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.

startup
+7

Feb 24, 2026
•
4 min read
Why founders who keep tinkering with these tools will be the ones left standing.

sales
+7

Feb 11, 2026
•
9 min read
[New here? Start with this piece first] Building technology has never been easier, but getting anyone to care about it has never been harder.

delight
+6

Feb 8, 2026
•
3 min read
When a couple dining at Eleven Madison Park mentioned they’d never had a proper New York hot dog from a street cart, Will Guidara did something that made his kitchen staff think he’d lost his mind.

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.