and wait while Claude searches through your history. Once the search completes, Claude synthesizes the retrieved conversations to answer your question or continue the discussion.”
“Where should this personal computing system live? Ideally, it should be built into glasses. I’m already annoyed at how often I have to pull my phone out of my pocket to talk to AI chatbots. It’s doubly annoying when I have to open the camera app, take a picture, send it to the chatbot, and then keep the phone out while I wait for a response. Glasses solve all of this by a) sitting right next to your human i/o interfaces (eyes, ears, and mouth) for easy communication, and b) seeing and hearing everything you see and hear. This gives glasses context that a handheld device lacks when it’s not out and actively recording.”
“When you finally beat a boss after 50 straight deaths, something magical happens. The frustration of those 49 failures doesn’t just disappear – it transforms into one of the most powerful feelings in gaming: earned mastery. That moment of triumph feels so good precisely because you paid for it in blood.
This is the trade-off at the heart of great product design.”
Startup Idea of the Week: AI Patient Simulators
You know what’s more nerve-wracking than your first day on the job?
Your first day with a real patient.
That moment when a stranger sits across from you, listing symptoms you’ve only read about in textbooks? Terrifying.
The stakes? A person’s health, their trust, their future.
And here’s the kicker: in their first two years, medical students only get about 15 minutes per week of actual patient interaction. Fifteen. Minutes.
Meanwhile, they’re expected to log hundreds of hours practicing bedside manner, diagnostics, and treatment decisions before they even hit clinical rotations.
Real patients are unpredictable. Standardized patients cost $200 an hour. And mannequins? They’re glorified CPR dolls.
No wonder 68% of med students say they feel unprepared walking into real-life patient care.
What if they could practice—anytime, anywhere—with patients who feel real?
How It Works
👩⚕️ Meet Virtual Patients
AI-powered simulations with full medical histories, personalities, and evolving symptoms.
🩺 Diagnose & Treat
Ask questions, order tests, and propose treatments. The “patient” responds dynamically—just like real life.
📊 Instant Feedback
Get scored on communication, diagnostic accuracy, and treatment planning. Detailed breakdowns show what you nailed and what needs work.
🌍 Thousands of Cases
From everyday flu to rare diseases across every specialty. New cases roll in regularly, sourced from real medical data.
Why This Works
Right now, med students are learning to swim by reading about water.
AI Patient Simulators flip that:
Practice builds confidence → Confidence builds competence → Competence saves lives.
Students walk into clinicals having already “treated” hundreds of patients—without risking a real one.
Go-to-Market
🎯 Sell directly to medical schools as a bundled learning tool.
🤝 Partner with med ed platforms and residency prep programs.
📦 Subscription pricing: $50/student/month for unlimited access.
Business Model
B2B SaaS.
Schools pay per student, predictable recurring revenue.
Expansion into residency prep, nursing programs, and continuing medical education.
AI Patient Simulators becomes the “flight simulator” of medicine.
Long-term: acquisition by a medical education giant like Kaplan or Pearson at an 8–12× revenue multiple.
It’s med school practice—without the $200/hr actors or the creepy mannequins.
What’s going on for us (thanks for asking):
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Level-1.dev: We’ve redone the entire UI and right now implementing tutorials so you guys actually understand how to use it…
Also added asset preview and replacement 🙂
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European Startup Embassy: We’ve signed the lease, insurance is being drafted as we speak, and the furniture is being picked from facebook marketplace (we’re on a budget, ok?)
Sneak peek at the layout, just for the ground floor:
Can’t wait to have just 2 weeks to furnish the space and start organizing the first events. Any suggestions of what kind of events you’d like to see in the new space? (except orgies of course, we already added those to the list).
May your coffee be strong today,
The author