AARON FRIED

I’m a builder and a moralist who cares about fundamental ideas, especially individualism.

Currently, I am building Akston — a workbench for serious writers, empowered by AI. I am also writing about how an inspiring, happy future filled with the best sci-fi technology requires political freedom. When I’m not doing that, you can find me reading, flying my paraglider, training jiu-jitsu, or losing games of StarCraft II.

My interests have always been eclectic. As a kid, I was drawn to philosophical questions, but outwardly I was a STEM type — I wrote my first code because my StarCraft: Brood War clan needed a website. After college, I landed in the startup world and never left. I worked at early-stage companies, co-founded one that went through YC S19, and eventually built a growth team at the Ayn Rand Institute. Entrepreneurship has become central to how I think about my own productiveness.

I stumbled across Ayn Rand’s work in college, and it changed everything. If you’ve never read and understood Rand, consider doing so immediately — her ideas are the best lessons I’ve ever learned. I think of Rand as a world-historic thinker who formulated the philosophy proper to the industrial, enlightened, technological, spacefaring human being. Though I am now focused on my own building and writing projects, I remain deeply invested in the values she advocates.

I love human creativity and adventure, and I want to build a world where I get to see more of it. I try to watch every evening rocket launch from Vandenberg as they streak across the SoCal sky. I evangelize my favorite tools to everyone who will listen. I hope that what I build and write persuades you to embrace, as Rand put it, the best within you.

I invite you to scroll around and explore my ideas, projects and hobbies. If you like me, please do reach out. I hope to hear from you.