Most founders don’t need venture capital. They need enough money to survive while they figure out if something works. y0 exists to provide that.

We back builders from anywhere who want to reach profitability, not founders who want to raise their next round. Revenue is validation. Everything else is noise.

We structure deals so we only get paid when founders make real money. No paper markups, no valuation games. If the business doesn’t work, we lose together. If it does, we win together.

We stay small on purpose. A few founders, backed well. High trust requires low volume. We’d rather know ten founders deeply than a hundred superficially.

All partners are operators. We’ve built companies, hired teams, dealt with churn, fixed broken funnels. We give tactical help because that’s what we know how to give.

Calm beats chaos. Low burn beats high burn. Shipping beats pitching. We help founders build companies that give them freedom, not companies that consume them.

y0 runs like the companies we back: lean, async, no theater. If we wouldn’t advise a founder to do something, we don’t do it ourselves.

Profitability is freedom. That’s it. That’s the whole thesis.

about two months ago, during toronto tech week, yan and i joined the shop minis hackathon hosted by shopify.

we didn’t go in with a big plan. we just wanted to experiment with this new platform called shop minis, which lets developers create small, interactive experiences directly inside the shop app.

the idea

our idea came from a simple question every shopper has: “what goes with this?”

you find a shirt you love, but then wonder - what pants, shoes, or accessories would match?

so we built pair it with, an ai-powered shop mini that helps shoppers upload a photo of something they already own, and instantly discover products that go perfectly with it - all inside the shop app.

you can try it out here: https://shop.app/mini/pair-it-with

the hackathon

we built the entire thing in just one day. lots of last-minute coding, quick design changes, and “let’s just ship it” energy.

we had farhan from shopify engineering and david from the shop minis team on the panel, reviewing demos and giving feedback to everyone.

we pitched pair it with during the demo, showing how shoppers could upload a photo and instantly find products that go with it.

a few weeks later, we heard from dani from the shop minis team that pair it with had won the first prize.

the launch

a few weeks later, the shop minis team reached out and invited us for early production access. and now, pair it with is officially live inside the shop app - making it the first partner-built mini to launch on the platform.

it’s surreal to think that something built in one day during toronto tech week is now available to millions of shoppers worldwide.

thank you

none of this would’ve been possible without the incredible shop minis team - david hoffman, dani moubayed, and entire team who supported us throughout the journey.

thank you for building such an amazing platform and for giving partners like us the opportunity to experiment, create, and bring new ideas to life inside the shop app.

what’s next

we believe this is just the beginning for shop minis. there’s so much potential to make shopping more interactive, personal, and fun.

if you’re using the shop app, try pair it with and tell us what you think - we’d love your feedback on what features you’d like to see next.

you can send your thoughts directly to me at shibin@askangle.com. we’ll keep improving and adding more features soon.

about us

yan and i are currently building angle, an ai sales assistant for shopify stores.

angle helps online stores turn visitors into customers by answering product questions, recommending items, and guiding shoppers - just like a real sales assistant would.

if you’re a shopify merchant, you can try it out here.

if you enjoyed reading this, share it or tag someone who should try pair it with.

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hey 👋

this is my first post here.

i’ve been wanting to start writing for a while, but always put it off. today felt like a good day to just start.

i’m currently building angle, a shopping assistant for shopify stores, and y0, a small fund and community for early-stage founders.

i’ll be writing about what i’m learning while building both - the wins, the mistakes, and everything in between.

if you’re someone who’s building something too, i think you’ll find this space useful.

glad you’re here.