Going out soon This letter goes out on 17 October at 08:00 UTC. Subscribe below to get it in your inbox.

Founder notes, No. 02: a letter from the Kogi, and what Respira already shared with it

Mihai DragomirescuFounder, Respira for WordPress

RESPIRA.PRESS NO. 02 · 17 OCTOBER 2026
Founder notes
What I shipped and wrote this week, in one short letter.
A NOTE FROM MIHAI

A letter I keep returning to.

This week I read a letter about artificial intelligence from the Kággaba people, the Kogi, of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia. Their Mamos train for years in darkness to learn to listen before they speak. I have met the Kogi, and I read their letter twice.

What surprised me is how much of what they ask of AI builders is what Respira was already built on. They call AI a mirror with "the capacity to enormously magnify everything it reflects", and they write that "a machine cannot relieve humanity of its responsibility." That is the line Respira rests on: the AI does the work, a person owns the decision.

A few things they named I had done but never written down, so I did: what Respira will not do is now on the About page, the manifesto has two new pledges, and the file every connected agent reads first says that not doing is a valid answer. The essay maps it all, their words beside mine.
THIS WEEK ON THE BLOG 1 POST
Mihai standing beside a Kogi man dressed in white, with a woven straw hat and shoulder bag
ESSAY · 9 MIN READ
A letter from the Kogi about AI: what Respira already shared, and what I added
The Kogi, whose Mamos train for years in darkness, wrote to the people building AI. Much of what they ask for is what Respira was built on. What already matched, and what I added this week.
Read the article →
ALSO SHIPPED THIS WEEK
· Manifesto 1.1. Two new pledges: I know when not to build, and I listen to the site before I change it. Sign it if they are yours too.
· How Respira decides. Five principles, and a short list of what Respira will not do, on the About page.
· Sites from an ended trial. Your Sites page now shows sites still tied to an ended trial, with a button to remove them.
· Teammates land in your team. Someone you invite now opens your team's workspace and your sites, not a trial of their own.
Read the essay
Mihai Dragomirescu Mihai Dragomirescu
I build Respira for WordPress
Brașov, Romania
A seal with a human thumbprint: sent by a human, read by a human, Brașov A human on the other end
I use AI to help me write and check these emails, the same way you use it on your WordPress sites. When you reply, it is me who reads it and me who answers. Hit reply and tell me what you are building. I would love to see it.

Get the next letter

One letter when something worth reading has shipped, written by the person who built it. No schedule, no sequence, and one click to leave.

You are on the list. The next letter lands in your inbox.

Explore all Founder notes