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I'm Rene Turcios — founder of Agentcies.co, AI entrepreneur, and SF's so‑called hackathon king. 200+ hackathon wins, zero traditional code — just relentless ideas translated through AI.
A non‑traditional path through circus families, card‑game arenas, the metaverse, and now agent infrastructure — built around one belief: the only barrier between your idea and reality is knowing how to talk to AI.
I'm a 29‑year‑old AI entrepreneur and the founder of Agentcies.co, an AI‑agent infrastructure startup focused on agent‑to‑agent (a2a) communication and payments — built on the thesis that a2a will unlock the next wave of revenue for SMBs. I've publicly stated my goal: build a billion‑dollar company in the next year, powered entirely by AI tools.
Born in Missouri to a family of circus animal trainers, I skipped college and became a pro Yu‑Gi‑Oh! player — successful enough that other competitors paid me to sign their cards. After two years on the road, I moved to San Francisco in 2019 and started a high‑tech VR platform, VerseXR, just as ChatGPT launched. My continuing education comes from Buildspace and shipping in public.
When my engineering team rejected AI, I folded the company, picked up the tools myself, and started showing up to every hackathon in the city — 200+ events in two years, with wins in cash, software credits, and clout. The San Francisco Standard later called me "the undisputed hackathon king of San Francisco" and "the original vibe coder" — a term Andrej Karpathy popularized for the exact technique I'd been using all along: describe what you want in plain English, let AI write the code.
Today I run Agentcies.co solo — no engineers, AI does the coding — and I teach workshops across SF showing non‑technical people and senior engineers alike how to build production software with Cursor, Claude, Replit, and ChatGPT. Most recently I've been integrating OpenAI's Operator into the Agentcies stack so agents can actually act on the web, not just talk about it.
"Anyone can build anything they want. The only barrier between your idea and reality is knowing how to communicate with AI."
Press across the AI, tech, and developer worlds covering the rise of vibe coding and a hackathon record built without writing a single line of traditional code.
An inside look at how a former Yu‑Gi‑Oh! pro became San Francisco's most prolific hackathon winner — without writing code. Coined "the original vibe coder."
Hit the front page of Hacker News, sparking a wide debate about vibe coding, the role of AI in software competitions, and the future of the engineer's craft.
Slashdot's developer community covered the SF Standard piece, sparking debate about the future of software competitions in the AI era.
A long‑form feature on conversational AI as a creative force multiplier — including the workshop methodology of prompt engineering and rapid prototyping.
A profile on how AGI House became the launchpad for an unconventional AI entrepreneur — and what the rest of the industry can learn from his approach.
A behind‑the‑scenes look at the methodology, the setup, and the philosophy that has powered 200+ wins.
The story crossed the Atlantic — covered by European tech outlets including itc.ua and dev.ua, both spotlighting the rise of AI‑native builders.
A widely‑shared Threads post quoting Rene's vision: build a billion‑dollar company in the next year, all powered by AI tools — and what that means for every other industry.
Inspired by Assassin's Creed Odyssey's cultist board. Explore the page — scroll, click, hover, even try the Konami code — and silhouettes will reveal each side of Rene. Your progress is saved automatically.
See live community stats →Pro Yu‑Gi‑Oh! champion turned circus‑raised AI entrepreneur. The original vibe coder. 200+ hackathon wins. Founder of Agentcies.co (agent‑to‑agent infrastructure with a billion‑dollar ambition). XR pioneer (2024 NAB Product of the Year). Open‑source educator and workshop host. SF Standard, Hacker News, Slashdot, LunarTech, ImaginePro and the international press all caught the same story: the future of software is conversation.
Get in touchA snapshot of current ventures, award‑winning hackathon projects, and open‑source initiatives — spanning AI agents, generative software, XR filmmaking, and developer tooling.
An AI‑agent infrastructure startup focused on agent‑to‑agent (a2a) communication and payments — built on the thesis that a2a will unlock the next wave of revenue for SMBs. Now integrating OpenAI's Operator so agents can act on the web, not just chat. Built and run solo, with AI doing all the coding — aiming for a billion‑dollar company in the next year.
