october 2024. i'm scrolling twitter when i see it - v0 summit in london. as a student and intern at joinwarp.com, i've been using vercel's products daily. next.js, vercel hosting, now v0 for rapid prototyping. this event looks incredible.

problem: it's sold out. completely full. but something tells me to try anyway. i slide into g's dms: "hey, i'm a student and intern at warp, huge fan of what you're building. any chance there's still a way to attend the summit?"

his reply: "don't worry, come."

november 2024. london. somehow i'm here. the energy is electric - developers everywhere talking about ai, the future, and this crazy tool called v0 that can generate ui components from simple prompts.

i'm walking around, trying to absorb everything, when i spot him. guillermo rauch. the ceo of vercel. just... standing there, talking to people like a normal human. my brain goes: "should i? shouldn't i? what's the worst that could happen?"

so i walk up. "hey g, i'm josh. love what you're building with v0." what i expected: a polite nod, maybe a thanks, then he moves on to someone important. what actually happened: we start talking. really talking.

he asks what i think about v0. not in a "testing the intern" way, but genuinely curious. i tell him about the rough edges i've noticed, the features that could make it better, the developer experience improvements that keep me up at night thinking about.

"interesting," he says. "keep the feedback coming."

then life happens. my twitter account gets suspended. one day it's there, the next - gone. no explanation, no warning. just digital silence. weeks pass. i'm thinking about that conversation, wondering if g even remembers the random intern from london.

plot twist: he's been looking for me.

i create a new twitter account - @nishimiya (yes, after the anime character, don't judge). first dm i send: "hey, it's me. josh from the summit." his reply comes fast: "i've been looking for your twitter. what happened?"

we pick up exactly where we left off. more conversations about v0, about ai, about developer tools. i'm sharing ideas, he's actually listening. then one day, out of nowhere:

"why don't you join vercel?"

wait, what? me? the guy who accidentally got his twitter suspended? join vercel? the company behind next.js, the platform powering half the modern web?

things move fast after that. interviews, technical challenges, more conversations. i'm shipping small things, sharing bigger ideas, trying to prove i'm not just another person with opinions but someone who can actually build.

then it happens. the offer. "vercel... this is huge." i'm joining the ai sdk team. not just using the tools, but helping build them. helping shape the future of how developers work with ai.

but here's where it gets fun. i set myself a mission: earn the vercel twitter badge. that little checkmark that says "this person works here and ships things that matter."

every day: "g, can i have the badge yet?"
every day: "not yet" or subject change or "let's see what you ship first."

i don't stop asking. not because i'm annoying (okay, maybe a little), but because i treat it like a metric. proof that i'm delivering work that actually matters. the badge isn't the goal - it's the scoreboard.

late nights with lars and nico. code reviews that turn into architecture discussions. tests that break, apis that evolve, designs that shift. we're building ai sdk v5 and it's not glamorous work - it's the kind of deep, technical problem-solving that most people never see.

but that's the point. making it simpler for developers. faster to get started. more reliable when it matters. every line of code is a decision about how millions of developers will build the next generation of ai applications.

then g drops the bomb: "come to sf. meet the team. build with us. come to my office every day." wait, what? this is really happening.

my trip is planned: sunday to friday. simple, clean, professional. but then the team mentions this thing - a yc hackathon on friday/saturday. 24 hours hosted by dedaluslabs.ai. "can i go?" i ask, half expecting a no.

g and my manager dan: "sure, we'll extend your trip."

they're paying extra fees. for me. to stay for a hackathon. i'm amazed. this company really cares about community, about supporting developers, about doing the right thing even when it costs them money.

plot twist: i'm not just attending - i'm a judge. but that's not all. i become the snack boy, rolling around with a shopping trolley, giving people snacks and v0 credits. (boss, if you're reading this, don't kill me - i did it for the community!)

three jobs in one day: judge, snack distributor, v0 evangelist. living my best life.

saturday. judgment day. i ask g if he wants to come check out the hackathon. he surprises me - he actually shows up. loads of people get to meet the ceo of vercel. it's incredible watching him interact with the community.

but before he arrives, my phone buzzes. notification. i look down and see: "you have been invited to the vercel organization on twitter"

OMG I GOT THE BADGE.

(yes, i called my girlfriend screaming. yes, she thought something was wrong. no, she didn't understand why a twitter badge made me lose my mind.)

the hackathon ends. g leaves. i'm packing up when he asks: "when's your flight back?" "tomorrow night," i say. "come to my place tomorrow. let's have lunch."

sunday. g's place. the vercel crew shows up. we're talking about ideas, plans, the future. it feels like family. just chilling together on a sunday, no agenda, no pressure. just good people building cool things.

then it's time. everyone starts leaving. i book my uber back to london. sitting in that car, watching san francisco disappear, i know this was the best experience of my life.

sometimes the best opportunities come from the most unexpected places. a random hello at a conference. a suspended twitter account. a ceo who actually listens to feedback from interns. and sometimes, they lead to sunday lunches that feel like home.

moral of the story? show up. speak up. keep building. and maybe, just maybe, you'll accidentally find yourself exactly where you're supposed to be.

g, thank you. not just g, but vercel - thank you. ✓