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- Yard Call - May '25
Yard Call - May '25
Welcoming Permitify, Stacey Gerber on the Pod, and a BBQ with Newlab!
Ryan Mitchell & Daniel Dart
May 07, 2025
Coming to you the first Wednesday of every month the Yard Call is your monthly update on what we’re up to at Rock Yard Ventures — podcasts, perspectives, events, investments, you name it!
If you’re building something great or investing in the same spaces, reach out to Daniel or Ryan - we’d love to chat!
If you were forwarded this and found it interesting, please sign up!
This Month’s Headlines:
Our Newest Investments: Welcoming Permitify to the Rock Yard family!
Dart Board Ep. 13: [If you missed it] Sequoia’s Stacey Gerber joins the pod — her first ever!
ROCK YARD X NEWLAB BBQ [May 29th]: See the notice board below for more info.
Rock Yard Reads: An excellent (albeit slightly dated) AI overview.
Rock Yard Travel: SF and NYC!
Welcoming to the Portfolio — Permitify
We’re excited to announce our eighth investment!
Welcome to the Rock Yard family — Permitify!
We’re incredibly excited to work with Adam Chandler and Alexander Densley and to support them on their journey as they build site-specific code research and AI-powered plan review for architects and engineers.
Stay tuned for exciting updates, career opportunities, and more from Permitify and the rest of our portfolio!
🚨If you have something you want featured next month — let us know!
{ EVENTS } ROCK YARD EVENTS Cool events, courtesy of the Rock Yard team! OTHER EVENTS Some other interesting stuff going on: Austin, TX New York, NY | { READS } Some good reads from the last month: |
The Dart Board Episode 13: Stacey Gerber | Sequoia Capital
On creating community with intention, understanding the value of preparation, and how helping others is the key to helping yourself.
Meet Stacey Gerber, partner at Sequoia Capital, where she leads operations and experiences. In the episode, we delve into the distinctive role of operations in venture capital, the significance of community, and the value of being prepared for both the big and little things.
Stacey shares insights on creating meaningful connections, the concept of a 'through line' for all experiences, and how in-person gatherings are the key to building genuine community.
She closes with powerful lessons on growing through tough times and offers valuable advice on giving and why it's the most powerful way to win.
🎧 Where you can listen…
Spotify Podcasts - listen here
Apple Podcasts - listen here
Rock Yard Reads — Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans
This month we read Melanie Mitchell’s Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans
Quick Summary: Melanie Mitchell, a professor at the Santa Fe Institute and career AI/ML researcher, provides a comprehensive overview of artificial intelligence. The book includes a history of AI/ML, commentary on the compute vs scale debate, easy to digest explanations and examples of various learning paradigms, architectures, and use cases, and predictions for the future.
Our Take: Melanie Mitchell’s book is among the more enjoyable long form reads related to AI. While the book shows its age (published in 2020), the author’s writing style is enjoyable and easy to read. It is an excellent read for non-technical people interested in a broad overview of the space and breakdowns of the concepts and mechanics that undergird the field today. At a time where it’s safe to say there is some “hype” around AI, it’s valuable to understand some of the skeptical perspectives, even if it’s not enough to stifle our optimism about the space.
The end of the book concludes with a brave chapter, where the author shares candid perspectives about some of the more pressing questions or debates in the space — like self-driving cars, the likelihood AI causes mass unemployment, the timeline to general AI, and more.
Like I said, the book is definitely a product of its time (It feels funny saying that about a 5-year-old book!), but there’s a lot of good stuff packed into a <300-page book and I found it especially helpful for clarifying a few concepts and filling some gaps in my own knowledge.
Where You Can Find Us
Here’s the latest info on where the team will be traveling in the coming months. If you’re around hit us up!
May 11-18 / San Francisco
Attending: Daniel will be attending Camp Hustle, followed by another 4 days in the Bay Area
June 5-12 / New York, NY
Daniel will be in town for some meetings.
That’s it for now! ‘til next time.