1 00:00:00,049 --> 00:00:05,059 At Evolution we have a principle thesis that we use when we invest and that 2 00:00:05,059 --> 00:00:09,139 principle thesis is that technology decomposes monolithic industries. 3 00:00:09,189 --> 00:00:14,679 This is very important for us as investors because it separates us from 4 00:00:14,679 --> 00:00:19,269 other investors in our class who are maybe looking for brand new industries. 5 00:00:19,629 --> 00:00:23,799 We are looking to decompose monolithic industries and AI is 6 00:00:23,799 --> 00:00:25,719 a perfect decomposition tool. 7 00:00:45,225 --> 00:00:48,790 Welcome back to the Super Entrepreneurs Podcast. 8 00:00:48,790 --> 00:00:54,700 I'm your host, Shahid Durrani, the show where we dive into the minds 9 00:00:54,700 --> 00:00:58,660 of high performing entrepreneurs, innovators, and world class leaders. 10 00:00:58,930 --> 00:01:03,130 If you're someone who's always looking to grow, push your limits, think and 11 00:01:03,130 --> 00:01:05,860 do bigger, you're in the right place. 12 00:01:06,190 --> 00:01:09,940 Today we have Alex Chompff. 13 00:01:11,425 --> 00:01:16,705 Alex is the co-founder and executive director of Evolution Ventures and 14 00:01:16,705 --> 00:01:20,315 Lead General partner of Minerva Fund. 15 00:01:20,425 --> 00:01:25,885 He's an active early stage venture capital firm, investing in women and 16 00:01:25,885 --> 00:01:30,085 traditionally under presented founders. 17 00:01:30,175 --> 00:01:32,395 Welcome to our show, Alex. 18 00:01:32,995 --> 00:01:33,355 Thank you. 19 00:01:33,355 --> 00:01:33,715 Shade. 20 00:01:33,715 --> 00:01:36,955 It's an honor to be here and I really appreciate, thank you opportunity. 21 00:01:37,375 --> 00:01:40,925 And I want to thank your audience for giving us a moment to share. 22 00:01:41,805 --> 00:01:46,575 Can you elaborate on what it means as a under underrepresented 23 00:01:46,580 --> 00:01:48,260 founder, just to clarify. 24 00:01:49,305 --> 00:01:49,785 Sure. 25 00:01:50,535 --> 00:01:54,755 Speaking now pretty closely about the Minerva Fund, because the Minerva 26 00:01:54,755 --> 00:02:01,505 Fund focuses in this area, the Minerva Fund is very interested in finding an 27 00:02:01,505 --> 00:02:08,045 equitable distribution of venture capital based on the very simple premise that 28 00:02:08,225 --> 00:02:10,475 Providence distributes brilliance equally. 29 00:02:11,165 --> 00:02:12,035 Among its people. 30 00:02:12,875 --> 00:02:16,715 And so there tends to be people who are less represented in 31 00:02:16,715 --> 00:02:18,275 terms of professional investment. 32 00:02:18,875 --> 00:02:22,475 And Minerva Fund is looking for opportunities to find those 33 00:02:22,475 --> 00:02:24,095 individuals and surface them. 34 00:02:24,545 --> 00:02:28,125 And not only help to reinforce this idea of. 35 00:02:29,490 --> 00:02:34,200 Brilliance distributed equally, but also hopefully uncover some fantastic 36 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:37,110 investment opportunities along the way that might have been overlooked. 37 00:02:38,250 --> 00:02:39,330 Yeah, true. 38 00:02:39,660 --> 00:02:44,075 So it's a niche that you'd be able to serve better. 39 00:02:45,065 --> 00:02:45,305 Yeah. 40 00:02:45,305 --> 00:02:45,365 Yeah. 41 00:02:45,785 --> 00:02:48,875 We think it's very important to be of service at evolution. 42 00:02:48,965 --> 00:02:49,445 Yeah, of course. 43 00:02:49,445 --> 00:02:49,925 Or a fund. 44 00:02:50,030 --> 00:02:53,620 We find this to be a very important driving idea in all of our work. 45 00:02:54,670 --> 00:02:56,530 Yeah, I'm glad you're on this show then. 46 00:02:56,590 --> 00:02:57,190 It's great. 47 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:03,900 I noticed that you were in military service and Silicon Valley, and during 48 00:03:03,900 --> 00:03:10,050 the internet boom and now leading ventures like the evolution accelerator. 49 00:03:10,665 --> 00:03:14,885 So how do you believe that the way you manage your business or grow 50 00:03:14,885 --> 00:03:18,665 your business has been affected with that type of mix of experience. 51 00:03:19,685 --> 00:03:25,535 Oh we are all products of the earth in which we're raised, and I had the 52 00:03:25,615 --> 00:03:29,805 very good fortune to be raised in a family that not only had a strong 53 00:03:29,915 --> 00:03:32,375 patriotic military, military tradition. 54 00:03:33,390 --> 00:03:37,050 But also was filled with entrepreneurs and inventors. 