Thanks for Stopping By!
If you don't know me already... My name is Will! I'm an entrepreneur, athlete and mostly just curious about life. At the moment I'm in San Fransisco going through the Y Combinator accelerator program with a company I founded called Phonely. This website is a little introduction to myself, some of the things I've done and where I occasionally post life updates or interesting things.
About Me
I find it a bit strange to write about myself here... So I'll just jot down some of the things I'm most proud of:
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When I was 7 I slept (alone) in a treehouse for an entire summer
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When I was 14 my dad and two brothers set the world record for the youngest to kayak around lake superior.
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When I was 17 I placed 9th in the Tour Divide with a time of 17 days 10 hours and 11 minutes, (impossibly, my youngest brother Noah exactly tied that time in 2024)
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When I was 19 I biked home from college by myself (College was in New Hampshire and I lived in Wisconsin at the time)
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When I was 22 I graduated from UNH with a mechanical engineering degree and competed in the D1 NCAA XC skiing championships - placed top 10 American.
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When I was 23 I started my first company (Spoke Sound) and Chance the Rapper still follows my instagram because of it
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When I was 24 I bought a shuttle bus for 3k off a government auction, built it out, lived in it for 6 months and sold it for 60k
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Also at 24 I won the Colorado Trail race by biking for 5 days basically without sleeping and was sponsored by Kona Bikes and Tailwind Nutrition
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When I was 25 I re-started a PhD in AI research and traveled to Kenya, Uganda, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, French Polynesia, New Zealand, and a few other places
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When I was 26 I started Phonely and was accepted into the best accelerator program in the world: Y Combinator
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Why have I done all these things? Well a therapist may tell you... crippling sense of insecurity, fear of not fitting in, a unhealthy desire for attention. I might say that it is because I like me a good challenge, and you really only get one life so I'm here to find out what I'm made of.
Projects
Co-Founder & CEO
Phonely is building humanlike AI receptionists that can do everything that a person over the phone.
Why this?
Well currently a call center or receptionist staff, sits in a chair, answers the phone, does something on the computer and tells someone about it. This is silly, and everything here can be done by a computer.
What about the jobs?
Since the industrial revolution humanity has optimized for the system, not the individual. AI can let humans live varied, fulfilling lives, because now, most jobs just teach humans to be robots. Lets teach humans to be humans and let robots be robots.
Projects
Ph.D. Researcher, University of Melbourne
Applied AI & energy stability in low income countries
After taking a break from school to start Spoke Sound, I am back on the 'ol grindstone. My current research is understanding how to help improve the stability of developing countries' grids and microgrids with the resources they have available. At the moment, my work is centered around rural Kenya and Uganda, but am hoping to expand soon. There is certainly a lot more to talk about than I have space here so look for a blog post coming up about this soon.
Spoke Sound
Founder & CEO
At 22 I set out on my first venture- Spoke Sound a company that makes wireless speakers that look like pictures and hang on your wall. After a month in business we were accepted into the accelerator program SCAPE where I learned how to run a business. During my time at Spoke Sound I had the opportunity to do everything from raising VC money to filing provisional patents. Spoke Sound has been retired, as I've moved on other exciting things.
Photos
'21 Colorado Trail Race
530 mile unsupported mountain bike race from Denver to Durango across the toughest terrain the Rocky Mountains have to offer. Learn More
2nd Place
B.S. in Mechanical Engineering
Magna Cum Laude, 2016-2020
Graduated with honors from the University of New Hampshire with a B.S. in mechanical engineering. Was recognized in several clubs including SAAC (Student Academic Athletic Committee), UNH Entrepreneurship club, Tau Beta Pi (engineering honors fraternity), Resident Advisor, Learning Assistant (physics 407&408).
"Nothing that is worth anything is ever easy"
-Mike Haul
Words I live By
UNH D1 Ski Team
Captain & NCAA competitor
Competed on UNH's D1 cross country ski team as a varsity athlete. Earned 4x academic all American awards and my senior year lead m team to the NCAA championships as a captain.