1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:04,000 every 3 months things have just kept 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:05,240 getting progressively better and now 3 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:07,480 we're at this point where we're talking 4 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:09,519 about full-on vertical AI agents that 5 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:11,519 are going to replace entire teams and 6 00:00:09,519 --> 00:00:13,559 functions and Enterprises that 7 00:00:11,519 --> 00:00:15,759 progression is still mind-blowing to me 8 00:00:13,558 --> 00:00:17,559 a lot of the foundation models are kind 9 00:00:15,759 --> 00:00:19,800 of coming head-to-head there used to be 10 00:00:17,559 --> 00:00:23,118 only one player in town with open AI but 11 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:26,039 we've been seeing in the last batch this 12 00:00:23,118 --> 00:00:28,599 has been changing thank God it's like 13 00:00:26,039 --> 00:00:30,800 competition is you know the the soil for 14 00:00:28,599 --> 00:00:33,159 a very fertile Market Marketplace 15 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:36,120 ecosystem uh for which consumers will 16 00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:39,159 have choice and uh Founders have a shot 17 00:00:36,119 --> 00:00:44,359 and that's the world I want to live 18 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:47,599 [Music] 19 00:00:44,359 --> 00:00:50,558 in welcome to another episode of the 20 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:52,920 light cone I'm Gary this is Jared Harge 21 00:00:50,558 --> 00:00:55,439 and Diana and collectively we funded 22 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:57,399 hundreds of billions of dollars worth of 23 00:00:55,439 --> 00:01:01,599 startups right when they were just one 24 00:00:57,399 --> 00:01:04,879 or two people starting out and and today 25 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:09,040 Jared is a man on fire and he's going to 26 00:01:04,879 --> 00:01:11,799 talk about vertical AI yes I am I am 27 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:15,080 fired up about this because I think 28 00:01:11,799 --> 00:01:17,759 people especially startup Founders 29 00:01:15,079 --> 00:01:20,679 especially young ones are not fully 30 00:01:17,759 --> 00:01:22,478 appreciating just how big vertical AI 31 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,680 agents are going to be it's not a new 32 00:01:22,478 --> 00:01:25,478 idea some people are talking about 33 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:27,200 vertical AI agents we funded a bunch of 34 00:01:25,478 --> 00:01:28,879 them but I think the world has not 35 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:31,000 caught on to just how big it's going to 36 00:01:28,879 --> 00:01:33,519 get and so I'm going going to make the 37 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,599 case for why I think there are going to 38 00:01:33,519 --> 00:01:38,078 be 39 00:01:34,599 --> 00:01:40,759 $300 billion plus companies started just 40 00:01:38,078 --> 00:01:43,399 in this one category nice I'm going to 41 00:01:40,759 --> 00:01:46,718 do it by analogy with SAS and I 42 00:01:43,399 --> 00:01:49,439 think in a in a similar fashion people 43 00:01:46,718 --> 00:01:51,039 don't understand just how big SAS is 44 00:01:49,438 --> 00:01:53,639 because most startup Founders especially 45 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:54,960 young ones tend to see the startup 46 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:56,680 industry through the lens of the 47 00:01:54,959 --> 00:01:58,438 products that they use as a consumer and 48 00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:59,640 as a consumer you don't tend to use that 49 00:01:58,438 --> 00:02:02,639 many sass tools because they're mostly 50 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:04,759 built for companies and so I think a lot 51 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:06,399 of people have missed the basic point 52 00:02:04,759 --> 00:02:08,159 that if you just look at what Silicon 53 00:02:06,399 --> 00:02:10,439 Valley has been funding for the most for 54 00:02:08,159 --> 00:02:12,199 like for the last 20 years like we've 55 00:02:10,439 --> 00:02:14,120 mostly been producing SAS companies guys 56 00:02:12,199 --> 00:02:16,039 like that's literally been like most of 57 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:18,840 what has been coming out of Silicon 58 00:02:16,039 --> 00:02:21,159 Valley it's over 40% of all venture 59 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:23,200 capital dollars in that time period went 60 00:02:21,159 --> 00:02:26,318 to SAS companies and we produced over 61 00:02:23,199 --> 00:02:28,479 300 SAS unicorns in that 20-year time 62 00:02:26,318 --> 00:02:30,280 period which is way more than every 63 00:02:28,479 --> 00:02:32,560 other category software is pretty 64 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:35,080 awesome software is pretty