55 00:03:37,650 --> 00:03:41,400 And so I got an opportunity from a very young age to be exposed 56 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:43,140 to some pretty formative ideas. 57 00:03:43,890 --> 00:03:49,530 And then luckily enough, because my father, who was a Marine before me and 58 00:03:49,620 --> 00:03:55,645 was working for the phone company when I was a child, we moved to the California 59 00:03:55,645 --> 00:03:57,415 Bay area, the San Francisco Bay Area. 60 00:03:58,555 --> 00:04:02,245 And so the San Francisco Bay areas is famous, of course, for technological 61 00:04:02,245 --> 00:04:04,265 innovation and has been for many years. 62 00:04:04,655 --> 00:04:08,585 It's also a place where people are very open to new ideas and new ways 63 00:04:08,585 --> 00:04:10,145 of thinking and new ways of being. 64 00:04:10,655 --> 00:04:17,035 So I was exposed from a very young age to a wide array of, things that were not 65 00:04:17,035 --> 00:04:21,895 only very traditionally American and very much of the heartland like patriotism and 66 00:04:21,895 --> 00:04:26,795 military service and, finding a way to be of use to your country, but also of the 67 00:04:26,795 --> 00:04:28,835 left coast, the west coast, as they say. 68 00:04:28,865 --> 00:04:32,355 And, very much open to new ways of doing things and new ways of seeing 69 00:04:32,355 --> 00:04:37,125 things, and a willingness to disrupt the status quo in order to bring 70 00:04:37,125 --> 00:04:39,045 about a new way of doing things. 71 00:04:39,375 --> 00:04:40,005 So it's very, for. 72 00:04:40,980 --> 00:04:42,810 They had been raised in that terra firma. 73 00:04:42,860 --> 00:04:47,060 Then from there I had a set of really good experiences, only some 74 00:04:47,060 --> 00:04:50,450 of which I can take responsibility for kind of if your listeners are 75 00:04:50,450 --> 00:04:54,240 used to the movie Forrest Gump, if they've seen the movie, Forrest Gump. 76 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:58,500 Forrest is in lots of famous movies, but they're not his movie if you understand. 77 00:04:58,500 --> 00:05:01,920 Like he's, he goes to lots of places and is on lots of things, but he 78 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:04,520 is always like the guy in the guy in the background or the guy in. 79 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:05,830 The sideline. 80 00:05:06,070 --> 00:05:08,680 That's pretty much where I've been for much of my life. 81 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:13,090 Is fortunate to be at some exciting places and some exciting times. 82 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:13,930 That's awesome. 83 00:05:13,930 --> 00:05:16,750 And maybe even to have done a little bit to help push the sled. 84 00:05:17,530 --> 00:05:17,590 Yeah. 85 00:05:17,590 --> 00:05:18,850 But it's not my movie. 86 00:05:18,910 --> 00:05:20,830 I'm just there and that was, yeah. 87 00:05:21,790 --> 00:05:22,070 Unity. 88 00:05:22,205 --> 00:05:23,095 You just part of it. 89 00:05:23,095 --> 00:05:23,185 Yes. 90 00:05:23,755 --> 00:05:28,915 So tell me, do you practice your voice in the mirror? 91 00:05:29,915 --> 00:05:30,575 I'll tell you. 92 00:05:30,575 --> 00:05:33,305 Did you practice for, because it's so amazing, right? 93 00:05:33,305 --> 00:05:34,385 So I just have to ask. 94 00:05:34,955 --> 00:05:35,255 Sure. 95 00:05:35,255 --> 00:05:37,505 As I mentioned before, the call started and the nice. 96 00:05:39,030 --> 00:05:40,470 You got a face made for radio? 97 00:05:40,470 --> 00:05:40,530 No. 98 00:05:41,250 --> 00:05:41,430 No, 99 00:05:41,730 --> 00:05:42,840 I didn't mean that though, but, okay. 100 00:05:44,130 --> 00:05:44,370 And 101 00:05:44,370 --> 00:05:45,660 my wife says 102 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:48,870 that I talk very slowly and I'm very hard to listen to. 103 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:54,390 All I know is that inside of my own head, I'm running around shouting all the time. 104 00:05:54,820 --> 00:05:58,870 There's a ton of things going on, and this is just how I present. 105 00:06:00,130 --> 00:06:00,640 Okay. 106 00:06:00,730 --> 00:06:01,300 All right. 107 00:06:01,390 --> 00:06:01,780 All right. 108 00:06:01,780 --> 00:06:02,350 That is good. 109 00:06:03,010 --> 00:06:03,190 Welcome. 110 00:06:03,580 --> 00:06:04,625 The best I've got for you. 111 00:06:04,675 --> 00:06:07,975 I'm in my fifties and I've pretty much sounded like this my whole life, I think. 