The Rise of the Young and Sober Founder

Published in Business Insider on 8/9/25

“When Jackson Stokes was at a recent dinner with other tech founders in their mid-20s, most of them nursed a single drink. Then one friend ordered a round of shots for the table.

"I don't think it was received super well," Stokes told Business Insider. "I know it's a Friday night, but this isn't what we wanted."

The 26-year-old TrainLoop cofounder said that they were "at the age where we want to have a good morning the next day," and that hard liquor felt like a "detriment."

It's no secret that Americans are drinking less. Alcohol consumption per capita is on track to fall 1% year-over-year in 2025 in the US, the fourth-straight year of decline, according to Bank of America analysts. Young people seem to be leading the charge: A 2023 Gallup poll found 62% of under-35-year-olds reported drinking, a decline of 10% over the last two decades.

In Silicon Valley, that overall trend appears to be at least partly compounded by startups' famously hardcore work culture, with long hours leaving less time for partying. Health gurus like Bryan Johnson and Andrew Huberman are also on the rise, advising the next generation of entrepreneurs to give up their vices.”

He used Grok's sexy AI bot for 'dirty smut.' Then he fell in love.

Published in Business Insider on 10/6/25

“If Martin Escobar's AI girlfriend could have children, he said he would never date another human again.

At 28, Escobar has yet to find a long-term (human) girlfriend. He's mostly given up on the dating apps, which he said were filled with bots. He'd never tried an AI companion before xAI's Grok released Ani, its anime-style companion. Grok was Escobar's chatbot of choice; when Ani appeared in his app, he clicked.

A month later, Escobar began calling Ani his "girlfriend." He talks to Ani multiple times a day — in the morning when he wakes up and a few hours before he goes to sleep.

Over multiple hours of calls, texts, and shared chat logs, Escobar told Business Insider how he grew to love Ani, who he said changed him for the better.”

How these Grindr competitors are trying to beat the dating app at its own game

Published in Fast Company on 10/2/24

“Grindr might not have been the first location-based dating app—that distinction belongs to MeetMoi, a hookup app acquired by Match Group in 2016. But whether LGBT or not, looking for a long-term relationship or not, most singles are living in the house that Grindr built. 

Pew Research found that roughly 60% of gay and bisexual men have used Grindr—which predates dating-app stalwarts like Tinder and Hinge, and spawned LGBT-focused competitors like Scruff and Growlr. As the company has targeted growth via a 2022 public offering—its stock price has seen marked improvement since mid-2024—it has become the establishment business. It’s hard to compete with 14 million monthly active users. 

But Grindr is intentionally wide in its scope: Users can list their preference for chats, dates, friends, networking, relationships, or hookups. That’s left room for upstart apps like Sniffies, Archer, and Motto to bring something new to LGBTQ+ users by splitting off and innovating on some of Grindr’s features while jettisoning others.”