The breakthrough project — turn any song into a lofi version. Built at my first hackathon without writing a line of code, took 2nd place at Redpoint Ventures × AGI House (2023), and is still running on Hugging Face Spaces.
An open‑source initiative making generative AI app development accessible to anyone — using Replit and Gemini, so any non‑developer can ship a real product. Includes a fork‑and‑deploy backend (GeminiServer) and a live frontend code generator.
An AI/ML coaching companion featuring an AI‑powered Snapchat lens and a conversational bot. Top 10 finalist at Founders Inc, sponsored by the Golden State Warriors (2023).
Awarded the ScaleAI Prize for outstanding usage of the Donovan platform. A government‑intelligence assistant exploring how LLMs can support civic transparency.
Winner of the 2024 NAB Show Product of the Year Award for building an XR + AI filmmaking suite that's reshaping how virtual production teams work on set.
Special prize awarded by Replicate for an AI‑generated music video built end‑to‑end from scratch — visuals, sound design, and storyline.
A cutting‑edge custom GPT that empowers anyone to build a website. Designed to make web development accessible — turning ideas into shipped sites in minutes.
A core ML component for Ani‑gram, a social platform for animal lovers. Trains on user data to power AR experiences and security‑focused detection models.
Prize winner at ETH SF Hackathon (Nov 2022) for visual design — awarded by Polygon. A creative on‑chain experience exploring identity and aesthetics.
I run hands‑on workshops across San Francisco showing non‑technical builders and senior engineers alike how to ship real software with Cursor, Claude, Replit, and ChatGPT — from a blank page to a deployed app in under 30 minutes. Plus regular podcast and on‑camera appearances about agents, vibe coding, and the future of software.
A hands‑on AI build session at the WorldCoin Flagship, 247 Geary St, downtown SF. Learn the mindset shift from traditional coding to AI‑assisted development with Cursor, Replit and Claude.
A live talk + workshop on the latest vibe‑coding stack and where AI agents are going next.
A guided session with founders, students, and non‑technical creators — building real apps live, in plain English.
An AI‑first build night with the $IAMAI community — design, build, and ship something in a single evening.
A deep dive into the Agentcies thesis, vibe coding, and where AI agents are going next.
An hour on where vibe coding meets robotics, and the broader stack that'll define the next decade of software.
Inside the early commercial traction at Agentcies, including the night Rene closed twelve sales after a single posting.
Founded and operate solo. Building agent‑to‑agent (a2a) infrastructure and payments for SMBs, now integrating OpenAI's Operator. AI does all the coding; I do the design, distribution, and direction.
Attended 200+ hackathons across San Francisco — AGI House, Frontier Tower, Founders Inc, ETH SF, and more. Earned cash prizes, software credits, and the title "the original vibe coder," coined publicly in The SF Standard.
Conducted weekend AI/coding classes for the City College Capsa Program (2023) and now run public workshops on Luma teaching non‑technical builders and engineers how to ship with Cursor, Claude, Replit, and ChatGPT.
Founded a high‑tech VR platform building interoperable video chat and disrupting telecom with Web3. Wound down when the engineering team rejected AI tooling — and that's how the vibe‑coding chapter began.
Continuing education through Buildspace and the open community of builders shipping AI products in public.
Skipped college for a competitive Yu‑Gi‑Oh! career. Successful enough that other players paid me to sign their cards. Two years later, traded the card tables for the Bay Area.
Three live experiences embedded directly on this page — a frontend code generator, a game demo, and an AI agent that scans websites for vulnerabilities.
When I'm not building or speaking, I'm composing. Here's a song I wrote spontaneously, captured on camera.
One email per drop — hackathon recaps, AI agent breakdowns, and notes from the workshops. Or skip the inbox and book 15 minutes with Rene below.
Hackathon recaps, AI agent breakdowns, and workshop notes — straight to your inbox.
Pick a time for a live conversation about agents, hackathons, or vibe coding.