112 00:06:08,635 --> 00:06:10,135 Awesome, awesome. 113 00:06:10,165 --> 00:06:10,735 Awesome. 114 00:06:10,735 --> 00:06:11,635 No, it's great. 115 00:06:11,695 --> 00:06:12,715 So you have a podcast. 116 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:17,740 I have experimented with podcasting, but I don't have the consistency 117 00:06:17,740 --> 00:06:19,000 to get to be any good at it. 118 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:22,580 And besides which I'm a much better guest than a host, honestly. 119 00:06:22,710 --> 00:06:23,280 That's fine. 120 00:06:23,580 --> 00:06:28,120 Ai, it is a topic that everyone's speaking about, especially in your profession. 121 00:06:29,065 --> 00:06:31,675 What do you feel, or what do you believe. 122 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:38,970 AI is going to transition into in the future for new startups, 123 00:06:39,050 --> 00:06:39,470 yeah. 124 00:06:39,980 --> 00:06:40,280 Yeah. 125 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:42,710 AI is super interesting. 126 00:06:42,980 --> 00:06:43,670 Super interesting. 127 00:06:43,770 --> 00:06:47,130 I should say that I've been banging around on a keyboard for money. 128 00:06:47,645 --> 00:06:54,335 Since 1990 and along the way I've picked up a few business and technical skills 129 00:06:54,335 --> 00:06:57,665 and I'm absolutely fascinated by ai. 130 00:06:58,265 --> 00:07:01,895 Matter of fact, I got my open dev, my open AI developer key. 131 00:07:02,075 --> 00:07:03,255 I. In May. 132 00:07:03,255 --> 00:07:03,615 Oh, okay. 133 00:07:03,885 --> 00:07:05,145 Of 2023. 134 00:07:06,225 --> 00:07:09,885 And so whenever open, it was like November or something of 2022 when they 135 00:07:09,885 --> 00:07:13,635 announced I st I stayed up all night playing with that thing, man, all night. 136 00:07:13,635 --> 00:07:14,655 I stayed up playing with that thing. 137 00:07:15,195 --> 00:07:16,095 It was a miracle. 138 00:07:16,545 --> 00:07:19,425 And I signed up for the professional thing as soon as I could get it. 139 00:07:19,605 --> 00:07:25,515 And I got my developer key in May of 2023, and I launched a product by June. 140 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:27,640 Of 2023. 141 00:07:27,690 --> 00:07:28,710 It's called the master verse. 142 00:07:28,710 --> 00:07:30,000 Master verse.ai. 143 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:30,030 Okay. 144 00:07:30,630 --> 00:07:36,600 And it's a community dedicated to exploring how AI works by 145 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:40,590 understanding how, different engines, think about different 146 00:07:40,590 --> 00:07:43,240 things and, it's very interesting. 147 00:07:43,300 --> 00:07:44,230 It's very super interesting. 148 00:07:44,270 --> 00:07:45,770 So I'm very, I'm super interested in it. 149 00:07:46,070 --> 00:07:51,030 I played around with it with my own product stack for about six months before 150 00:07:51,030 --> 00:07:52,920 I started investing in it actively. 151 00:07:53,340 --> 00:07:54,450 And that really helped a lot. 152 00:07:54,665 --> 00:07:57,515 Because it helped me to identify where the real problems were, like 153 00:07:57,545 --> 00:08:02,615 problems like research did like a recall, augmented generation, rag. 154 00:08:03,125 --> 00:08:05,945 This was a problem that I was trying to solve for my users 155 00:08:05,945 --> 00:08:08,435 back in June or July of 2023. 156 00:08:09,185 --> 00:08:10,535 So I knew it was a real problem. 157 00:08:10,565 --> 00:08:12,215 That's a company that we've invested in. 158 00:08:12,215 --> 00:08:14,540 Another I started feeding ais. 159 00:08:15,210 --> 00:08:19,570 Information and feeding them talking to each other and pretty quickly realized 160 00:08:19,570 --> 00:08:21,490 you get to nonsense pretty fast. 161 00:08:22,060 --> 00:08:25,270 So I could understand that synthetic data was gonna be a problem. 162 00:08:25,270 --> 00:08:28,360 You can't create synthetic learning materials, or at 163 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:30,100 least not wholly synthetic. 164 00:08:30,100 --> 00:08:30,160 No. 165 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:34,440 So I've invested in, in, in another company that is all about 166 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:35,820 building training materials. 167 00:08:36,670 --> 00:08:37,905 It's called, oh geez. 168 00:08:37,905 --> 00:08:38,955 It's escaping me in the moment. 