awesome I was 65 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:37,199 thinking back to the history of this 66 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:39,319 because we we always like to talk about 67 00:02:37,199 --> 00:02:42,878 the sort of how the how the history of 68 00:02:39,318 --> 00:02:45,359 Technology informs the future and um the 69 00:02:42,878 --> 00:02:48,639 the real Catalyst for for the SAS boom 70 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:51,319 was a do you guys remember XML HTTP 71 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:53,039 request oh my God like I I'd argue that 72 00:02:51,318 --> 00:02:57,119 that was quite literally the Catalyst 73 00:02:53,039 --> 00:02:59,479 for the S boom like uh Ajax Ajax yeah in 74 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:01,840 2004 browsers added this JavaScript 75 00:02:59,479 --> 00:03:03,119 function XML HTTP request which was the 76 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:04,840 missing piece that enabled you to build 77 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:06,319 a rich internet application in a web 78 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:08,200 browser so for the first time you could 79 00:03:06,318 --> 00:03:10,439 make things in websites that looked like 80 00:03:08,199 --> 00:03:12,798 desktop applications and then that 81 00:03:10,439 --> 00:03:15,919 created Google Maps and Gmail and set up 82 00:03:12,799 --> 00:03:18,680 this whole like SAS boom essentially the 83 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:20,399 the key technology atlock was that 84 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:22,360 software moved from being a thing that 85 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:23,920 you got on a CD ROM and installed on 86 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,680 your desktop to being something that you 87 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:28,000 use through a website and on your phone 88 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:29,400 yeah Paul Graham actually uh shares in 89 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:31,759 that lineage in that he was one of the 90 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:34,879 first people to realize that he could 91 00:03:31,759 --> 00:03:37,840 take the HTTP request and then actually 92 00:03:34,878 --> 00:03:40,598 hook it up to a Unix prompt and you 93 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:43,239 didn't actually have to you know have a 94 00:03:40,598 --> 00:03:46,199 separate computer program that would 95 00:03:43,239 --> 00:03:48,680 change a website so via web was a online 96 00:03:46,199 --> 00:03:50,598 store kind of like Shopify but way back 97 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:52,680 in the day yeah it was basically like 98 00:03:50,598 --> 00:03:55,878 the first SAS app ever like like PG 99 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:57,480 actually invented SAS in like 1995 it's 100 00:03:55,878 --> 00:03:59,239 just that those first SAS apps kind of 101 00:03:57,479 --> 00:04:00,878 suck because they didn't have XML HTTP 102 00:03:59,239 --> 00:04:02,280 request and so every time you would like 103 00:04:00,878 --> 00:04:04,598 click a button you would have to reload 104 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,840 the whole page and so it's just a shitty 105 00:04:04,598 --> 00:04:08,639 experience and so it didn't really catch 106 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:11,319 on until 2005 when X XML HTP request 107 00:04:08,639 --> 00:04:14,119 white spread anyway I I see this llm 108 00:04:11,318 --> 00:04:16,079 thing as like actually very similar um 109 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:17,918 it's like it's a new Computing Paradigm 110 00:04:16,079 --> 00:04:20,720 that makes it possible to just like do 111 00:04:17,918 --> 00:04:23,758 something fundamentally different and in 112 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:25,720 2005 when cloud and mobile finally took 113 00:04:23,759 --> 00:04:27,680 off there is this sort of like big open 114 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:29,479 question of like okay well this new 115 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:32,000 technology exist what should you do with 116 00:04:29,478 --> 00:04:33,279 it where is the value going to acrw 117 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:35,120 where are the good opportunities for 118 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:36,359 startups I was going through the list of 119 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:38,360 like all the billion dollar companies 120 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:41,720 that were created and I kind of had this 121 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:43,840 realization that um you could kind of 122 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:46,440 bucket the the different paths that 123 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:48,439 people took