

Woah! Unicorn Founder Quits Unicorn During $213M Raise, Launches Something Bigger
Aug 8, 2025
Ry Walker, a serial entrepreneur and founder of Tembo.io, shares his exhilarating journey from exiting Astronomer.io to launching a groundbreaking AI tool. He discusses how he quickly gained 30 paying customers in just 60 days and believes that AI agents can revolutionize software development. Ry reveals his innovative strategy for Fortune 50 contracts, allowing non-technical teams to create pull requests with ease. He also sheds light on pricing models and the critical metrics for driving customer engagement in tech startups.
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Left Astronomer After Secondary
- Ry sold shares in a secondary and left Astronomer in 2022 after hiring executives.
- He prefers building early-stage startups over staying as "founder emeritus."
AI Agent As A Developer Teammate
- Tembo is a 24/7 AI engineer you can assign work to and it executes like a teammate.
- It removes the human gateway so non-technical teams can request code changes without blocking developers.
Use Pay-As-You-Go Credits
- Start with pay-as-you-go credits to remove subscription friction and encourage experimentation.
- Expect average work to cost roughly $5–$10 per pull request, aligning with contractor economics.