169 00:08:38,955 --> 00:08:39,735 I'll think of it in a minute. 170 00:08:39,815 --> 00:08:42,725 Anyway so I think there are lots of opportunities. 171 00:08:42,725 --> 00:08:45,065 Lemme say this, there are lots of opportunities to invest today. 172 00:08:45,485 --> 00:08:48,425 If you wanna be an investor, if you want to get into ai, if 173 00:08:48,425 --> 00:08:52,325 you want to be involved, try to concentrate on problems that matter. 174 00:08:53,195 --> 00:08:54,815 Try to concentrate on things that matter. 175 00:08:54,815 --> 00:09:00,095 Try to understand where the real problems are with the technology and go there. 176 00:09:00,485 --> 00:09:03,845 To see what you can do, because that's where your opportunities are gonna be. 177 00:09:03,845 --> 00:09:06,645 Where you solve problems is where you find, returns. 178 00:09:06,765 --> 00:09:08,085 And that's what entrepreneurs do. 179 00:09:08,355 --> 00:09:08,415 Yeah. 180 00:09:08,415 --> 00:09:15,085 But do you have some kind of suggestions in your experience for entrepreneurs to 181 00:09:15,085 --> 00:09:20,365 be looking into any specific industries or just a very blanket view of. 182 00:09:21,475 --> 00:09:25,285 Anything that is technical right now and how can you make it better? 183 00:09:26,305 --> 00:09:26,515 Yeah. 184 00:09:26,565 --> 00:09:31,575 At Evolution we have a principle thesis that we use when we invest, and that 185 00:09:31,575 --> 00:09:35,655 principle thesis is that technology decomposes monolithic industries. 186 00:09:35,655 --> 00:09:37,260 I. Okay. 187 00:09:37,380 --> 00:09:40,680 Technology decomposes monolithic industries. 188 00:09:41,310 --> 00:09:46,800 This is very important for us as investors because it separates us from 189 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:51,390 other investors in our class who are maybe looking for brand new industries. 190 00:09:51,750 --> 00:09:55,770 We are looking to decompose monolithic industries, and AI 191 00:09:55,770 --> 00:09:57,840 is a perfect decomposition tool. 192 00:09:58,845 --> 00:09:59,445 AI is. 193 00:09:59,445 --> 00:10:00,015 So can you, 194 00:10:00,065 --> 00:10:04,535 Before, before explaining that, can you just elaborate that, that statement 195 00:10:04,535 --> 00:10:06,125 can you explain what that means 196 00:10:06,335 --> 00:10:06,995 exactly? 197 00:10:07,385 --> 00:10:07,745 Sure. 198 00:10:07,895 --> 00:10:08,195 Yeah. 199 00:10:08,705 --> 00:10:11,585 So you gotta get in the way back machine a little bit, but it'll make sense, right? 200 00:10:11,975 --> 00:10:12,275 Yeah. 201 00:10:12,905 --> 00:10:18,395 Once upon a time, if you wanted to be in the logistics business, you needed to 202 00:10:18,395 --> 00:10:22,145 have trucks, radios, software manifests. 203 00:10:22,245 --> 00:10:22,605 Drivers. 204 00:10:23,700 --> 00:10:31,260 N nowadays, Amazon, Uber, and everything in between have decomposed logistics 205 00:10:32,460 --> 00:10:35,490 to the point where if you wanna be part of the logistics industry, all you 206 00:10:35,490 --> 00:10:40,490 need are some wheels and a few minutes of time and an app on your you get 207 00:10:40,490 --> 00:10:42,440 to be part of the logistics industry. 208 00:10:43,100 --> 00:10:45,950 That's a de that's decomposition of a monolithic industry. 209 00:10:46,550 --> 00:10:51,430 Another decomposition of a monolithic industry would be again. 210 00:10:51,940 --> 00:10:57,310 20, 30 years ago, if you wanted to be in the public eye, if you wanted to 211 00:10:57,370 --> 00:11:01,990 influence, if you wanted to be heard by large groups of people, you needed 212 00:11:01,990 --> 00:11:04,990 to have some access to media, right? 213 00:11:05,020 --> 00:11:07,720 You needed to have cameras, you needed to have directors, you 214 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:09,370 needed to have distribution methods. 215 00:11:09,370 --> 00:11:12,730 You needed to have all kinds of things if you wanted to get your 216 00:11:12,730 --> 00:11:17,800 message out into the world, because media was a monolithic industry. 217 00:11:18,925 --> 00:11:24,565 And so as Amazon has done to logistics and as YouTube has done to 218 00:11:25,045 --> 00:11:30,295 entertainment or media or influencing, you can think of companies like 219 00:11:30,295 --> 00:11:35,665 PayPal or Stripe or Quicken that are decomposing the banking industry and 220 00:11:35,665 --> 00:11:37,435 have been decomposing it for some time. 221 00:11:37,435 --> 00:11:41,245 Almost any FinTech you look at is decomposed banking industry, which 222 00:11:41,245 --> 00:11:42,625 is another monolithic industry. 