into like three buckets um 124 00:04:46,439 --> 00:04:50,439 there's there's a first bucket that 125 00:04:48,439 --> 00:04:54,399 people started with which was like I 126 00:04:50,439 --> 00:04:57,360 would call them Obviously good ideas 127 00:04:54,399 --> 00:05:00,599 that could be Mass consumer products um 128 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:03,199 so that's like docs photos email 129 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:05,080 calendar chat all these things that like 130 00:05:03,199 --> 00:05:06,840 we used to do on our desktop with that 131 00:05:05,079 --> 00:05:10,279 obviously could be moved to the browser 132 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:12,560 and mobile and the interesting thing is 133 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:15,439 zero startups won in those categories 134 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:17,120 100% of the value flow to incumbents 135 00:05:15,439 --> 00:05:19,478 right like Google Facebook Amazon they 136 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:21,478 own all all those businesses folks 137 00:05:19,478 --> 00:05:23,279 forget that like Google Docs wasn't the 138 00:05:21,478 --> 00:05:24,680 only company that tried to bring 139 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:26,439 Microsoft Office online there were like 140 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:27,759 30 companies that tried to bring 141 00:05:26,439 --> 00:05:30,439 Microsoft Office online but they all 142 00:05:27,759 --> 00:05:33,240 lost Google one then there was a second 143 00:05:30,439 --> 00:05:36,000 category which was like Mass consumer 144 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:39,439 ideas that were not obvious that nobody 145 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:41,038 predicted um that's like uber instacart 146 00:05:39,439 --> 00:05:44,600 door Dash 147 00:05:41,038 --> 00:05:47,719 coinbase th Airbnb those ones those ones 148 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:49,919 came out of left field like the the dot 149 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:52,960 dot dot between XML HTTP request and 150 00:05:49,918 --> 00:05:54,318 Airbnb is like very not obvious yeah and 151 00:05:52,959 --> 00:05:55,799 so the incumbents didn't even try 152 00:05:54,319 --> 00:05:57,759 competing in those spaces until it was 153 00:05:55,800 --> 00:06:00,560 like too late and so startups are able 154 00:05:57,759 --> 00:06:02,560 to win there and then there's a third 155 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:04,600 category which is all the B2B SAS 156 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:08,120 companies and that's like 300 of them 157 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:10,280 and so like Mo like by by by number of 158 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:12,319 logos way more billion dollar companies 159 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:14,478 were created in that third category than 160 00:06:12,319 --> 00:06:16,720 the first two I think one reason why 161 00:06:14,478 --> 00:06:19,758 that happened is like there is 162 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:22,000 no like Microsoft of SAS like there is 163 00:06:19,759 --> 00:06:23,598 no company that somehow does like SAS 164 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:25,800 for like every vertical and every 165 00:06:23,598 --> 00:06:27,159 product like for structural reasons it 166 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:29,598 seems to be the case that like they're 167 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:31,439 all different companies and that's why 168 00:06:29,598 --> 00:06:33,478 there so many of them I think Salesforce 169 00:06:31,439 --> 00:06:37,000 is probably like the first true SAS 170 00:06:33,478 --> 00:06:40,159 company um and i' I remember Mark benov 171 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:42,560 coming to speak at YC and he tells the 172 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:43,800 story as just very early on people just 173 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:46,038 didn't believe you could build 174 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:48,520 sophisticated Enterprise applications 175 00:06:46,038 --> 00:06:50,598 like over the cloud or via SAS it was 176 00:06:48,519 --> 00:06:51,959 just so um there was just like a 177 00:06:50,598 --> 00:06:53,639 perception issue right it was like no 178 00:06:51,959 --> 00:06:54,839 like you don't you buy like your box 179 00:06:53,639 --> 00:06:56,439 software and that's like the real 180 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:58,119 software that you run the way we always 181 00:06:56,439 --> 00:07:00,079 do it it was it was quite contrar cuz 182 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:02,160 the early web app sucked they were like 183 00:07:00,079 --> 00:07:03,719 via web where you had to be a Visionary 184 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,800 like PG and understand that