Danielle Morrill
@DanielleMorrill
Followers
81K
Following
92K
Media
205
Statuses
1K
Cofounder & CEO @groupthinkai || investing @ineffablevc with @mistermorrill || sold @mattermark (2017), @ycombinator S12 alum, marketing @gitlab @twilio
Denver, CO
Joined June 2007
3 years ago I had a BMI of 35.5 (220 lbs on my 5’6” frame) and 44% body fat. Our startup was 6 months in, and I didn’t know how I was going to find the energy for… anything. I read “The Obesity Code” and decided I would learn to fast but change nothing else about my diet.
86
46
2K
@OldHollowTree Heh! Similar situation: a lady asked my dogs name and realized she had “mis-gendered” the pup. Me (pre-coffee in line to order): it’s a dog, it doesn’t care. Her: well I care. 😬 whelp okay then!.
8
5
646
find yourself a husband who will be your cofounder, encourages you to add more zeros on every check you write, and has a really big lens 🤩. wrote our biggest check in @boomaero over a decade ago, and today’s supersonic milestone reminds us why we love startups so much
15
1
207
Enter two new influences:.- continuous glucose monitor.- “How Not to Die” by Dr. Michael Greger (and the helpful cookbook “How Not to Diet”). Basically, I decided to start eating plants and stop eating sugar. I was going to eat the shit out of those plants, as much as I wanted!.
8
4
176
I focused on being able to push off breakfast by a couple hours and just have coffee, which at first made me light-headed. I didn’t want to use any trackers, I wanted to do it via intuition. I told myself no more weighing in til the end of June (2022).
2
1
167
I spent the rest of 2022 and all of 2023 just doing the same thing every day, fasting 18 hours and occasionally stretching it a little longer if I was feeling really good. From 200 lbs in June 2023, I lost 33.5 lbs of weight, 38.7 lbs of FAT by the end of 2023.
1
0
138
@MisterMorrill @Levels Much love to everyone figuring out their approach to this problem, I am sure there are other ways that work but I never found them so this is the best I can offer :).
18
0
133
Around mid 2023 I started doing Pilates a few times a week and floor stretching for 30 minutes a day. I also felt a lot more energetic and walked 10-15K steps with the dogs easily when the weather turned nice.
1
0
124
This was way way WAY harder, I had definitely been cheating before. My mental state was so grumpy these first few months, it was so hard. But I lost as much fat in the first month of fasting as I’d lost in the last 6. It pissed me off it worked that well.
1
1
117
Getting back below 200 lbs was motivating though, it was undeniable that this was a repeatable process, and now I just needed more time to pass. I knew the next 70 pounds would take a lot longer, and that I’d have to re-learn how to eat if I didn’t want to gain it back.
2
0
102
@pmarca I’d like to meet anyone who is saying “greengrocer” in everyday speech, and ask them what novels they’ve been reading lately!.
11
1
101
@MisterMorrill So I’ve got a BMI of 24.5 and body fat of 28% and all my blood tests are normal (for the standard US system) and I’m contemplating where to go with this in 2025. What would you do?.
16
0
99
Spoiler alert: vegan food doesn’t have to be boring, bland, or anything like what “healthy” food you were forced to eat growing up was like. But also, suddenly giving my gut bacteria what it had (literally) been starving for was a little rough 💩.
1
0
96
At the end of 2023 I was still overweight in terms of BMI, but I felt good and looked good and was at the same weight as before I became a founder. Was I done?. Blood test in January 2024 said I was not: I was just under the threshold for pre-diabetic and my cholesterol was high.
1
0
94
I did lose 10 lbs this way, and was sad to discover half of that was muscle. The last thing I wanted was to slow down my metabolism by losing lean mass, so I did 6 weeks of research and in mid-August I started tracking fasts “officially” with Zero
1
0
89
@MisterMorrill @Levels Also, because I anticipate the carnivore people’s comments. - I had steak today 😆 “vegan-ish”.- my supplements are B12, magnesium, potassium, sodium, omega-3, and curcumin.- I regularly hit >50 grams of fermentable fiber (no Metamucil) and >50 grams of plant-based protein a day.
9
1
88
Idea that blew my mind in 2024:. Mental disorders are metabolic disorders of the brain. Brain Energy: A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health--and Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and More
6
1
73
I was so sick of fasting! It worked, but it got in the way of my social life and I was feeling a little too obsessed with logging. I needed a break, and I wanted to explore what I might eat if I wanted to switch to maintenance mode.