223 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:44,130 Okay. 224 00:11:44,575 --> 00:11:48,595 So there are a number of other monolithic industries that are under 225 00:11:48,595 --> 00:11:50,665 decompositional assault from ai. 226 00:11:51,535 --> 00:11:52,255 The most easy. 227 00:11:52,255 --> 00:11:53,275 Do you have some examples? 228 00:11:53,545 --> 00:11:53,995 Oh, sure. 229 00:11:54,050 --> 00:11:57,200 The most straightforward is the legal industry. 230 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:03,400 Pretty much anybody who's played with ai, I. And, in a business capacity 231 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:06,610 has used it to try to draft some kind of legal document or some kind of 232 00:12:06,610 --> 00:12:11,110 agreement or some kind of memorandum of understanding or some kind of LOI or 233 00:12:11,110 --> 00:12:15,400 things that you would've traditionally turned to an attorney for, right? 234 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:18,720 And there's an old saying which is never hand an attorney a 235 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:21,450 blank piece of paper, right? 236 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:25,560 So now you don't ever have to hand your attorney a blank piece of paper, and 237 00:12:25,560 --> 00:12:27,510 it's not very it's not going to be long. 238 00:12:28,035 --> 00:12:31,965 Before, you don't really need to consult an attorney for most things, right? 239 00:12:31,965 --> 00:12:37,425 Once upon a time, for example, when I was growing up, every shopping center 240 00:12:37,425 --> 00:12:40,035 that you went to had travel agents in it. 241 00:12:41,375 --> 00:12:44,405 Travel agents some shopping centers had two travel agents. 242 00:12:44,645 --> 00:12:45,425 There was enough. 243 00:12:45,585 --> 00:12:49,725 And if you wanted to travel in those days, it was a lot like consulting 244 00:12:49,725 --> 00:12:54,795 an attorney is, today you would go, you would sit at a desk travel agent. 245 00:12:54,955 --> 00:12:58,685 And you would tell the nice lady, 'cause it was almost always a lady behind the 246 00:12:58,685 --> 00:13:02,855 desk where it was you wanted to go, I want to go to Mexico for a couple weeks and 247 00:13:02,855 --> 00:13:05,075 she would bang away on a Sabre computer. 248 00:13:05,075 --> 00:13:06,065 We didn't know it was Sabre. 249 00:13:06,395 --> 00:13:06,815 Okay. 250 00:13:06,965 --> 00:13:10,445 But that was what it was Saber terminal, because she'd gone to college to learn 251 00:13:10,445 --> 00:13:14,615 how to use a saber terminal, and she would present you with three options and 252 00:13:14,615 --> 00:13:17,405 you would pick the option that worked best for you, and then she would arrange 253 00:13:17,405 --> 00:13:18,935 it all and give you a packet of papers. 254 00:13:19,145 --> 00:13:20,075 And that's how you traveled? 255 00:13:20,945 --> 00:13:21,335 Yeah. 256 00:13:22,115 --> 00:13:24,875 Now, when was the last time you went to a travel agent? 257 00:13:27,665 --> 00:13:29,075 Five, six years ago maybe? 258 00:13:29,645 --> 00:13:30,245 Yeah, maybe. 259 00:13:30,275 --> 00:13:31,985 How many times have you traveled since then? 260 00:13:33,425 --> 00:13:36,005 Two, three at least, right? 261 00:13:36,125 --> 00:13:36,365 Yeah. 262 00:13:36,415 --> 00:13:37,585 Not even counting based, but everything 263 00:13:37,585 --> 00:13:38,785 is online now, right? 264 00:13:38,785 --> 00:13:41,785 It is just someone who's, who would wanna go to a travel agent 265 00:13:41,915 --> 00:13:45,925 so I think attorneys are situated about the same space as travel 266 00:13:45,925 --> 00:13:48,625 agents were 25, 30 years ago. 267 00:13:48,625 --> 00:13:49,135 Interesting. 268 00:13:49,165 --> 00:13:49,825 Travel agent. 269 00:13:49,825 --> 00:13:50,695 Very common. 270 00:13:50,755 --> 00:13:51,985 Very good line of work. 271 00:13:52,945 --> 00:13:54,475 Very high quality of life. 272 00:13:54,955 --> 00:13:59,095 I think attorneys are situated right, where travel agents were situated in 1995. 273 00:13:59,275 --> 00:13:59,335 Wow. 274 00:14:00,055 --> 00:14:01,315 Feeling pretty good about things. 275 00:14:01,385 --> 00:14:07,025 So it could be that the governments in each region could implement rules 276 00:14:07,025 --> 00:14:11,585 using artificial intelligence for intelligence, for legal documents. 