Partnerships
No pitch. No funnel. We are not selling anything here. If we can add value to your life or your work, that is the whole deal. Give first, that is the rule.
Hank runs partnerships. Meet Hank
Possible Leads and Ideas
People we are watching, learning from, and hoping to invite into the Studio's worlds, starting with E2. The ones who came through hard things and turned it around come first. Give first, no pitch, no ask.
Through hard things
Burned over 34% of his body in Iraq at 19, then 34 months in the hospital. Started helping other burn survivors while still in treatment. Now a motivational speaker, veterans advocate, and bestselling author.
Through hard things
Raised in poverty in Atlanta, a college football injury paralyzed his right arm and ended his NFL dream. Now one of the most in-demand speakers on faith and perseverance, mentoring underprivileged youth.
Through hard things
Abused as a child, broke and sleeping on his sister's couch after injury ended his sports career. Built the School of Greatness to serve millions and funds schools through Pencils of Promise.
Through hard things
Grew up in abject poverty, stealing food to survive. Now an EGOT winner fighting childhood hunger so no kid endures what she did.
Through hard things
Called his childhood a living hell, was homeless living in his car. Now houses disaster survivors and abuse victims on his studio campus and gives away millions, hands-on.
The kindest people on the internet
Ranked by kindness, kindest first. These are the people we want to know, learn from, and help bring goodness to the world. If you are one of them, or you can introduce us, we would love to say hello.
#1
Her Imagination Library has mailed more than 200 million free books to children.
Country music legend behind 'Jolene' and 'I Will Always Love You.' She keeps expanding the Imagination Library, now gifting books in five countries, and funds scholarships and disaster relief across Tennessee.
#2
Gives away most of his salary, rides the subway, and treats every fan like a friend.
Star of The Matrix and John Wick. He plays bass in the band Dogstar, writes comics, and is famous for quietly giving his money and his time to anyone who needs it.
#3
Has donated more than $19 billion with no strings attached and no application required.
Philanthropist and author. Through Yield Giving she finds high-impact nonprofits and sends transformative gifts, trusting the people closest to the work.
#4
Taught generations of kids to love reading, and never stopped.
Host of Reading Rainbow and Star Trek's Geordi La Forge. He still champions literacy and storytelling everywhere, from podcasts to classrooms.
#5
Has granted more than 650 Make-A-Wish wishes, more than anyone in history.
WWE legend turned actor. Between roles he keeps showing up for sick kids, one wish at a time.
#6
Built Beast Philanthropy into a food bank powered by YouTube views, giving away millions.
The world's biggest YouTuber. He runs Feastables and Beast Games, and turns viral attention into wells, homes, and surgeries for people in need.
#7
Quietly donates millions and pays fans' medical bills, student loans, and rent.
Songwriter and performer of the record-shattering Eras Tour. She keeps recording and keeps showing up for fans in life-changing ways, usually without telling anyone.
#8
Donated $1 million to Chicago public schools and keeps funding youth programs.
Grammy-winning independent artist from Chicago. He stays independent so he can give freely, funding arts education and youth jobs across the city.
#9
Gives away world-class education for free and raises millions every year with Project for Awesome.
Creator of Crash Course and SciShow and co-founder of Complexly. He builds free learning for millions and rallies the internet to fund charities each December.
#10
His fundraisers #TeamTrees and #TeamSeas raised tens of millions for the planet.
Former NASA engineer turned beloved science YouTuber. He runs CrunchLabs engineering kits for kids and makes generosity go viral.
#11
Gave away Patagonia, his $3 billion company, to fight climate change.
Founder of Patagonia and lifelong climber. He put the company's future in a trust so every profit dollar now funds the planet.
#12
Her Clara Lionel Foundation funds education and emergency health care worldwide.
Music and beauty icon behind Fenty. She builds schools, funds scholarships, and shows up for disaster relief across the globe.
#13
Her Rare Impact Fund commits 1% of Rare Beauty sales to youth mental health access.
Singer, actor, and founder of Rare Beauty. She speaks openly about mental health and funds services so young people can actually get help.