1
0
72
And I got @MisterMorrill on board to eat the food I made, and wear a CGM too so we could compare our spikes like the nerdy couple we are ♥️. So I lost “just” 15 pounds in 2024 but they were the easiest ones by far.
5
1
71
@MisterMorrill @Levels Oh! And cooking is massively time consuming, but saves a lot of money. But fasting was the cheapest AND most efficient option. I just had to back off from it, I could feel my mental health was going to get tripped up soon and that’s my own stuff to work through (OCD tendencies).
3
1
71
@MisterMorrill Right now I’m thinking this is a year where I work on:.- streaks of > 90 stability score on @Levels.- build out my repertoire of vegan recipes I love making at home.- do the occasional 24 hour fast for autophagy benefits . and just see what the numbers do on their own.
4
0
63
And I discovered I couldn’t actually put away nearly as much volume, which took me a few months to understand turned out to be because of all the fiber. But I was not hungry ever, and after a couple months I thought maybe I’d try some short 14 hour fasts, with the occasional 20.
1
0
58
@allgarbled I like how the symbols show up across multiple books and still don’t mean something, they’re just motifs.
1
1
53
If I wasn’t a founder right now, and was working as a director+ at a company with some degree of scale (>100 employees) I would be spending at least an hour each day trying out new tools to streamline work, and then helping my team up-level their jobs or get more time off.
6
3
52
@ChrisGraff @MisterMorrill @Levels Yes! . Favorite of 2023: Red Lentil Soup with Preserved Lemon & Crispy Garlic 2024: Creamy Sundried Tomato Pasta
9
0
44
How would your life change if you stopped spending time making predictions, ruminating and talking about them, and instead reassigned every bit of that time and energy actively engaging with the world as it is?.
10
2
40
@ChrisGraff @MisterMorrill @Levels Yes! . Favorite of 2023: Red Lentil Soup with Preserved Lemon & Crispy Garlic 2024: Creamy Sundried Tomato Pasta
1
0
40
It’s really a sign that you all have zero hobbies that you are so worried about o3. It’s okay, there is more to life than generating documents and sending them around.
2
1
31
0
0
30
I became a better CEO when I stopped feeling bad about crawling into bed at 7:30pm on Friday instead of going out. Not sure I will ever do “monk mode” but it’s amazing how being well rested changes my brain.
4
0
29
I gave ChatGPT 4o all my private journal entries for 2024 and asked it for a year in review: . “The unmasked version of me—awkward, genuine, and curious—is someone I’m starting to love.”. Ummm, wow I’m not crying.
1
2
27
First set of hip thrusts completed in 2025. Love having our own gym, definitely worth the investment in finishing the basement!
4
0
25
My startup has been in holiday “shut down” since Dec 13th, just doing support but otherwise all meetings are canceled and no work is planned. on New Years Eve I told my cofounder @kressaty “I’ve reached the point where I feel unhinged by not working, I’m so ready to be back!”.
2
0
24
78% is a lot, don’t give up you agency by blaming it on your genes — you have more control than you think!
3 years ago I had a BMI of 35.5 (220 lbs on my 5’6” frame) and 44% body fat. Our startup was 6 months in, and I didn’t know how I was going to find the energy for… anything. I read “The Obesity Code” and decided I would learn to fast but change nothing else about my diet.
5
0
23
So I have this dilemma about being on the internet, about writing and talking about how I live and how I think life can be good. Basically, I feel weird telling people how they “should” do life… but then I feel like I’ve figured out things that people really need to hear.
9
0
23
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but you can just believe in people and be their fan. You don’t have to be a bestie, or parasocial. It’s okay to cheer for them without expecting anything, and let the fact that they exist be enough.
0
2
22
The $trump memecoin is not exactly helping the crypto folks get away from that image of being grifters.
4
1
21
you don’t have to be super rich to get value out of personal finance books about having enough, because if you read enough of them you discover the same things: meaning beyond survival mode is about relationships and how you fill the hours of your days.
3
1
20
Tomato basil beans have 20 grams of fiber and 36 grams of protein from bean, tofu, miso and nutritional yeast. A year ago, I’d have scoffed if you told me I’d be eating mostly vegan. But it tastes great, and can’t argue with the 2024 results: .- muscle mass +3% .- fat mass -5%
3
0
19
Good Christmas Eve morning to everyone who observes this movie watching and baked goods making holiday. I am ready for a day full of TV!
2
0
19
Drafting on the good vibes from this post, I’m doing a 36 hour fast that started last night and will break on Monday morning with vinegar diluted in tea, avocado, chia seed pudding, nuts and a small bowl of oatmeal.