the browser 185 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:06,720 was going to keep getting better and 186 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:08,879 that eventually it' be good which feels 187 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:10,440 like quite reminisent of today right 188 00:07:08,879 --> 00:07:11,720 where it's like the yeah the same thing 189 00:07:10,439 --> 00:07:13,199 like oh no like you won't be able to 190 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:16,120 build like sophisticated Enterprise 191 00:07:13,199 --> 00:07:18,520 applications that use these llm or AI 192 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:20,800 tools because they hallucinate or 193 00:07:18,519 --> 00:07:22,399 they're not perfect or they um they kind 194 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:25,240 of like just toys but yeah that's like 195 00:07:22,399 --> 00:07:27,598 the early SAS story exactly the same and 196 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:30,400 so when I think about the parallels with 197 00:07:27,598 --> 00:07:31,878 LMS I could easily imagine the same 198 00:07:30,399 --> 00:07:33,799 thing happening which is that there's a 199 00:07:31,879 --> 00:07:35,720 bunch of categories that are like Mass 200 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:38,120 consumer applications that are obviously 201 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:39,919 huge opportunities but probably the 202 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:41,399 incumbents will win all of those so 203 00:07:39,918 --> 00:07:43,839 that's something like a per like a 204 00:07:41,399 --> 00:07:45,120 general purpose AI Voice Assistant that 205 00:07:43,839 --> 00:07:46,560 you you know you can ask it to do 206 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:47,720 anything and it'll like go do that thing 207 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,478 that's an obvious thing that should 208 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:51,159 exist but like all the big players are 209 00:07:49,478 --> 00:07:53,120 going to be competing to be that thing 210 00:07:51,158 --> 00:07:55,199 right W Apple's a little slow on that 211 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:58,199 one why is Siri so stupid still what 212 00:07:55,199 --> 00:07:59,759 year is it it makes no sense I mean it's 213 00:07:58,199 --> 00:08:02,800 like a count to that is like the very 214 00:07:59,759 --> 00:08:05,759 obvious thing is search and maybe Google 215 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:08,158 will still win um on search but 216 00:08:05,759 --> 00:08:09,960 perplexity is definitely give them run 217 00:08:08,158 --> 00:08:11,639 for the money right yeah this is the 218 00:08:09,959 --> 00:08:12,758 classic innovators dilemma at the end of 219 00:08:11,639 --> 00:08:14,639 the day I mean you could argue going 220 00:08:12,759 --> 00:08:17,879 back to what you said about Uber or 221 00:08:14,639 --> 00:08:20,478 Airbnb these were actually really risky 222 00:08:17,879 --> 00:08:22,560 things from a regulatory standpoint so 223 00:08:20,478 --> 00:08:25,519 if you're Google and you have basically 224 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:27,360 a guaranteed you know giant a pot of 225 00:08:25,519 --> 00:08:29,519 gold that you know sort of comes to you 226 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:31,520 every single month like why would you 227 00:08:29,519 --> 00:08:33,759 endanger that pot of gold to sort of 228 00:08:31,519 --> 00:08:36,079 pursue these things that uh might be 229 00:08:33,759 --> 00:08:37,278 scary or might ruin the pot of gold I 230 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:38,879 think that's I think that's like 231 00:08:37,278 --> 00:08:41,038 probably the primary reason why the 232 00:08:38,879 --> 00:08:42,479 incumbents didn't end up building those 233 00:08:41,038 --> 00:08:44,838 products and didn't even clone them even 234 00:08:42,479 --> 00:08:45,959 after they got big and it was obvious 235 00:08:44,839 --> 00:08:47,839 that they were going to work who will 236 00:08:45,958 --> 00:08:50,119 never launch an an Uber clone they never 237 00:08:47,839 --> 00:08:53,640 launch an Airbnb clone um I was 238 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:54,799 listening to this uh talk by Travis and 239 00:08:53,639 --> 00:08:56,958 one of the things that he said that 240 00:08:54,799 --> 00:08:58,799 really stuck with me is that in the in 241 00:08:56,958 --> 00:08:59,799 the first years of uber he was very 242 00:08:58,799 --> 00:09:01,838 scared that he would was going to 243 00:08:59,799 --> 00:09:03,879 personally go to prison for like a long 244 00:09:01,839 --> 00:09:05,200 time like he was actually personally 245 00:09:03,879 --> 00:09:07,679 risking going to prison in order to 246 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:09,600 build that company and so yeah no highly 247 00:09:07,679 --> 00:09:12,958 paid Google exactly was going to do that 248 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:15,200 what do