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Jason Warner
CEO @ poolside, Operating Board Bridgewater, Former CTO @ GitHub
Jason Warner, Board Member at Bridgewater Associates
Jason Warner is the Co-Founder and CEO of Poolside, an AI company focused on software and code creation. He was recently appointed as an Outside Director on Bridgewater's Operating Board of Directors in January 2024.123
Background and Experience
- Jason brings over 20 years of experience in software development, enterprise technology, executive leadership, and innovative thinking as a technologist, CTO and business leader in the software industry.3
- Prior to co-founding Poolside, he was a Managing Director at Redpoint Ventures investing in AI and infrastructure companies from 2020 to 2022.14
- Before that, Jason served as the CTO of GitHub, where he oversaw the Engineering, Product, and Design organizations responsible for products including GitHub Actions, Packages, Advanced Security, & Codespaces as well as incubating experimental projects like GitHub Co-pilot.14
- He has also had leading engineering roles at Heroku and Canonical.1
Education
- Jason graduated from Penn State University with a Bachelor of Computer Science degree and finished with a Master of Science degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic University.15
Personal Life
Highlights
Every few months this needs to be restated and because at every turn and every improvement it becomes more and more self evident. And we simply shouldn't be oblivious to the reality of the physics involved and ignore the reality that is plainly in front of us
Here's everything in a nutshell:
Application wrapper approaches to AI are making up for current generation model capability gaps. The surface area available to apps/agents/wrappers (whatever you want to call them) is essentially the surface area the models don't currently do that great at. As those models become more capable, the surface area available to apps becomes thinner, sparser, and much less distinguishable as "differentiated". Essentially apps all get pushed to the same surface area at the same time
Meaning: value has and will accrue to the agi companies (as I talk about them in the QT below) and only becomes stronger as those models become more capable. This evolves 10x as those agi companies realize they have to own their own full stack and build vertical approaches (which we have finally seen evidence of from openAI)
This is so painfully obvious it cannot be understated. Any other thinking here misses macro picture and attempts to maximize micro along local incentives
Intellectually we know this as industry and we already have prior art on this from previous AI model generations (ie this current wave). Any (all?) apps/agents that wrapped GTP2 got wiped out/mostly become irrelevant with GP3, same for GPT3 wrappers with GPT4, same with....etc etc (and if we looked back at other platform shifts in history, we see the same thing play out in rhyming patterns)
The surface area for things that wrap become smaller and weaker. Doesn't mean there isn't money to be made, doesn't mean there aren't great founder exits to be had, and doesn't mean there aren't good investments to be found. What it does mean though is one must really understand what is stone and what is sand. Most things are sand and will be washed away
And here's the key, there are always gaps for companies to be built, even great ones. You simply have to navigate to white space that the agi model companies don't care about as much and find that surface area where the model getting 10x better can't do the work natively
Here's a thought exercise. Imagine it's 2006/2007. You have the ability to put $1m into an independent company called AWS or Azure or GCP. Now, you also have perfect forward looking insight into the top 10 biggest venture backed startups built on AWS/Azure/GCP all the way to 2025. Where would you rather put your money, time, energy, and effort?
One could Invest in one or all of those three mega platforms that power nearly every other company on the planet, or into those 10 biggest winners built on the new platforms. There is no right or wrong answer here fwiw, just inclination. Some people will be drawn to investing in apps for a variety of reasons, some people will be drawn to investing in the mega entities powering those apps. Each has pros and cons and both have their own version of upside, though obviously upside disproportionately skews to the mega platforms
And the same goes for builders. Some want a shot at building something that could end up changing everything at once and become new bedrock for next layer, and some have see ways to use that new tech layer to solve more specific problems, perhaps with a discrete focus. No wrong answers, just viewpoints. We need both, though let's not confuse what is happening
So, tl;dr - It is as it has always been. Which is also an inconvenient truth. Several super successful players chasing something immensely large, probably uncomfortably large, will end up being foundational tech for everything else in the world, thereby cementing a new platform layer upon which the next generation of interesting applications and narrower use-cases can be built. And hence, a new era is born
History rhyming
If you understand this post, you'll understand why BigCo needs to buy SmallerCo to do anything interesting after a certain point in time
Past a certain stage, most BigCo are essentially PE holding companies bc they have lost the ability to build interesting things of their own
When they get to this stage their treasury is their main asset and the people who embody the below are there to mostly eek out protectionist long-tails on the various revenue streams
FWIW, this is actually correct career advice for normies to survive inside most BigCos and it's also why outliers never stay at BigCos unless they are in one something like 5-12 possible roles at those BigCos
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Clay is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Clay centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
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Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Clay is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Clay as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Clay offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Clay's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Clay makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Clay's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Clay isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Clay instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Clay is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Clay can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Clay is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.
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