3 years ago I had a BMI of 35.5 (220 lbs on my 5’6” frame) and 44% body fat. Our startup was 6 months in, and I didn’t know how I was going to find the energy for… anything. I read “The Obesity Code” and decided I would learn to fast but change nothing else about my diet.
2
0
19
Blown away by the response and the kindness and curiosity in the comments! @elonmusk you mentioned you wanted more positivity around here….
3 years ago I had a BMI of 35.5 (220 lbs on my 5’6” frame) and 44% body fat. Our startup was 6 months in, and I didn’t know how I was going to find the energy for… anything. I read “The Obesity Code” and decided I would learn to fast but change nothing else about my diet.
0
0
18
For me, 2025 is going to be the year of going deep on hobbies as a path to building more community.
2
0
18
@RedMDND Awesome! His non-profit is also a go to resource for me now, if you want to sample a bit of his style (videos).
0
0
18
Husbands,. Go to Pilates classes with your wife. Will not explain.
Husbands, . Buy Pilates classes for your wife. Will not explain.
2
1
18
For being a creative person who makes and invents things, it’s amazing to me how much a rules-based way of living gives me peace and comfort in huge areas of my life. Max entropy in the maker side, min entropy on the life habits side.
3
1
18
Merry Christmas! I made fresh cream scones with citrus zest, served with lingonberry jam and whipped cream
1
0
17
excited to witness this culmination of a lifelong dream for @bscholl and thrilled it will coincide with the proudest investor moment of my life (~10 years in the making). Blake introduced me to @MisterMorrill about a decade before that… so he might just be my life’s 🍀.
It’s almost time. We’re targeting Jan. 28 for XB-1 to break the sound barrier. Beginning at 7:45am PST/10:45am EST/3:45pm GMT, watch the @Starlink livestream on hosted by former Chief Concorde Pilot for British Airways Mike Bannister, and XB-1 experts
0
0
17
only Trump would hire TWO people to run the department of government efficiency.
2
0
17
Is this the most overwhelming time for autodidacts? My reading list growing faster than ever, Substack is actually incredible, YouTube is better than ever… ahhh it’s amazing and I feel the need to up my curation game and time dedicated to intake and processing.
2
2
17
I really wish United sent me my “2024 Wrapped — Flights” when I hit 1K status this time, because it’s a much more accurate look into the experience of my life than Spotify.
3
0
16
I’m wrestling with the urgency I feel to separate the AI signal from the noise. I love the energy of this part of the technology cycle, but the payoff for being among the first to see through the haziness is so enormous… it’s hard not to feel frantic with anticipation.
1
1
16
@karmkhanna Sounds like a great place to start! I think one thing that I really learned was to one change one thing at a time, and really make it stick first.
1
0
16
1
0
16
Do I take the $500K HELOC and build the sunken terrace patio with the hot tub, cold plunge and outdoor kitchen?.
12
0
16
Stay in the game! . I was worried I would “lose my edge” when I took a break from being a founder to be an employee. Nah, that’s still in it. But I also tried retiring to just coaching and investing and I can’t recommend it. Hands in the dough > Skin in the game.
The best place to experience massive change is from the middle of it, standing right in the eye of the storm.
0
1
16
@SievaKozinsky if you’re only gonna do “a few” it’s not a portfolio and that’s the problem. You have to get a 10x to balance out the 0s and break evens, and that’s just tough with < 20 bets.
2
0
14
In case you’re wondering how I cook so much during the day… this is one of my most popular “office” spots in the house and let’s me tend a lot or do prep steps between calls/tasks
2
0
15
Yesterday I did my holiday weigh in, up 4 pounds from my Nov 30 number and December was full of travel (Hawaii, DC, New York) and feasting. Laid in bed with my blood sugar spiking from the last round of debauchery and thought: it’s okay, I know exactly what I need to do.
3
0
15
@balajis Makes treasury mgmt more involved for the startup so I don’t know about doing it at the earliest stages, but for Series C and beyond the added complexity is probably worth it.
3
0
15
Excited for the pivot away from “meeting notes bot” into “assistant that does things for you”. Time to just embrace AI doing our jobs. I’ve been a middle manager and an exec, and I always could’ve used time back to spend on irreplaceable human connection.
1
0
15
If you want to see a quick jump in quality of life, chug a glass of water and start the meditation timer for 20 minutes first thing when you wake up — no matter what’s on fire in your inbox.