you think about um why the 249 00:09:12,958 --> 00:09:17,159 incumbents didn't go into B2B SAS is it 250 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:20,000 part of the reason is that a lot of the 251 00:09:17,159 --> 00:09:22,519 use cases are very there's a very wide 252 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:24,720 distribution I it's a great question I 253 00:09:22,519 --> 00:09:28,720 love to hear what you guys think my take 254 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:31,000 is that it's just too hard to do that 255 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:33,160 many things as a company like each B2B 256 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,958 SAS company really requires like the 257 00:09:33,159 --> 00:09:37,439 people who are running the product in 258 00:09:34,958 --> 00:09:39,639 the business to be extremely deep in one 259 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:42,120 domain and care very deeply about a lot 260 00:09:39,639 --> 00:09:44,000 of really obscure issues you know like 261 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:45,679 take like Gusto for example like why 262 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:47,120 didn't Google build a Gusto competitor 263 00:09:45,679 --> 00:09:48,838 well there's no one to Google who really 264 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:50,959 understands payroll and has the patience 265 00:09:48,839 --> 00:09:52,959 to like deal with all the nuances of all 266 00:09:50,958 --> 00:09:55,559 these like stupid payroll regulations 267 00:09:52,958 --> 00:09:57,159 and like it's just like like it's just 268 00:09:55,559 --> 00:09:59,399 not worth it for them it's easier for 269 00:09:57,159 --> 00:10:02,199 them to just focus on like a few really 270 00:09:59,399 --> 00:10:04,159 huge categories in the B2B SAS world 271 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:06,160 it's it's sort of about the unbundling 272 00:10:04,159 --> 00:10:09,039 bundling of software argument that comes 273 00:10:06,159 --> 00:10:11,399 up a lot as well I think and why didn't 274 00:10:09,039 --> 00:10:14,719 why did all these vertical B2B SAS 275 00:10:11,399 --> 00:10:18,759 products evolve versus just like Oracle 276 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:21,920 or sap or um netet yeah netu just owning 277 00:10:18,759 --> 00:10:23,240 like everything um and I think it might 278 00:10:21,919 --> 00:10:25,519 be Al is another thing that's 279 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:28,278 attributable to the shift to like SASS 280 00:10:25,519 --> 00:10:29,799 and the internet is in the old ways of 281 00:10:28,278 --> 00:10:31,759 selling software again like you had this 282 00:10:29,799 --> 00:10:34,199 box software that was really like 283 00:10:31,759 --> 00:10:35,919 expensive to install and you had like a 284 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:38,079 whole ecosystem around it and anytime 285 00:10:35,919 --> 00:10:40,000 you wanted something custom like the 286 00:10:38,078 --> 00:10:41,679 integrators would just say oh no like we 287 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:44,278 can like just build a UA custom like 288 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:46,278 payroll feature or something like that 289 00:10:44,278 --> 00:10:48,679 and then Salesforce comes along with 290 00:10:46,278 --> 00:10:50,480 like a SAS solution and it just seems 291 00:10:48,679 --> 00:10:52,479 like it could never be as powerful or 292 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:54,200 sophisticated as like the expensive 293 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:56,759 Enterprise installation you just paid 294 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:58,200 for but they Prov that it totally was 295 00:10:56,759 --> 00:11:00,278 the case and I think that just like 296 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:02,600 opened the gates for all all of these 297 00:11:00,278 --> 00:11:04,399 like vertical sash solutions to emerge 298 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:05,959 doing exactly what you're saying the 299 00:11:04,399 --> 00:11:08,278 other problem is that with a lot of this 300 00:11:05,958 --> 00:11:10,958 enterprise software if you're a user of 301 00:11:08,278 --> 00:11:13,600 Oracle and a netw suite because they're 302 00:11:10,958 --> 00:11:15,799 they have to cover so much ground the 303 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:17,120 user experience is actually pretty bad 304 00:11:15,799 --> 00:11:19,359 they're trying to be jack of all trades 305 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:21,078 but master of none yeah so ends up being 306 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:24,320 a bit of a kitchen sync type of 307 00:11:21,078 --> 00:11:27,399 experience and this is where if you go 308 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:29,560 and build a B2B SAS vertical company you 309 00:11:27,399 --> 00:11:31,519 could do literally a 10x better 310 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:33,278 