Category: Apprentice VC

Good read on AI startup predictions

~ michael_msft ~ Leave a comment

I must be behind but this is the first time I read something by Bradford. Good stuff.

Here is his latest :: http://www.bradfordcross.com/blog/2017/3/3/five-ai-startup-predictions-for-2017

Great read. Hard to argue with it and also we won’t know how right he is till later. We do see a lot of startups claiming to work on AI and when you dig in one finds very little AI at times. I also think the whole chatbot thing is overdone. I am still not using any. Not a one.

I use Evie a ton and would even if I had not invested in it. It solves a problem for me – managing my calendar. This is more NLP and machine learning than AI but in the same family. The product, no matter what buzzword it uses, must solve a real problem that people are willing to pay for. Many products are using something that they don’t need to build a solution that is in search of a problem.

Whether you have found product/market fit or not, it is important to work on a real market opportunity. Killer shit in search of a market won’t go far.

As I have said many times, I look for team, market and strategy. We can work together on the rest.

 

Greed vs Value Creation

~ michael_msft ~ Leave a comment

It’s a struggle sometimes for sure but lately it just feels like most of what is going on in the valley is straight up greed.

https://twitter.com/arrington/status/836345845477851136

I am not a huge Arrington fan but I think he makes a point. Is this a cyclical thing? Is there too much capital around? Is the Trump era to blame?

I tend to think it is more related to the pressure cooker of expectations around always having to have that big exit and making everyone rich versus building cool shit. I know there is a fine line. And I am not saying that I don’t want to make money but there is a difference in my opinion.

Uber as of late just feels like greed. Let’s treat employees like shit, let’s skirt the law and let’s steal stuff to win it all because they are changing the world? It’s too much. You can’t demolish everything in your path and still keep telling your customers that we should trust you ferrying our wive’s and children around. Enough already. I honestly hope Google takes them to the cleaners.

Snap. Who knows on this one but the way they are doing things feels to me like just wanting to cash out versus build something for the long haul. Again, I could be all wrong and this is the technique they are using to get enough money to defend their turf and build something amazing. Only time will tell. I could be all wrong. With Facebook I bought on the dip and held. That’s worked out okay so far. Not sure I would with Snap.

WeWork. Is this really a revolution or is it a modern day real estate play with co-working throw in to be cool? No one knows yet but the Softbank deal feels like greed to me. Let’s see what they do.

I used to miss the valley but I am not sure I could survive there. I am not that greedy to be honest. Interesting times.

I am glad I live in Singapore.