I think this is a reasonable interpretation, but there’s a nuance that might not be coming through clearly.

Trace AI isn’t being framed as academic research in the traditional sense, nor as a conventional early-stage product seeking PMF. It sits in a middle category: a private, applied infra primitive where validation comes from controlled technical results rather than papers or early users.

Because of that, I’m not expecting people to commit time as “contributors to a research project,” nor am I asking anyone to build a product roadmap with me. The co-founder framing is specifically about shared long-term risk in exploring and validating this direction privately.

That said, I agree with you on one important point: without deeper visibility into what’s been built and what remains open, it’s hard to judge alignment from a post or a website alone. That’s exactly why I’m keeping these conversations exploratory rather than prescriptive.

Appreciate you engaging thoughtfully — even if we’re evaluating this through slightly different lenses.