90-Day O-1A Action Plan for Alex Chen

A) Judging & "Vibe-Coding" Hackathons — Bay Area (next 60 days)

• SF AI Vibe Coding Hackathon — Sep 13, 2025, SF

• MCP — AI Agents Hackathon (SF) — Sep 19, 2025, SF

• Lablab.ai — AI Hackathon (SF in-person track) — mid-Sep 2025 (hybrid)

• Release Before Ready Hackathon — Sep 13, 2025, Palo Alto

• UHS Hacks (student) — Sep 20, 2025, SF

• Moveworks AI Agent Hackathon — Oct 7, 2025, Chase Center, SF

• Open-Source AI Week: Dendritic AI Hackathon — Oct 23, 2025, Frontier Tower, SF

• GPU MODE IRL Hackathon — Oct 24, 2025, SoMa, SF

• Cal Hacks 12.0 — Oct 24–26, 2025, Palace of Fine Arts (SF)

• ODSC West Hackathon — Oct 30, 2025, Burlingame

• Agentic AI × Longevity Hackathon — Sept 2025, SF & Online

• NEXT.BIO Hackathon (Tech Week) — Oct 2025, SF

• dAGI House Hackathon — Oct 24, 2025, SF

• Farcaster Mini-App Hackathon — early Oct 2025, SF (Frontier Tower)

• AI For Good Hackathon (Hult/SoMa variants) — confirm Oct slot

Remote or Canada/Toronto (10 add'l judging/speaking targets)

• Hack the North — Sep 12–14, 2025, Waterloo

• NewHacks (UofT) — Oct 25–26, 2025, Toronto

• Hack Western XII — Nov 21–23, 2025, London, ON

• WAI Canada Hackathon (virtual) — Oct 6–Nov 3, 2025

• Microsoft AI Agents Hackathon (virtual) — multi-week

• Kong Agentic AI Hackathon (virtual) — Sept 15–30, 2025

• THE Global AI Summit (Toronto) — Oct 27–29, 2025

• Generative AI Summit Toronto — Oct 30–31, 2025

• Devpost AI Hackathons (virtual, ongoing)

• GDG/DevFest Toronto — Fall season (mentors/judges, local GDG chapter links)

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B) Press Plan — 20 reporters/outlets + angles

Tool: Press Ranger

Target Reporters

• Frederic Lardinois (TechCrunch)
• Kyle Wiggers (MuckRack)
• Will Knight (WIRED)
• James Vincent (The Verge)
• Sean Silcoff (MuckRack)
• Douglas Soltys (BetaKit)
• Meagan Simpson (BetaKit)
• Patrick O'Rourke (Pocket-lint)

Story Angles

1. "YC alum pivots from VR to AI-powered coding assistant"
   Hook: Journey from Velocity Fund/Mirage VR → YC batch → EasyCode launch; contrast of immersive tech → dev-productivity AI.

2. "'Vibe coding' meets agentic AI: How one founder is rethinking developer ergonomics"
   Hook: The friction-to-flow narrative; how natural-language + context-aware agents remove boilerplate.

3. "Raising $1.3M to fix the 'last mile' of AI code generation"
   Hook: Traction metrics, early adopters (name-drop logos if permissible), YC endorsement.

4. "From Waterloo to Silicon Valley: A Canadian founder's take on the AI dev-tools race"
   Hook: Cross-border innovation, Canada → U.S. talent pipeline, immigration story (optionally tie to O-1 journey).

Execution Steps

• Week 1–2: Draft 2–3 pitch emails per angle; personalize for each reporter's beat.
• Week 3–4: Follow up on replies; schedule interviews or offer exclusive demos.
• Week 5–8: Secure 2–3 placements; repurpose quotes/coverage for secondary outlets.
• Week 9–12: Push for additional podcast/video features to complement editorial pieces.

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C) Publications (Authorship Targets)

Target Outlets

1. ACM Queue — Technical deep-dive on agentic code-generation architectures.
2. IEEE Software — Best practices for integrating LLMs into developer workflows.
3. Communications of the ACM — Opinion piece on the future of human-AI collaboration in software engineering.
4. Wired Ideas / MIT Tech Review — Broader audience piece on democratizing software development.

Topic Ideas

• "Why Context is the New Code: Building AI Agents That Understand Developer Intent"
• "The Ergonomics of Agentic Coding: Lessons from 10,000 User Sessions"
• "Beyond Autocomplete: Rethinking the Developer Experience with AI"

Timeline

• Month 1: Draft 1 technical byline + 1 opinion piece.
• Month 2: Pitch to editors; revise based on feedback.
• Month 3: Secure 2 acceptances; submit final versions.

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D) Conferences & Talks (fast-track visibility)

• PyTorch Conference (SF, Oct 22–23, 2025)
  Proposed talk: "Fine-Tuning PyTorch Models for Real-Time Code Generation"

• Open-Source AI Week (Oct 18–26, SF)
  Proposed talk: "Open-Source Strategies for Agentic Developer Tools"

• VapiCon (Voice AI, Oct 2, SF)
  Proposed talk: "Voice-First Interfaces for Code Generation"

• THE Global AI Summit (Toronto, Oct 27–29, 2025)
  Proposed talk: "Scaling AI Dev Tools from YC to Enterprise"

• Generative AI Summit Toronto (Oct 30–31, 2025)
  Proposed talk: "Generative AI in the Developer Experience: A Case Study"

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E) Memberships (within 30–60 days)

1. ACM (Senior or Professional)
   Eligibility: 3+ years professional experience; demonstrate contributions to computing field.
   Action: Complete application with CV highlighting EasyCode work + prior VR innovation.

2. IEEE (Senior or Member)
   Eligibility: Engineering degree + professional experience.
   Action: Submit application referencing technical publications (once secured).

3. C100 (Canadian founders in US)
   Eligibility: Canadian founder building in the U.S.
   Action: Apply with YC profile + traction metrics.

4. Vector Institute AI community
   Eligibility: AI practitioners/researchers.
   Action: Join mailing list; attend events; apply for affiliate status if eligible.

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F) Timeline Summary

Weeks 1–4	Weeks 5–8	Weeks 9–12
• Apply to 5 judging roles<br>• Draft 3 press pitches<br>• Outline 2 bylines	• Secure 2 judging confirmations<br>• Land 1–2 press placements<br>• Submit 1 byline	• Complete 3 judging roles<br>• Secure 3+ press placements<br>• Finalize 2 bylines<br>• Apply to 2 memberships

Target by Day 90:

• ✅ 3+ judging roles (public pages)
• ✅ 3+ editorial press features
• ✅ 2+ bylines or invited talks
• ✅ 1+ selective membership application in progress

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Legal Disclaimer

This is informational only, not legal advice. Please consult a licensed immigration attorney for legal guidance.