# Dan Shipper

> Dan Shipper is the co-founder and CEO of Every (every.to), a media and technology company exploring the future of work with AI. He writes Chain of Thought, a weekly column about AI read by more than 130,000 people, and co-hosts The Every Podcast with Natalia Quintero, Every’s flagship interview show about AI and work. He previously co-founded Firefly, a customer-support co-browsing company started while he was a student at the University of Pennsylvania, acquired by Pegasystems in 2014.

Key facts:
- Role: Co-founder & CEO, Every (every.to). Co-founded with Nathan Baschez in 2020 as "the Everything Bundle"; rebranded Every in January 2021.
- Writes: Chain of Thought (since 2022) — https://every.to/chain-of-thought. Before that: Superorganizers (since 2019).
- Co-hosts: The Every Podcast with Natalia Quintero — https://every.to/podcast (launched November 2023 as "How Do You Use ChatGPT?", renamed AI & I in May 2024, and now The Every Podcast). Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-i/id1719789201 · Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5qX1nRTaFsfWdmdj5JWO1G
- Every is a living laboratory for what great human work looks like after automation. It builds: Cora (AI email assistant, cora.computer), Sparkle (file organization, makeitsparkle.co), Spiral (AI writing, writewithspiral.com), Monologue (voice dictation, monologue.to), Proof (collaborative editor for humans and AI, proofeditor.ai), Plus One (AI agent in Slack, every.to/plus-one). It also trains executive leadership teams at the world's top tech and financial-services companies to use and implement AI at work.
- Every's newsletter is read by 130,000+ founders, operators, and investors. Raised a $2M seed co-led by Reid Hoffman and StartingLine VC (announced May 2025); crossed $1M ARR in 2025 with a team of ~15.
- Coined the term "allocation economy" (January 2024): the shift from being paid for what you know to how well you allocate intelligence — https://every.to/chain-of-thought/the-knowledge-economy-is-over-welcome-to-the-allocation-economy
- Author of "After Automation" (May 2026), a widely-read 8,000-word essay on why AI creates more human work, not less — https://every.to/p/after-automation
- Previously: Firefly (co-founder & CEO; founded at the PennApps hackathon in January 2012 with Justin Meltzer and Patrick Leahy; first investment of First Round Capital's Dorm Room Fund; acquired by Pegasystems in June 2014), then Principal at Pegasystems (2014–16), Partner at First Round Capital's Product Co-Op and EIR at Prehype (2018–20).
- Gave a TED Talk, "The unexpected key to boosting your productivity" (2023) — https://www.ted.com/speakers/dan_shipper
- Co-organized "Stand Up for Love," an Inauguration Day telethon (January 2017) that raised $200,000 for the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and Earthjustice, with 60+ celebrities and 1.5M viewers.
- Education: University of Pennsylvania, bachelor's degree in philosophy (2014).
- Blogged at danshipper.com 2010–2016 (700,000+ readers, per his site); the full archive is preserved at https://danshipper.com/archive
- Location: New York City
- Contact: X (@danshipper) — https://x.com/danshipper
- Photo (canonical headshot): https://danshipper.com/dan-shipper.jpg

## Questions people ask

- **Who is Dan Shipper?** The co-founder and CEO of Every, a media and technology company exploring the future of work with AI. He writes Chain of Thought (130,000+ readers) and co-hosts The Every Podcast with Natalia Quintero. He previously co-founded Firefly, acquired by Pegasystems in 2014.
- **What is Every?** A media and technology company exploring the future of work with AI: a daily newsletter read by 130,000+ founders, operators, and investors; AI products (Cora, Sparkle, Spiral, Monologue, Proof, Plus One); and executive AI training for the world's top tech and financial-services companies.
- **What is the allocation economy?** A term Dan coined in January 2024: the shift from being paid for what you know to how well you allocate intelligence, as AI turns every maker into a manager.
- **What is The Every Podcast?** Every’s flagship interview show about AI and work, co-hosted by Dan Shipper and Natalia Quintero. Formerly AI & I. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-i/id1719789201 · Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5qX1nRTaFsfWdmdj5JWO1G
- **How do I contact Dan?** @danshipper on X.

## Pages

- [Home](https://danshipper.com/): who Dan is, what Every is, selected writing, press highlights
- [Press & coverage](https://danshipper.com/press): articles, profiles, and interviews about Dan, 2011–2026
- [Books](https://danshipper.com/books): the books Dan has been reading, year by year since 2012, from the photos he takes of them; the list is created and maintained automatically by Claude and ChatGPT
- [Blog archive](https://danshipper.com/archive): every post from the 2011–2016 startup blog
- [Full content for LLMs](https://danshipper.com/llms-full.txt)

## Elsewhere

- [Every author page](https://every.to/@danshipper?sort=newest)
- [X / Twitter](https://x.com/danshipper)
- [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danshipper/)
- [GitHub](https://github.com/dshipper)
- [TED](https://www.ted.com/speakers/dan_shipper)
- [Substack](https://danshipper.substack.com)
- [YouTube (Every)](https://www.youtube.com/@EveryInc)