277 00:14:12,375 --> 00:14:14,645 Go, governments can do it but entrepreneurs can do it. 278 00:14:14,655 --> 00:14:17,935 You wanna know what's a fun game in the VC community right now? 279 00:14:18,275 --> 00:14:20,295 A little everybody's playing at the back of their head. 280 00:14:20,955 --> 00:14:23,805 We're all waiting for the single person, billion dollar company. 281 00:14:26,250 --> 00:14:29,340 Yes, we haven't seen it yet, but it will be here. 282 00:14:30,300 --> 00:14:31,050 It will be here. 283 00:14:31,050 --> 00:14:31,740 I'll bet it's here. 284 00:14:31,740 --> 00:14:37,560 Before 2030, there will be a company that's run principally by agentic AI 285 00:14:38,190 --> 00:14:41,100 with somebody in the middle of it who's thought their way through it and has found 286 00:14:41,100 --> 00:14:42,690 a market need and is solving that need. 287 00:14:44,580 --> 00:14:45,660 Wait for it's coming. 288 00:14:45,870 --> 00:14:46,440 Wow. 289 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:47,490 It's coming. 290 00:14:47,490 --> 00:14:47,640 That'd 291 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:48,885 be, that's exciting, man. 292 00:14:49,445 --> 00:14:49,485 Exciting. 293 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:49,620 Yeah. 294 00:14:49,620 --> 00:14:50,370 When I started 295 00:14:50,370 --> 00:14:54,750 in the, when I started in vc, I started as a technical provider. 296 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:58,800 I was the director of technology to the world's largest venture capital 297 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:00,960 firm at the height of the.com. 298 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:04,010 And interestingly enough, they had the world's first incubation 299 00:15:04,010 --> 00:15:06,290 space and I don't think they were quite sure what to do with it. 300 00:15:06,290 --> 00:15:11,165 So they gave it to me and I. I got this amazing experience all the way through 301 00:15:11,165 --> 00:15:16,445 the.com boom, but the principle source of, or the principle use of funds in 302 00:15:16,445 --> 00:15:20,615 those days, at least in the beginning for early stage companies, was to 303 00:15:20,615 --> 00:15:26,195 purchase computing infrastructure so that you would have file, print, email, 304 00:15:26,195 --> 00:15:29,980 and so forth, because those things were very difficult to come by in 1999. 305 00:15:31,295 --> 00:15:35,345 Now the company that I was in service to was actually the company that 306 00:15:35,345 --> 00:15:39,845 invested in Google, and I was in the building when they got their check, 307 00:15:40,685 --> 00:15:45,065 and a few years later, nobody needed to buy a quarter million dollars worth 308 00:15:45,065 --> 00:15:46,835 of server hardware to start a company. 309 00:15:47,495 --> 00:15:49,115 You just went to Gmail and signed up. 310 00:15:50,580 --> 00:15:55,740 And then we got into a whole new kind of use for VC funds. 311 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:56,880 A whole new need. 312 00:15:56,880 --> 00:15:58,860 It was no longer for computing infrastructure. 313 00:15:59,350 --> 00:16:02,410 Now it was for people, and that's what's been happening 314 00:16:02,410 --> 00:16:03,850 for the last 20 years or so. 315 00:16:04,460 --> 00:16:08,805 What happens when you don't need that money for people, when 316 00:16:08,810 --> 00:16:10,700 that's not your principal expense? 317 00:16:11,180 --> 00:16:14,540 When you don't have to go out and hire half a million dollars worth of 318 00:16:14,540 --> 00:16:17,390 development resources for six months? 319 00:16:17,685 --> 00:16:19,370 To try to, but it'll be in technology, 320 00:16:19,460 --> 00:16:19,910 right? 321 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:21,590 That investment instead. 322 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:28,590 What'll what will happen is that entrepreneurs in particular will be 323 00:16:28,590 --> 00:16:31,320 able to bring their ideas to fruition. 324 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:35,715 I. Much more efficiently, capital efficiently, and time efficiently, 325 00:16:36,195 --> 00:16:39,555 just as we are much more efficient today than we were in the early two 326 00:16:39,555 --> 00:16:42,885 thousands, and we're much more efficient then than we were in the 1990s. 327 00:16:43,215 --> 00:16:44,775 This is increasing all the time. 328 00:16:44,825 --> 00:16:46,085 That's what technology is doing. 