experience and more delightful because 311 00:11:31,519 --> 00:11:35,720 there's this Stark difference between 312 00:11:33,278 --> 00:11:37,600 consumer products and Enterprise user 313 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:40,360 experience yeah well there's only uh 314 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:45,079 what three price points in software it's 315 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:48,278 uh $5 per seat $500 per seat or $55,000 316 00:11:45,078 --> 00:11:51,919 per seat and uh that Maps directly to 317 00:11:48,278 --> 00:11:54,278 Consumer SMB or Enterprise sales and 318 00:11:51,919 --> 00:11:56,719 then I think time in Memorial has taught 319 00:11:54,278 --> 00:11:58,919 us that in the past and this is less and 320 00:11:56,720 --> 00:12:00,000 less true uh with new software 321 00:11:58,919 --> 00:12:02,838 thankfully 322 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:05,320 but Enterprise is terrible software 323 00:12:02,839 --> 00:12:08,040 because it's not the user buying it you 324 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:10,639 know some high up Mucky muuk inside 325 00:12:08,039 --> 00:12:13,399 Fortune 1000 is the person who's getting 326 00:12:10,639 --> 00:12:16,399 whin and D for this you know Mega seven 327 00:12:13,399 --> 00:12:18,278 figure contract and you know they're 328 00:12:16,399 --> 00:12:20,839 going to choose something that maybe 329 00:12:18,278 --> 00:12:22,559 isn't that good actually for the end 330 00:12:20,839 --> 00:12:25,760 user the person who has to actually use 331 00:12:22,559 --> 00:12:28,439 the software day-to-day and um I'm sort 332 00:12:25,759 --> 00:12:31,958 of curious to see how this changes with 333 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:33,760 llms actually I mean to date one of the 334 00:12:31,958 --> 00:12:35,638 more Salient things that we've seen for 335 00:12:33,759 --> 00:12:37,919 both SMB and enterprise software 336 00:12:35,639 --> 00:12:40,000 companies is that or all software 337 00:12:37,919 --> 00:12:42,278 companies all startups period is like 338 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:44,559 you know there's a sense that as Revenue 339 00:12:42,278 --> 00:12:47,000 scales the number of people you have to 340 00:12:44,559 --> 00:12:51,159 hire scales with it and so when you look 341 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:54,278 at unicorns uh even in today's YC 342 00:12:51,159 --> 00:12:56,198 portfolio uh it's quite routine to see a 343 00:12:54,278 --> 00:12:58,399 company that reached a hundred or $200 344 00:12:56,198 --> 00:13:02,639 million a year in Revenue but they have 345 00:12:58,399 --> 00:13:04,679 like 500 a th000 2,000 employees already 346 00:13:02,639 --> 00:13:06,278 and I'm just going to be very curious 347 00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:08,599 like uh even the advice that I'm 348 00:13:06,278 --> 00:13:11,159 starting to give companies that are you 349 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:13,000 know a month or two out of the batch uh 350 00:13:11,159 --> 00:13:14,480 it's a it's feeling a little bit 351 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:17,240 different than the kind of advice I 352 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:20,079 would give last year or two years ago in 353 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:23,839 the past you might say you know let me 354 00:13:20,078 --> 00:13:26,039 find the absolute smartest person uh in 355 00:13:23,839 --> 00:13:28,240 all of these other parts of the org like 356 00:13:26,039 --> 00:13:29,639 customer success or sales or different 357 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:31,320 things like that 358 00:13:29,639 --> 00:13:33,919 and uh I want to find someone who I've 359 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:35,320 worked with who is I know is great and 360 00:13:33,919 --> 00:13:37,360 then I'm going to go sit on their you 361 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:39,399 know uh on their doorstep until they 362 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:41,440 quit their jobs and come work for me and 363 00:13:39,399 --> 00:13:43,679 I want them to be someone who can you 364 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:45,880 know build a team for me hire a lot of 365 00:13:43,679 --> 00:13:48,559 people that might still be true but I'm 366 00:13:45,879 --> 00:13:50,278 starting to sense that uh the Met is 367 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:53,198 shifting a little bit like you actually 368 00:13:50,278 --> 00:13:56,078 might want to hire more really good 369 00:13:53,198 --> 00:13:59,120 software Engineers who understand large 370 00:13:56,078 --> 00:14:01,039 language models uh who can actually 371 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:02,919 automate the specific things that you 372 00:14:01,039 --> 00:14:06,078 need that are the bottlenecks to your 373 00:14:02,919 --> 00:14:08,000 growth and so it might result in you 374 00:14:06,078 --> 00:14:10,278 know a very