2
0
15
Meal prep time!. First up: a fresh batch of rich roasted vegetable broth
1
0
15
People are like “why are you making yet another AI notetaker?” and I’m pretty sure this is the sexiest unsexy use case… it’s the window into an entire unwritten-down world. There has never been a weirder time to be building stuff, soooo much noise.
3
0
13
This is true, mine is books and matching yoga sets.
Christmas present buying tip: You can't go wrong by buying someone another of something they already have too many of. Anyone who already has 30 snow globes will presumably appreciate another.
1
0
14
This year I decided not to cook for Christmas and my family feasted for 3 nights and 3 days on some of my favorite spots in Denver! Le Colonial, Alma Fonda Fina, Zaidy’s and MAKfam ♥️ let the rolling 48s commence iykyk.
2
0
14
guilty.
dating a VC must be so funny because imagine being in the middle of a fight and he says “babe, let’s think about this from first principles”.
2
0
14
@Duderichy It is real and highly correlated with metabolic dysfunction, so probably *under* diagnosed.
1
0
12
Surprisingly enjoyable Martha Stewart documentary on Netflix!.
4
0
13
the feeling of my dog laying on my feet is one of the simplest joys I know
2
0
13
Smoke detectors with dying batteries — everyone in my household can sleep through that chirping but me. I must find and destroy!.
6
0
12
I love when guys who were totally huckster/shyster types at 24 are “reborn” as legendary serial entrepreneurs a decade later. Biggest advice I’d give young founders is to worry less about being cringe as you’re learning… few will remember and you’ll get the reps in on selling.
0
0
11
@CryptoSpaces1 Stress, alcohol, eating out constantly, rich foods with a lot of caloric density… goldfish crackers :). Honestly I didn’t think I was doing that badly, I am a foodie and was enjoying everything along the way. Pretty sure dropping alcohol is the biggest win.
0
0
11
As someone who cooks at home a lot, I still have this thought regularly: it’s pretty amazing I can roll up to a completely empty hotel restaurant with an excellent pizza oven, and they’ll make me a perfect pie while I work at the counter for $20. No shop, prep, cook, or clean.
1
0
11
Exponentially.
Building things will become easier and easier . Getting people to care will become harder and harder.
0
0
10
Anyone have strong opinions on the best book to read for learning about the food system, something like “The Box” was for container shipping?. @MisterMorrill has these recs from @ChatGPTapp so far, would be curious to hear from folks who’ve read any of these too
4
0
10
After 3 years as a professional coach I took a break from coaching in 2024 to focus on coaching myself, re-assigning those 10-15 hours a week that I’d spent on other people’s life improvement to improve my own. I’m refreshed, with new perspective and skills, ready to start again!.
For being a creative person who makes and invents things, it’s amazing to me how much a rules-based way of living gives me peace and comfort in huge areas of my life. Max entropy in the maker side, min entropy on the life habits side.
2
0
10
There are few things more challenging to me than not working while those around me work, or not eating when those around me eat. Cultivating leisure and fasting are both via negativa pursuits I look forward to leaning into more deeply in 2025.
0
1
10
Before I had a CGM I would not have known I still had so much glucose left over from last night (chocolate!) and probably would have had breakfast instead of fasting until this drops. Normally I wake up somewhere in the 80s
3
1
9
One of my favorite things in life is finding an author so engrossing I proceed to read everything they’ve written. I hope to discover 1 a year!.
2
0
9
Made a huge pot of soup to start January right: 2 kinds of squash (I actually don’t know what kinds!), pears, apples, onions and shallots caramelized in homemade red wine vinegar, ginger, and several batches of scratch made vegetable stock from my freezer. This is my fav hobby ♥️
1
0
9
Good morning Denver, you look so good with a fresh dusting
0
1
9
“after a decade of sneering at "excel jockeys" and financial engineering, venture capital needs a rennaisance of financial literacy.”.
"I heard stories that last year, end of 2022, when the auditors were getting involved, they were telling GPs to talk to each other to try to figure out how to value things.". (source: Beezer Clarkson of Sapphire Partners). 2022 was the year that pissed-off LPs put a spotlight on
1
2
9
Fundamental premise of building @groupthinkAI is that we can get a LOT of novel and high entropy data for AI from transcripts of audio meetings, and this can pre-train LLMs that give companies the capability of introspection.
3
2
9
Taking care of myself when sick (just a little head cold, needed a 4am tea for my cough) is one of those annoyances that has become a secret pleasure. The perfect snuggly blanket, the perfect blend of tea, the perfect analog book, zero guilt daytime naps….
3
0
9