Noah McLaughlin is the founder of Superior Ingredients, a competitive league for building open AI models, and 1999 Labs, a creative studio connecting people, ideas, and intelligence in unexpected ways. His work sits at the intersection of technology and human flourishing, with a particular interest in internet culture and experimental networks.
Before founding his own ventures, he worked on the private investments team at m32e and studied at the University of Denver. Outside of work he surfs, skis, and by his own account climbs palm trees, an activity that says as much about his approach as any resume line: curious about life and the people, places, and things in it.
What are you working on currently?
Superior Ingredients, a competitive league for open-model building. Builders compete in four weight classes and one-off specials to build the best open models under strict constraints. The first competition, SI 1, is a single elimination chess tournament. Sixteen builders train chess models from scratch under identical constraints, then the models fight it out in a live bracket. Open source has culture, but no cultural institutions. No records, no titles, no stage for the people actually doing the work. Every piece of infrastructure this needs - the mobilized coalition, the demand for specialized models, the talent, and the sponsor money looking for a place to mean something - is sitting there unassembled. Superior Ingredients is the institution that connects them.
Dream collaborator?
Someone who’s actually run a sanctioning body. I’d take twenty minutes with whoever designed the early UFC weight classes and rulebook over most people in tech right now. Or whoever choreographs a Cirque du Soleil show. Turning technical mastery that nobody outside the discipline can evaluate into something a general audience finds thrilling to watch.
Red/Green flags
Red flag: a founder who’s more excited about the funding round than the actual product. You can tell within a sentence which topic they prefer discussing.
Green flag: outside of SF.
What do you want the future to look like?
One where we optimize for efficiency in some areas of life and optimize for friction in others.
Overhyped/underhyped?
Overhyped: ambient AI hardware
Underhyped: Mixed Messages, Sweden’s startup ecosystem and business building philosophies
What’s a belief you hold that most people in your industry would disagree with?
Cold DMs can be higher signal than warm intros. A warm intro means someone else vouched for you. A cold DM that lands means the thing was good enough to work with zero credibility attached.
Fav product?
Hermes Agent + Actual Computer
About ADIN
ADIN is a highly AI focused pursuit (bringing algorithmic venture with the full force of AI agents). ADIN is also just as much about the people. We’re building a network where early-stage funding happens faster, fairer, and with more incentives for the people on the bleeding edge. If you want to be part of that, apply here to be a scout or investor and follow ADIN as we keep opening doors.
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