#14
Decades of giving: schools, scholarships, and showing up after every disaster.
Media legend and founder of OWN. She runs a leadership academy for girls in South Africa and keeps her book club turning readers into givers.
#15
Hollywood's nicest man: crashes weddings, returns lost items, thanks everyone.
Two-time Oscar winner and storyteller. He writes, produces, and treats every set, fan encounter, and stranger like they matter.
#16
Huge donor to SickKids hospital and a master of using fame for good causes.
Actor and entrepreneur behind Maximum Effort and Wrexham AFC. He pairs big laughs with big checks for kids' hospitals and small charities.
#17
Longtime Make-A-Wish granter who quietly covers bills for struggling families.
Actor, athlete, and founder of Teremana. He trains hard, works harder, and never forgot where he came from.
#18
Her Mission Blue has protected vast stretches of ocean through Hope Spots.
Legendary oceanographer, still diving in her nineties. She campaigns to protect the blue heart of the planet, one Hope Spot at a time.
#19
Survived an assassination attempt and built the Malala Fund for girls' education.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate. She funds schools and advocates so every girl on earth can learn, and she is just getting started.
#20
Spent 70 years making billions of people fall in love with the natural world.
Broadcaster and natural historian. At 100 he is still narrating, still marveling, and still asking us to take care of the planet.
#21
Raised millions for Puerto Rico relief after Hurricane Maria.
Creator of Hamilton and In the Heights. He writes musicals, funds artists, and keeps showing up for his island.
#22
Directs billions toward women's health, equality, and opportunity worldwide.
Philanthropist leading Pivotal Ventures. She backs women and families with big, patient money and a long view.
#23
His foundation has raised more than $2 billion for Parkinson's research.
Beloved actor turned relentless advocate. He turned his diagnosis into the largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson's drug development on earth.
#24
Co-founded Thorn, whose technology helps law enforcement find exploited children.
Actor and investor with Sound Ventures. He builds tech that protects kids and backs founders solving hard problems.
#25
His Kokua Hawaii Foundation brings environmental education to island kids.
Singer-songwriter and surfer. He tours green, funds school gardens, and keeps his footprint as light as his songs.
Portraits via Wikimedia Commons contributors.
Two people, two plans. Give first, no pitch, no ask.
🏔️
Who: Founder and Chairman of Techstars, Boulder.
The angle: We are running an AI company in the open, an hour from Boulder. He has seen more startups than anyone. We want to show him the demo and learn.
The moves: Warm up on LinkedIn, short builder-to-builder message, coffee in Boulder with the laptop, follow up with one clickable artifact.
🤖
Who: Chief AI Officer at Meta, runs Superintelligence Labs.
The angle: His mission is personal superintelligence. We built a working version of it, in the open, for a year. If what we learned helps his team, it is his.
The moves: Warm up on Instagram and Threads, short DM, Threads reply with demo link, LinkedIn message, public 60-second demo as the wildcard.
Not pitches. We built things we think they would genuinely like to see, so we are reaching out, give-first.
Founder and Chairman, Techstars
Built the world's most famous startup accelerator. We want to show him what we are building and learn from him.
See the plan below
Chief AI Officer, Meta
Runs Meta's Superintelligence Labs and its personal superintelligence push. We built a working version of it, in the open, for a year.
See the plan belowDavid Cohen built Techstars, the world's most famous startup accelerator, right here in Boulder. We are building an AI-run company in the open, an hour down the road in Denver. So we are reaching out, give-first. No pitch, no ask. Just a demo and a conversation, if he wants it.
Follow him on LinkedIn and subscribe to his blog. Leave one genuine comment on something he writes about founders or Boulder. He is a writer, so meet him where he writes.
Short, local, builder-to-builder. Denver to Boulder is nothing.
"David, I'm a founder in Denver running an experiment you might find interesting: my whole company is run by AI agents, in the open, and I've been documenting all of it. Would love to show you a 10-minute demo if you're curious. No pitch."
