The Distill - Bread & Butter

Greetings, Pioneers —

We’re back in our bag this week: builder-led, builder-fed.
Salutes to the tribe for the supply.

🏈 Ecosystem Depth Chart

We hear it all the time: “ecosystem building is a team sport.”

And that’s true. But here’s what people don’t say out loud: every team has a depth chart. Starters. Backups. Role players. People waiting for their shot.

You might wear the same jersey, but you’re still competing for snaps.

🤝 There’s Competition — and That’s Healthy

In Kentucky’s startup scene, we’re building something special. The roster is deeper than it’s ever been: student founders, city-backed programs, indie accelerators, pitch nights, new funds, solo builders—all trying to create impact.

But there’s only so much room at the top. There are only so many keynote invites, only so many dollars in the sponsorship pool, only so many hours founders will give you before they burn out. Whether we admit it or not, there’s a pecking order. And yes—people are keeping score.

That’s not dysfunction. That’s growth. If you’ve ever been in a real locker room, you know that competition sharpens the team.

However, in some ecosystems, “collaborating” with existing players just means: “Get in line, play your role, and don’t challenge the current structure.”

That’s not collaboration. That’s feudalism in a Patagonia vest.

A healthy ecosystem isn’t built on allegiance. It’s built on circulation—of people, ideas, capital, and leadership. If your org can’t take a punch or share the mic, it’s not building an ecosystem. It’s building a fiefdom.

🌱 A Real Ecosystem Is Dynamic

Nature doesn’t run on loyalty. It runs on diversity, redundancy, and tension. A real ecosystem has apex predators and fast-moving upstarts. It has keystone species and background players you don’t notice until they’re gone. It’s resilient because it’s messy.

Kentucky’s startup landscape should be the same. Let people try new things. Let orgs overlap. Let events conflict. Let founders choose what actually works.

The goal isn’t perfect alignment. The goal is richness—where different players can succeed on their own terms.

🏆 Spots Are Earned, Not Given

It’s tempting to think the game is zero-sum. That for you to win, someone else has to lose. But the best teams aren’t static. They evolve. People change positions. New talent breaks through.

If you want a bigger role in the ecosystem, the answer isn’t to wait—it’s to earn it. Build something so strong, so useful, so consistent that people have to make room for you. That’s how you move up the depth chart.

📉 Depth Charts Don’t Lie

You might be third-string today. That’s okay. The question is: are you getting reps? Are you adding value? Are you building trust? Because when someone ahead of you gets tired, messes up, or graduates to a new level—you’ll get your shot.

And when you’re QB1? Don’t gatekeep. Share the playbook. Mentor the backups. But don’t forget: someone’s coming for your spot. That’s not betrayal. That’s the game.

🎯 Final Thought

We are on the same team. But this isn’t participation trophy territory. There is a depth chart. And that’s what keeps the whole system alive.

So play your position. Train for the next one. Respect your teammates—but bring your A-game. A real ecosystem doesn’t just allow for competition. It demands it.

KYX tells the truth about Kentucky’s startup scene — no spin, no hierarchy, just real talk. Let’s build something dynamic. Let’s build ecosystem.

🤔How Many Engineers Does It Take to Assemble a Sauna Tent?

Apparently… more than we had.

We kicked off our much-anticipated Fire & Ice event with high hopes, strong coffee, and a deep belief in our ability to set up a sauna tent in under 15 minutes. Spoiler: it took two hours.

Why? Because we’re geniuses who confidently followed the instructions—for the wrong tent. Two engineers, an EIC, and zero progress later, we realized we’d been trying to solve the world’s most annoying IKEA puzzle with the wrong blueprint. Once we found the actual instructions? Ten minutes. Done. Huge thanks to Felice for answering our distress call and coming early to help us get the thing up.

Timing was also perfect since we decided to do this when it was 100 degrees outside and the Pride Parade was right after, meaning all the streets were closed.

But the plunge? Iconic. Ten full bags of ice made it the coldest cold plunge we’ve ever hosted. Shoutout to the brave souls who sweated through setup and then willingly dunked themselves in a mini Arctic ocean.

Smaller group, but new friends were made and fun was had by all.

Shoutout to Jonathan Vanderford who set the new record for minutes in the plunge, clocking in at 7:25.

Catch us next time—with the right directions.

⛏️ Hard Work > Talent

Talent doesn’t make you dangerous. Discipline does.

You win in the trenches — where it’s ugly, unforgiving, and soul-crushing.
Talent is rainbows and dopamine. It’s fun. It’s flattering. You wake up with it and post about it.

There’s nothing pretty about trench warfare.
It’s quiet. It’s repetitive. And the results don’t show up tomorrow.

That’s what makes discipline hard — it’s inherently future-focused.
You do the work now with no guaranteed payoff.
You show up knowing the reward might take months — maybe years.
You trade comfort today for clarity down the line.

The real question isn’t what you’re good at.
It’s: what are you willing to suffer for?

Because living well doesn’t mean avoiding pain. It means choosing the right pain.
And suffering — the useful kind — is how you adapt. How you sharpen. How you become someone who can carry more.

Talent can carry you through the warmup.
Discipline is what gets you through round 10.

The people who win — in startups, in life — are the ones who can sit in discomfort, stay patient, and keep going without applause.
They don’t need dopamine hits. They need direction.

They’re future-oriented by default.
They understand the lag between action and outcome.
They don’t quit because they haven’t won yet. They expect the lag.

So yeah — talent might get you noticed.
But if you want to win the game?

Bring discipline. Bring patience. Bring a shovel.

“You are in danger of living a life so soft that you will die without ever realizing your true potential.”

🎛️ VCN Recap — AI Prompts, New Faces & Another Poker Heist

Last Thursday’s Vibe Code Night delivered, again.

We had three first-time attendees dive into AI prompting—and by the end of the night, they were already shipping. That’s why we’re here: in the room, hands dirty, building something real.

New addition this round: Show & Tell, powered by Zaid. Everyone walked through what they built at the end, and the ambition noticeably peaked. Extra points to Chey for soundtracking Grant’s demo with her music. Chef’s kiss.

And big thanks to Grant Warfield for helping lead this one and for kicking off the new Vibe Coding Community inside KYX. If you want to jam with creative coders and keep the energy going, jump into the #vibecodeky Slack channel and say hey.

Oh, and about poker…

Yes, the degenerates dragged Rachel back in.
Yes, she took their money. Again.

Already hyped for the next one.

(Editor’s note: The words “another” and “again” are doing a lot of work in this one. Some would say revisionist. But the legend grows.)

thats a wrap 🎁
keep Showing up 💪
keep shipping 🚢
peace, pioneers ✌️