329 00:16:46,085 --> 00:16:46,715 AI is. 330 00:16:47,105 --> 00:16:51,455 Very much an efficiency increaser, an efficiency enhancer. 331 00:16:52,175 --> 00:16:55,750 And like I said, I think the legal industry is a very good example, 332 00:16:55,750 --> 00:16:59,170 but where I think AI really excels in here, we're talking principally 333 00:16:59,170 --> 00:17:05,170 about language learning models, but almost any kind of learning algorithm. 334 00:17:06,010 --> 00:17:12,850 Will excel at the intersection of complexity and, for a pretty fair chunk 335 00:17:12,850 --> 00:17:19,220 of our professional class in, the Western world, you spend a fair amount of your 336 00:17:19,220 --> 00:17:23,660 life, your education, your business, trying to make sense of complexity. 337 00:17:24,875 --> 00:17:26,705 That's how you earn your money, right? 338 00:17:26,705 --> 00:17:30,935 Whether you're assigned, trying to make sense of data, whether you're an attorney 339 00:17:30,935 --> 00:17:33,905 trying to make sense of contracts, right? 340 00:17:33,935 --> 00:17:39,405 Whe whether you are a nonprofit trying to understand how to do tax filing, right? 341 00:17:39,455 --> 00:17:45,485 There's most of the money that gets spent at the higher level of 342 00:17:45,535 --> 00:17:50,925 at the higher order, at the higher abstraction level is around complexity. 343 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:57,600 And AI is extremely good at not getting confused by complexity. 344 00:17:59,700 --> 00:18:01,745 So if you're making your mark, that makes sense. 345 00:18:02,165 --> 00:18:07,200 If you're looking at a business where people's principle value offering is 346 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:11,790 that they've studied for years to be able to interpret a complex topic. 347 00:18:12,420 --> 00:18:13,170 Then you're probably, yeah. 348 00:18:14,220 --> 00:18:16,320 Vulnerable to these learning outcomes. 349 00:18:17,625 --> 00:18:17,915 Yeah. 350 00:18:20,220 --> 00:18:20,610 Yeah. 351 00:18:21,870 --> 00:18:28,200 So are you, do you have a department that is looking at developing any tools 352 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:30,270 other than the one you did back in 23? 353 00:18:31,390 --> 00:18:32,260 We're always playing. 354 00:18:32,710 --> 00:18:33,460 We're always playing. 355 00:18:33,465 --> 00:18:33,705 Okay. 356 00:18:33,975 --> 00:18:36,140 And I can, so is there any kind of secret you can share? 357 00:18:36,140 --> 00:18:37,635 Can stop myself what you're working on right now. 358 00:18:38,415 --> 00:18:38,595 But Mo, 359 00:18:39,555 --> 00:18:43,515 most of the time it's much more prudent for me to invest in people 360 00:18:43,515 --> 00:18:45,945 who are solving problems than I'm aware of because, because I could 361 00:18:45,945 --> 00:18:50,505 solve one problem or two problems where I can invest 20 companies Yeah. 362 00:18:51,105 --> 00:18:53,415 That are solving 5, 6, 7 problems. 363 00:18:53,955 --> 00:18:54,465 Yeah. 364 00:18:54,555 --> 00:18:55,425 No, that's great. 365 00:18:56,685 --> 00:18:56,975 Yeah. 366 00:18:57,060 --> 00:18:57,300 Yeah. 367 00:18:57,300 --> 00:18:58,410 No, definitely man. 368 00:18:58,410 --> 00:19:04,080 It was great Alex, talking to you today about all of this fantastic stuff 369 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:08,620 that you're doing and the work that you're doing, if there's any last. 370 00:19:09,355 --> 00:19:15,265 Suggestion that you can give or tip that you can share with the audience. 371 00:19:15,565 --> 00:19:21,595 If they have some kind of an idea boiling within them that they want to utilize 372 00:19:21,595 --> 00:19:26,365 or bring forth in the market, but just don't have any resources, they just 373 00:19:26,365 --> 00:19:30,385 watching YouTube videos or listening to podcasts and it's burning them up 374 00:19:30,385 --> 00:19:31,735 and they wanna do something with it. 375 00:19:32,215 --> 00:19:35,905 What are the first few steps they should take to start creating 376 00:19:35,905 --> 00:19:37,615 some momentum towards it? 377 00:19:38,430 --> 00:19:42,630 The first thing that I would do is make a few notes and talk about it with people. 378 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:45,180 Share your idea. 379 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:47,100 One of the things that market research. 380 00:19:48,150 --> 00:19:48,630 Okay. 381 00:19:48,810 --> 00:19:50,010 But let's just start with sharing. 