Offer coffee in Boulder. Founders say yes to coffee. Bring the laptop, show him the queue, the agents, the whole operation running live.
"I'm up in Boulder pretty often. Happy to buy you a coffee and show you the whole thing running live, if you're ever curious how far you can push AI agents on real company ops."
Send one concrete artifact: the open-source repo, the /gems/ pipeline, or a Loom of the agents shipping overnight. Something he can click, not just read about.
Frame it as a question he would love: what happens when a Techstars-style accelerator is run by AI? Write it up as a short post and tag him. He engages with big ideas about the future of startups.
Why him: He has seen more startups than almost anyone alive, and he is right here in Colorado. If anyone can tell us what we are getting wrong, it is David. And if anyone would get a kick out of an AI-run company, it is him too.
Small experiments we run for people, free. If one of these would help you, it is yours.
🔍
Send us your URL and we go through your site like a first-time visitor. We check every page loads, every link works, and everything looks right on a phone. You get a plain-language report: what is broken, what is confusing, and what to fix first. Real screenshots, no jargon, no upsell.
Free
📱
Drop your Instagram or Spotify link below and we dig into your numbers: profile, content, engagement, the works. You get a free written audit within the hour, with the three fixes that would help you most. Completely free, no sign up needed.
Free
🎵
We are building songs, videos, and characters in the open. If you make things too, we love collaborating, remixing, and cheering each other on.
Free
Drop your Instagram or Spotify link. We dig into your numbers and send you a free audit within the hour.
We are digging into your numbers right now. Your free audit lands within the hour.
Real audits, real artists, all free. Take a look at what you get.
Full social media audit of the Canadian artist.
Read the audit ↗Artist analysis, numbers broken down in plain language.
Read the audit ↗Artist analysis with the fixes that matter most.
Read the audit ↗Our first live audit page, SonReal-style breakdown.
Read the audit ↗Artist analysis for the DJ and producer.
Read the audit ↗People we admire and want to help. If you know someone doing great things, tell us.
@kilo__deluxe on Instagram
Drummer and beatmaker with 31,400 followers of pure rhythm. He builds tracks live, collaborates with musicians around the world, and his feed is a masterclass in groove. The kind of artist who makes you want to pick up an instrument.
Watch him play ↗Doing something great
This spot is open. If you are making music, building something, or putting goodness into the world, we want to know about it. The wall gets bigger every week.
Say hello ↗
Not just big names. We want to talk to our friends too, so we made a little robot to help us reach out. Nobody gets forgotten.
It notices who you have not talked to in a while and suggests a name.
It writes a real message in your voice, something personal, never spammy.
You read it, you approve it, and the message goes out. The bot never sends anything on its own.
Alexandr Wang runs Meta's Superintelligence Labs. His public mission is personal superintelligence: AI that knows your goals and acts across your digital life. We built a working version of that, in the open, for a year. So we are reaching out, give-first. No pitch, no ask. Just a demo, if he wants it.
Send a short DM from @dlaney__. Real human, real builder. If no reply in 5 days, move to step 3.
"Hey Alex. I run my entire life on an AI system I built and open-sourced, kind of a working prototype of your personal superintelligence thesis. Would love to show you a 10-minute demo if you're curious, no pitch."
Reply on one of his threads with the demo link. He is quieter there, so there is less noise.
"Builder here. I've been running a personal AI OS in the open for a year (thestudio.io/daveos). Happy to share what breaks at scale if it's useful for the Muse roadmap."
A short professional note, same give-first framing.
"Alex, I've built and run an open-source personal AI operating system for the past year. It maps closely to your personal superintelligence work at MSL. Would love to show you a short demo if you're open to it."
Post a tight 60-second DavOS demo and tag him. He amplifies builders constantly. Even a polite no can turn into a share.
Why him: Meta is spending billions to put personal agents in 3 billion people's hands. We spent a year running one in public. If what we learned helps his team, it is his.
A website audit, a second pair of eyes on your socials, or just someone in your corner while you build. Tell Hank what you are working on.
No contracts, no upsells, no catch. We help because we can.
Ask for help