growth
+5

Aug 25, 2026
•
6 min read
Token spend up, salaries flat, projects shipping faster than ever, and not one line of cost lower. That gap has an explanation, and it changes how you staff a company.

gravity
+8

Jun 4, 2026
•
6 min read
The founder’s real work is building pull, the kind that brings deals, hires, and investors to you before you’ve asked for anything.

OpenAI
+9

Mar 3, 2026
•
3 min read
AI gets all the blame for the lack of opportunities for graduates, but the companies now reversing course might be the most important hiring story nobody is telling

Hard Part First is a publication for founders who know that tech is a commodity today and distribution is the moat. I’m Dax Hamman. I’ve been a founder three times: at Chango (sold to Rubicon Project for $122M), and now at FOMO.ai, where I’m building AI + human marketing teams for brands like Noom, Minted, and PetMeds.