subtle but you know 375 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:11,879 significant change in the way startups 376 00:14:10,278 --> 00:14:14,039 grow their businesses sort of post- 377 00:14:11,879 --> 00:14:16,799 product Market fit it means that I'm 378 00:14:14,039 --> 00:14:19,278 going to build llm systems that bring 379 00:14:16,799 --> 00:14:21,719 down my costs that cause me not to have 380 00:14:19,278 --> 00:14:22,679 to hire a thousand people I think we're 381 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:24,800 right at the beginning of that 382 00:14:22,679 --> 00:14:26,519 Revolution right now I mean we talked 383 00:14:24,799 --> 00:14:29,679 about this in a previous episode we 384 00:14:26,519 --> 00:14:31,759 talked about there will be a future 385 00:14:29,679 --> 00:14:33,359 unicorn company that's only run if we 386 00:14:31,759 --> 00:14:36,120 take it to the limit with only 10 387 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:37,480 employees that's completely plausible 388 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:39,720 and they're writing the evals and the 389 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:40,920 prompts does it I think what you're 390 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:43,800 saying is like a trend that was already 391 00:14:40,919 --> 00:14:46,319 underway pre llms like I remember when I 392 00:14:43,799 --> 00:14:49,198 was running triple bite for example we 393 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:51,920 needed to like build marketing or cust 394 00:14:49,198 --> 00:14:54,078 like user acquisition basically um and 395 00:14:51,919 --> 00:14:55,360 especially after we raised a series B 396 00:14:54,078 --> 00:14:57,399 the like traditional way you were 397 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:59,159 supposed to do that is to like hire a 398 00:14:57,399 --> 00:15:01,799 marketing executive and build out like 399 00:14:59,159 --> 00:15:03,240 marketing team and um and just like 400 00:15:01,799 --> 00:15:06,159 basically spin up this machine to do 401 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:10,039 like sales and marketing but I'd 402 00:15:06,159 --> 00:15:11,360 actually met like a y founder um Mike 403 00:15:10,039 --> 00:15:13,278 who was his company was basically 404 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:15,278 building like a smart frying pan sounds 405 00:15:13,278 --> 00:15:17,480 like bizarre but like he was a MIT 406 00:15:15,278 --> 00:15:19,399 engineer yeah you remember this um he's 407 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:21,199 an MIT engineer and to sell the smart 408 00:15:19,399 --> 00:15:22,399 frying pan he had to get really really 409 00:15:21,198 --> 00:15:25,359 good at understanding like paid 410 00:15:22,399 --> 00:15:26,759 advertising and um uh Google ads and 411 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:28,560 just a whole bunch of stuff and so he he 412 00:15:26,759 --> 00:15:29,959 taken this Engineers mindset approach to 413 00:15:28,559 --> 00:15:32,958 it and remember just talking to him 414 00:15:29,958 --> 00:15:34,719 about it and realizing this would be so 415 00:15:32,958 --> 00:15:37,559 much better to have an MIT engineer 416 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:39,079 working on like our marketing efforts 417 00:15:37,559 --> 00:15:41,559 than any of the marketing candidates 418 00:15:39,078 --> 00:15:43,599 I've spoken to and he was able to like 419 00:15:41,559 --> 00:15:45,159 scale us up to like we were spending 420 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:47,680 like 1. like a million dollars a month 421 00:15:45,159 --> 00:15:49,240 on just marketing and various like 422 00:15:47,679 --> 00:15:51,479 campaigns and triple bite had great 423 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:53,759 marketing like I remember like the Cal 424 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:55,240 trained station takeover that you did 425 00:15:53,759 --> 00:15:57,159 all the like out of home stuff that you 426 00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:59,240 did it was like really high quality 427 00:15:57,159 --> 00:16:00,759 stuff it stuck with it you could tell 428 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:03,680 was not being done by some like VP 429 00:16:00,759 --> 00:16:05,800 marketing person um and that was all mik 430 00:16:03,679 --> 00:16:07,198 and like the comment I would often get 431 00:16:05,799 --> 00:16:08,799 when people would ask me around that 432 00:16:07,198 --> 00:16:11,838 time like how big is triple bite and we 433 00:16:08,799 --> 00:16:12,958 were like 50 people and so much yeah 434 00:16:11,839 --> 00:16:14,319 yeah people be like I thought this's 435 00:16:12,958 --> 00:16:15,879 like hundreds of people I was like no 436 00:16:14,318 --> 00:16:17,639 it's all because if you put a really 437 00:16:15,879 --> 00:16:20,240 smart engineer on some of these like 438 00:16:17,639 --> 00:16:22,519 tasks they just find ways to make they 439 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:23,959 find leverage