---
title: 'Saying goodbye to Genie and hello to Rides'
date: '2025-03-19T11:34:27-07:00'
type: post
word_count: 233
char_count: 1529
tokens: 303
categories:
  - Portland
---

# Saying goodbye to Genie and hello to Rides

Serial founders don’t often sit still long. Doesn’t matter if they’ve had a successful exit or if they’ve had to wind something down. Either way, they always seem to have one more idea that they want to work on. Such is the case with [Darius Monsef](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dariusmonsef/), founder of [COLOURlovers](https://siliconflorist.com/?s=colourlovers), [Brave Care](https://siliconflorist.com/?s=brave+care), and [Genie](https://siliconflorist.com/?s=genie) — all of which went through [Y Combinator](https://ycombinator.com). Now, he’s winding down Genie and starting something new called [Rides](http://rides.co/). But not before [he gives us a retrospective on the decision](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/we-built-ai-companion-kids-entertained-thousands-every-monsef-8kg1c/).

> We launched **Genie** with a simple idea: an AI-powered friend that kids could talk to, play with, and learn from. In a short time, **22,000 kids** installed it, and we had **rave reviews about how much they loved their new AI buddy**. It was *working*. And yet, we made the tough decision to shut it down.
> 
> **Why? Because building consumer tech for kids carries a huge burden of responsibility.**

For more on the thinking behind shuttering Genie, visit [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/we-built-ai-companion-kids-entertained-thousands-every-monsef-8kg1c/). For more on the new startup, visit [Rides](http://rides.co/).

More Portland startup news
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