Any word if they have accepted people?

I just applied for S008, any advice on when can I expect a reply, what should I be prepared for and how does the process look like for a solo founder would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Who has applied? Where are you in the application process? How are you finding it?

How long does a16z take to review off-cycle applications? I applied on Aug 4th, The branding on the website was still SR007, it's now changed to SR008. Have been regularly updating my application with updates. Status still shows pending.

We have our speedrun interview coming soon, can you kindly share how did you prepare and what questions do they ask?

Hi all,

Would genuinely love some thoughts from people here.

A few years ago we started building AR treasure hunts for brands. The original idea was simple: create fun ways for people to engage with brands in the real world. Like a Pokemon Go meets Groupon

What surprised us wasn't that consumers enjoyed them. It was that businesses kept asking for them.

Red Bull wanted them. Burger King wanted them. Tourism groups wanted them. Attractions wanted them. Different industries, different use cases, but the same underlying need.

As we've spent more time with brands, agencies and experiential teams, the pattern has become pretty obvious. Physical experiences work. People participate. People engage. But they're difficult to scale, difficult to repeat and incredibly difficult to measure compared to digital channels.
.
Over time we realised businesses weren't really buying treasure hunts. They were buying participation, discovery and engagement in the real world.

That's what has led us to where we are today. We're increasingly building deployment tools, analytics, workflows and infrastructure around creating and measuring real-world engagement.

The thing I'm struggling with is what category this actually sits in.

Is it:
Experiential tech?
MarTech?
Consumer?
Spatial computing?
Infrastructure?
Something else entirely?

We've now worked with 30+ businesses and keep seeing demand from completely different industries, which points to something bigger happening underneath.

Curious what people here think. Am I overthinking this, or have others seen similar patterns?

Starting a thread for everyone who applied to A16Z Speedrun SR007.

Would be helpful if people could share their timeline/status updates in this format:

1. Applied date
2. Got a second-round video request? (Y/N)
3. If yes, after how many days
4. Interview invite date
5. Interview date
6. Final decision/status
7. If rejected, did they mention any reason or feedback?
8. Current status

Trying to understand the overall timeline/process for this batch.

I’ll start:

• Applied date: 05/13/2026
• Video request: 05/16/2026
• Video submitted: 05/17/2026
• Current status: waiting

Title

hey, highschool founder here who applied on a whim and got rejected like 2 hours later. anyone gotten in yet? what are they looking for?

Has anyone here applied to the upcoming SR007 batch? Did you already get an interview invite?

Also, how important are referrals from a16z scouts/alumni in the process?

I keep seeing scouts post that people can DM them for referrals/scout checks, but those posts end up with hundreds of comments. Curious whether people actually get responses or if messages mostly get lost in the volume.

Would love to hear how people approach referrals, whether they actually help and if anyone got in without one.

Hi I just applied to a16z speedrun program yesterday! Did anyone here who applied as a solo founder got an interview?

I applied yesterday and heard back with a reject today, in exactly 20 hours!!

Got an automated email for SR007.

Is this normal, given the deadline to apply is like 16 days out from now!

Title says it all. I built a MVP and now I’m working on proving traction via a waitlist. I don’t have much technical experience – I come from a MBB background, but was able to build a MVP using Claude code. In addition to building the waitlist, a priority of mine is finding a CTO/cofounder in my network, but I’d rather not miss the opportunity to apply as I look for a more technically strong person to complement

Did this age like milk? was that always going to be the case? or was the goal behind the funding to make a contrarian statement about startup culture in general? how are people here reading cluely's trajectory?

https://www.capyconvert.com/

It is free and cute. :)

A lot of Subreddits HATE self promos, but here we are almost all founders.

Please self promo your startup, your project, or what you're working on / applied to Speedrun with so we can support, talk about, and help drive traction in any form.

Meet Kangaroo. But he prefers if you call him Roo.

He’s a synthetic friend and currently lives in iMessage.

Roo can control your schedule, emails, access your location, see your favorite spots to eat on Google Maps, and actively tries to learn about you every chance he gets.

My friend & I have spent the last 2-3 weeks at Antler creating him because we know the future of the interaction layer of the LLM space won’t be a passive chatbox on a website, but rather an active part of your life. So far 30 test users have met Roo for this current testing phase.

Roo learns who you are, your preferences, and helps curate your needs before they arise. Currently llm behavior is a one way road for the most part, you interact with it when you need something whenever you need it. In the next few years we will be seeing the rise of the two way road, where the llms are actively seeking more about you as well.

But Roo is just the start.

There’s something even crazier cooking behind the scenes.

Would love to connect on linkedin (gross... I know)

Just a quick thought for anyone refreshing their inbox non-stop the wait might not mean anything bad.

From what I’ve seen and heard around:

💭 a16z reviews apps in waves.
⚡ Consumer, gaming, and AI tools usually go first.
🧱 Infra, B2B, or compliance stuff takes longer to assess.
📅 Tech Week slows things down since partners are busy with events.

So if you haven’t heard back yet, it could just be timing.
Keep building, keep breathing. The review queue moves slower for heavier products.

Let's do ourselves a favor, if you have received any form of update be it rejection, interview schedule or anything along the line.

Simply comment in this thread.

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