382 00:19:50,190 --> 00:19:51,240 Just sharing the idea. 383 00:19:51,990 --> 00:19:54,690 Just that's what I'm socializing the idea. 384 00:19:54,930 --> 00:20:02,430 Because a lot of entrepreneurs have a fear that their idea might be stolen from them. 385 00:20:02,995 --> 00:20:03,745 Yeah. 386 00:20:04,205 --> 00:20:07,455 And that's something I really want to give you freedom from. 387 00:20:07,455 --> 00:20:07,515 Yeah. 388 00:20:08,325 --> 00:20:11,085 Because if you're the kind of person who thinks of solutions 389 00:20:11,085 --> 00:20:14,535 to problems, this is not the only solution you're gonna think of. 390 00:20:15,195 --> 00:20:15,555 Yeah. 391 00:20:15,555 --> 00:20:20,415 No, I will give one piece of advice, if I may, to the entrepreneurs in the 392 00:20:20,415 --> 00:20:21,855 crowd who might be looking for fun. 393 00:20:23,265 --> 00:20:27,125 And it's something that I've said before and if your audience has 394 00:20:27,125 --> 00:20:28,445 heard it before, I apologize. 395 00:20:28,445 --> 00:20:33,425 But I think it's worth saying, and that is that when you're looking for funding 396 00:20:33,455 --> 00:20:37,805 for your project, it's really easy to feel like you're panning for gold. 397 00:20:37,805 --> 00:20:44,765 I. And panning for gold is a cold, miserable, unrewarding experience. 398 00:20:45,005 --> 00:20:48,485 Anybody who's ever seen pictures of miners standing up to their waists 399 00:20:48,485 --> 00:20:52,865 and freezing cold water looking for that tiny little nugget can imagine 400 00:20:52,875 --> 00:20:54,495 how much that must have sucked. 401 00:20:54,855 --> 00:20:58,155 And that's what it feels like to be an entrepreneur. 402 00:20:58,530 --> 00:21:02,310 Looking for funding, and I wanna give you something that's really important. 403 00:21:03,150 --> 00:21:07,830 I want you to understand as an entrepreneur that you're actually the gold 404 00:21:08,220 --> 00:21:10,080 that all the rest of us are looking for. 405 00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:15,450 The whole funding ecosystem, everything around startups 406 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:17,130 is actually looking for you. 407 00:21:17,490 --> 00:21:19,620 You are the gold that we are all high. 408 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:24,090 So know that and get started because there's people who are 409 00:21:24,090 --> 00:21:27,780 hunting for you who wanna raise you up and help you be successful, 410 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:30,960 and Alex is one of them. 411 00:21:32,370 --> 00:21:33,210 We certainly try. 412 00:21:34,050 --> 00:21:34,410 Yeah. 413 00:21:34,410 --> 00:21:35,730 No, it's great my friend. 414 00:21:35,730 --> 00:21:36,120 Great. 415 00:21:36,120 --> 00:21:41,250 Getting to know you and calmly listening to you speak. 416 00:21:41,430 --> 00:21:44,030 It was very impressive, very soothing. 417 00:21:44,570 --> 00:21:47,480 So I'm grateful to have this opportunity and the knowledge 418 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:49,340 that you're sharing is very deep. 419 00:21:49,925 --> 00:21:53,315 And definitely I'm very excited to see what's coming about. 420 00:21:53,745 --> 00:21:57,705 I'm sure you're working on something big and you just don't want to share 421 00:21:57,705 --> 00:22:03,155 right now, maybe, but if you do, you can always, come back on a show when 422 00:22:03,155 --> 00:22:08,035 you do launch it and we'll love to have you here and speak about it more openly. 423 00:22:08,795 --> 00:22:09,035 Yes. 424 00:22:09,035 --> 00:22:11,555 It's an honor to be here and for your audience. 425 00:22:11,825 --> 00:22:16,775 If they're interested in understanding AI and being part of an AI 426 00:22:16,775 --> 00:22:18,785 community, try master verse ai. 427 00:22:19,595 --> 00:22:24,485 If you're interested in learning about fundraising, try evolution accelerator.co. 428 00:22:26,170 --> 00:22:26,460 Okay. 429 00:22:26,465 --> 00:22:27,085 Okay. 430 00:22:27,535 --> 00:22:28,045 Perfect. 431 00:22:28,645 --> 00:22:29,905 Community, we're here to serve. 432 00:22:30,955 --> 00:22:31,465 Awesome. 433 00:22:31,705 --> 00:22:34,495 Thank you so much for that offer, and thank you so much for 434 00:22:34,495 --> 00:22:36,295 your time, and keep in touch. 435 00:22:36,805 --> 00:22:37,495 Thank you, Shahid. 436 00:22:37,495 --> 00:22:38,425 It's an honor to be here. 437 00:22:38,515 --> 00:22:38,935 Appreciate 438 00:22:38,935 --> 00:22:39,025 it.