Door Rot and Cold Plunging

Hey crew, I just finished up repairing door rot over the break and recovering from convincing my 2 girls (3 and 9)… I mean them convincing me to cold plunge at Wrightsville Beach.

I’d do it again. We all had a blast!

But now it’s back to the startup growth and investment stories.

We’re kicking off 2026 with a company who might touch everything under the sky.

Let’s dive in.

AI FOR COMMUNITIES
🌎 AI touches the real world

AI models are starving for real world data and Surge is creating the data “oil” wells that provide it. Unlike cameras that capture pixels, LiDAR captures depth, movement, and spatial flow.

Benefits to Communities

• Privacy-first by design: No faces, identities, or personal attributes - only movement patterns and activity flow

• Public safety aware: Supports safer intersections, better traffic awareness, and faster incident detection without surveillance

• Machine-ready data: Designed for autonomous systems, smart logistics, and next-generation urban intelligence Intelligent infrastructure with lasting data value - good for people, good for communities.

Surge Networks just launched in New Orleans and has a town hall next week.

• Ranked 4.8 / 5 on KingsCrowd

• 70 planned location launches in 2026

• $250k to $1m ARR per location - estimated data value by Gulp Data (not guaranteed)

RSVP to attend and interact with the founders.

In the meantime, feel free to check out their round, Surge on Wefunder, and ask questions.

:::

Incolo is a paid business advisor and invested in Surge’s current round.

AI PROMPT
Want ChatGPT to Provide Clear & Concise Answers?

In any chat, include this image with the message

“Update all future responses across any of my chats with you using the attached unless I instruct otherwise.”

It’ll update your global system memory and then you’re in business!

Stranger Things Non-Episode Crashes Netflix

Seriously.

Also one of the most realistic AI renderings of an alternative ending that popped up in my social feed this morning.

Culture is a strange thing - the way society can fall in love with a show, with the characters, and the story they bring to life.

Being someone who was born in the ‘80’s, Stranger Things brought back a nostalgia of my childhood. That beyond all else I think is what made it magical.

If the story was real, most of the main cast would have been the ‘older kids’ I would have “looked up to” as a child. The combination of the magic & adventure of all of the ‘classics’ like E.T., Goonies, and more converging into the story told through 5 seasons of Stranger Things… just superbly well done.

Takeaway: The real characters: founders, teams, and investors building the future are stories we can all fall in love in and get behind.