Daniel Moon (d_model): Automating Frontier Research with Empathy and Playfulness
Introduction
At Mother of Success, we share authentic founder stories that capture both ambition and humanity. In this conversation, Xiao He sits down with Daniel Moon, co-founder of d_model, a YC-backed startup focused on automating frontier research across hard sciences and hardware. Daniel reflects on his journey from MIT to the Bay Area, his time in hardware engineering, volunteering, and what generosity means in the startup world.
Beginnings at d_model
Xiao He: Daniel, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me today. Could you start by introducing yourself a little bit?
Daniel Moon: Hi, I’m Daniel Moon, co-founder at d_model. We’re a YC-backed startup focused on automating frontier research, especially in hard sciences and hardware. Our goal is to make these models more useful by building environments for frontier research tasks. We’ve been working on this for about a year now, and it’s been a really fun time.
The Spark
Xiao: What prompted you to build this idea?
Daniel: It kind of started from what my co-founder Anish and I both wanted. He had just left OpenAI and was frustrated by how hard it was to pursue the kind of research he really wanted to do. I, on the other hand, was more agnostic. I just wanted to start a company.
I’ve always romanticized the startup world. Back at MIT, we had these “Athena clusters” where everyone would hang out late at night reading Hacker News and Paul Graham essays at 3 a.m. That spirit stuck with me.
When I told my friend I was applying to YC, he said, “Put my name on it — you won’t get in as a solo founder.” I laughed and agreed. We signed up, and the rest was history.
From MIT to Hardware
Xiao: At MIT you studied electrical engineering. You mentioned being more excited about the startup process itself than any single idea. Have you ever considered building in hardware?
Daniel: I can’t say too much yet, but yes — we’re exploring ideas in that direction. Before my startup, I spent six years in industry at Xilinx (which was later acquired by AMD), working as a chip architect on FPGAs — programmable hardware used everywhere from hyperscalers to automotive and networking.
I was probably the youngest chip architect in my org at the time. It was an incredible opportunity, but progress felt slow. Hardware design takes hundreds of people to make one chip, and I missed creative control. I realized I can’t do the same thing for seven years straight — I need change.
Also, MIT’s old EE major (6-1-1) was so outdated that it doesn’t even exist anymore. It’s now 6-5, combining EE and CS. What we learned then was pretty disconnected from what the industry needed. So the transition wasn’t easy — it was exciting but tough at first.
Life at MIT
Xiao: Looking back, how would you describe your time at MIT?
Daniel: Fun, demanding, and humbling.
I remember during freshman pre-orientation, we took a placement test for physics — an easier and a harder mechanics class. It was a 90-minute test, and my friend Gabe finished in 30. I thought I did fine, but later found out he scored perfectly. That’s when I realized: I went from being one of the smartest in high school to maybe slightly above average here.
What I loved most was how humble people were. The smartest ones were often the kindest. Despite the stress — easily some of the hardest years of my life — there was always a sense of fun.
MIT Pranks and Hacking
Xiao: What kind of fun things did you do there?
Daniel: MIT has a tradition called “hacking,” where students explore off-limit spots like rooftops, basements, and tunnels.
One time, my fraternity brothers and I climbed to the top of MIT’s main entrance to have dinner. We used a milk carton and rope to lower money for a Chinese food delivery. The driver looked up at us, shining our phones from above, and said, “I can’t do this. You guys have to come down.”
Another time, we stole a giant bottle of Aunt Jemima syrup from the dining hall. We poured it down from “the Point”, a rooftop shaped like a perfect triangle, just to prank a friend. A few days later, he smelled syrup all over the ground floor. MIT students are mischievous, not malicious. Just playful and curious about boundaries.
Early Career and Fitbit
Xiao: After MIT, you interned at Fitbit, right?
Daniel: Yeah, between senior year and my master’s. The internship taught me what I didn’t want to do. I did systems engineering, basically connecting chips into larger systems. But it was less technical than I expected. There were too many vendors and inter-team politics.
Also, consumer hardware is brutally hard. You have to be the best. There’s no forgiveness for mistakes like in software. If you mess up, you can’t just “patch” hardware. That’s why whenever someone without hardware experience says they want to build consumer devices, I cringe a little.
I originally wanted to work on medical devices, but FDA regulations made it nearly impossible to move fast. The capital requirements and compliance processes were overwhelming.
Life in the Bay Area
Xiao: You’ve lived in the Bay Area since 2018. How do you like it?
Daniel: I love it overall. I don’t miss Boston winters at all. All the hardware and AI opportunities are here.
That said, I miss the diversity of thought from college. In San Francisco, most people work in software and share similar views. Back in Boston or even Florida, people disagreed more openly. It was refreshing.
Still, I feel like SF “likes” me. I’ve never felt more aligned with a city.
Volunteering and Mentorship
Xiao: You’ve volunteered for years, mentoring students through a nonprofit. Can you tell me more about that?
Daniel: I’ve always loved volunteering. Even in high school, I logged over 1,000 hours doing hospital and tutoring work.
I lost touch with that during college, and later, my partner at the time signed me up for a nonprofit without telling me. She knew I needed it. She was right.
I’ve been volunteering with Minds Matter, a nonprofit helping underrepresented, low-income, first-gen students get into college. It’s a three-year program: sophomore through senior year. I mentored students through test prep, essays, and self-discovery.
Now, I’m a college admissions and financial-aid counselor for a few students. It’s incredibly rewarding. These kids are brilliant but lack access to private counselors or elite schools. It makes me appreciate how privileged I’ve been.
Also, I love the people I meet there: driven, intense, type A volunteers. I actually prefer that energy to the “fake chill” I often see in tech.
On Generosity and Empathy in Startups
Xiao: I have to say, you have this spark of humanity that’s really rare.
Daniel: I appreciate that. I think generosity and empathy are essential. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to succeed, but if you only think about yourself, you’ll never build a business that truly scales.
I’d rather err on the side of being too generous — because trust is everything. If people can’t trust you, you have nothing. You can’t help anyone. You can’t sell anything. I can usually tell in the first ten minutes of a call whether someone’s genuine. Founders who can be vulnerable — who aren’t afraid to show imperfection — those are the ones who build lasting things.
Inspirations and Recommendations
Xiao: One last question we always ask at Mother of Success: could you recommend a book, film, podcast, or even a game to our readers?
Daniel: I should read more, but I love fantasy, especially Isaac Asimov.
For film, definitely Studio Ghibli. Spirited Away had a big impact on me. My third grade teacher saw it herself one day and took everyone in my class to watch it because it was that important that we do. It remains one of the purest expressions of emotion and imagination.
For books, I’d recommend Profiles of Genius. It studies successful founders across history, analyzing their traits, upbringing, and paths to success. I love pattern-matching between stories.
Xiao: Thank you so much, Daniel.
Daniel: Thank you.