Fund/Build/Scale

Idea-stage investors are still excited about AI, but the savvier ones are looking for social proof and tangible takeaways from the customer discovery process. Before they commit, these investors are seeking evidence that the idea/team they’re considering won’t melt like snow in the rain the next time a major player improves their model. With that in mind, I interviewed Rodrigo Liang, co-founder and CEO of SambaNova Systems, for Episode 2. Launched in 2017, SambaNova raised more than a billion dollars in its first three years to create a full-stack LLM platform. Our conversation covered a lot of ground, including his thoughts on product-led growth strategy for AI startups and the importance of aligning the needs of customers with the technology you’re developing. Here’s a breakdown: SambaNova's founding, market dynamics, and early product development (1:22) AI in enterprise environments, developing an ideal customer profile (4:23) how to ID different customer classes (6:47) developing a cohesive marketing strategy from Day 1 (10:09) keeping product development aligned with the needs of your customer (14:11) the pitfalls (and payoffs) of creating a feature for a single customer (17:13) customer transparency: can you/should you share your product roadmap? (20:28) overcoming AI adoption challenges and controlling costs (24:24) understand your customer's journey to deliver value quickly (28:21) "we really are focused on getting those quick proofs of success” (30:09) Rodrigo's advice for early-stage AI startup employees (35:45) early-stage fundraising should be about milestones, not runway (38:17) Fund/Build/Scale is sponsored by Mayfield. If you have a fundable idea for an AI-first startup at the cognitive plumbing layer, email [email protected]. The podcast is also sponsored by Securiti, pioneer of the Data Command Center. Follow Fund/Build/Scale on Substack and LinkedIn.

In the first episode of Fund/Build/Scale, Mayfield Managing Partner Navin Chaddha spoke about the need for founders to identify investors they can trust, how to pitch Mayfield's AI Start seed fund, and why he’s specifically looking for inception-stage entrepreneurs who have “half-baked” ideas. Our conversation covered a lot of ground: Navin described the elements of a fundable idea, shared what excites (and unnerves) him about AI investing, and offered a framework for founder teams seeking solutions to orthogonal problems that create value for customers and align with market trends. Here’s an episode rundown: 1:07: AI investing and entrepreneurship 7:56: fundraising, enterprise opportunities and success metrics 17:27 the biggest challenges facing AI investors 19:11: what strong founder teams look like 22:10: leveraging inception-stage investors 26:47: why idea-stage founders shouldn't worry about revenue 31:36: pitfalls/opportunities at the enterprise level 34:25: the "impedance mismatch" between startups + enterprise customers 38:22: societal change + responsible innovation 42:48: how he educates himself about emerging tech Coming up in Episode 2: I spoke with Rodrigo Liang, CEO and co-founder of SambaNova, about digging a moat, customer discovery, and product-led growth. Please subscribe to Fund/Build/Scale on your favorite platform, and if you liked this episode, I hope you’ll give me a great rating.  For now, you can find the Fund/Build/Scale newsletter on Substack. The podcast theme was written and performed by Michael Tritter and Carlos Chairez. Michael also edited the podcast and provided additional music, and I’m deeply grateful. Thanks for listening!   Links: Fund/Build/Scale on Substack: https://fundbuildscale.substack.com Mayfield: https://www.mayfield.com Navin Chaddha on LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/navinchaddha/ Securiti: https://securiti.ai/ Cognitive plumbing: https://www.mayfield.com/cognitive-plumbing/ Impedance matching: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impedance_matching Jensen Huang, founder and CEO, NVIDIA: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenhsunhuang/ Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO, Microsoft: https://www.linkedin.com/in/satyanadella/ Thomas Kurian, CEO Google Cloud: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kurian-469b6219/ NVIDIA: https://www.nvidia.com  OpenAI: https://openai.com/ "Trough of disillusionment,” Gartner hype cycle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gartner_hype_cycle SambaNova Systems: https://sambanova.ai/ Podcast theme: "Artificio," by Michael Tritter and Carlos Chairez: https://laroda.bandcamp.com/track/artificio Fund/Build/Scale is sponsored by Mayfield Fund and Securiti.

Hi. I’m Walter Thompson.  I worked in startups for years before becoming a journalist.  Now, I’m launching “Fund/Build/Scale,” a podcast that explains how to create an AI startup when all you have is an idea. If you’re seeking general thought leadership or predictions about AI, this is not the podcast for you. Guests on “Fund/Build/Scale” are sharing strategies and frameworks that listeners can adapt and use inside their own companies. We’re discussing the ins and outs of fundraising, product development, regulation, going to market, and other essential topics. Across ten episodes, you’ll gain an insider’s perspective on what it takes to build an ethically responsible company in one of tech’s most competitive and rapidly evolving sectors. Entrepreneurs, VCs, academics, policy experts, enterprise software buyers and others will share their thoughts on addressing technical challenges, building teams, breaking into corporate sales and other core issues AI startups grapple with. I hope you’ll join this ongoing conversation about the intersection of AI innovation and investment. Subscribe now — the podcast will be available on all major platforms, with the first episode launching in February 2024.