and now like llms can go 440 00:16:22,519 --> 00:16:25,959 even Way Beyond like The Leverage you 441 00:16:23,958 --> 00:16:28,559 had which is pure software okay so 442 00:16:25,958 --> 00:16:31,359 here's my pitch for 300 vertical AI 443 00:16:28,559 --> 00:16:33,838 agent unicorns literally every company 444 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:36,480 that is a SAS unicorn you could imagine 445 00:16:33,839 --> 00:16:39,480 there's a vertical AI unicorn equivalent 446 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:42,240 in like some new universe cuz like most 447 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:44,079 of these SAS unicorns beforehand there 448 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:45,639 were some like box software company that 449 00:16:44,078 --> 00:16:47,198 was making the same thing that got 450 00:16:45,639 --> 00:16:49,000 disrupted by a SAS company and you could 451 00:16:47,198 --> 00:16:51,000 easily imagine the same thing happening 452 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:53,360 again where now basically every every 453 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:55,919 SAS company builds some software that 454 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:57,199 some group of people use the vertical AI 455 00:16:55,919 --> 00:17:00,198 equivalent is just going to be the 456 00:16:57,198 --> 00:17:01,799 software plus the people in one product 457 00:17:00,198 --> 00:17:03,318 one thing might be just Enterprises in 458 00:17:01,799 --> 00:17:05,678 general right now are a little unsure 459 00:17:03,318 --> 00:17:07,519 about what exactly they like what agents 460 00:17:05,679 --> 00:17:08,880 they need and one approach I've seen 461 00:17:07,519 --> 00:17:11,439 from especially more experienced 462 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:13,679 Founders like um Brett Taylor the CTO of 463 00:17:11,439 --> 00:17:15,400 Facebook started his company Sierra I 464 00:17:13,679 --> 00:17:17,919 don't know all the details but as far as 465 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:20,798 I can tell it's essentially more like 466 00:17:17,919 --> 00:17:23,759 broadly about letting Enterprises like 467 00:17:20,798 --> 00:17:26,000 deploy these AI agents and spinning them 468 00:17:23,759 --> 00:17:27,480 up like custom for the Enterprise versus 469 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:29,440 like oh hey we have like this specific 470 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:31,759 agent to do this it's something I've 471 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:33,679 seen from one of my companies called um 472 00:17:31,759 --> 00:17:36,720 uh Vector shift that funded about a year 473 00:17:33,679 --> 00:17:39,798 ago they're two really smart like 474 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:41,120 Harvard computer scientists and it's a 475 00:17:39,798 --> 00:17:42,519 that what they found is that they're 476 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:44,599 trying to build a platform to make it 477 00:17:42,519 --> 00:17:47,240 easy for Enterprises to build their own 478 00:17:44,599 --> 00:17:50,678 like use like no code or sdks to build 479 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:53,038 their own like um internal llm powered 480 00:17:50,679 --> 00:17:54,600 agents but like Enterprises often don't 481 00:17:53,038 --> 00:17:57,400 know exactly what they want to use these 482 00:17:54,599 --> 00:17:59,759 things for and so bring it back I wonder 483 00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:01,080 if like in like the box software world 484 00:17:59,759 --> 00:18:02,759 you started off with just like a few 485 00:18:01,079 --> 00:18:04,399 vendors who just basically were trying 486 00:18:02,759 --> 00:18:06,079 to convince people to use software at 487 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:08,320 all and it was just like it does 488 00:18:06,079 --> 00:18:09,839 everything um and then it gets more 489 00:18:08,319 --> 00:18:12,558 sophisticated and higher resolution and 490 00:18:09,839 --> 00:18:14,558 you get lots of like vertical SS players 491 00:18:12,558 --> 00:18:16,399 we go through that same period with llms 492 00:18:14,558 --> 00:18:18,240 where the early winners might just be 493 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:20,120 these like general purpose hey like we 494 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:22,679 like make it easy for you to do llm 495 00:18:20,119 --> 00:18:25,119 stuff and then it the vertical agents 496 00:18:22,679 --> 00:18:26,480 will come in over time or do you think 497 00:18:25,119 --> 00:18:28,639 there's reasons it's different now and 498 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:29,400 the vertical agents will take off on day 499 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:30,840 one 500 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:32,840 yeah that's interesting because if you 501 00:18:30,839 --> 00:18:35,359 think about the history of SAS the 502 00:18:32,839 --> 00:18:38,480 consumer things worked first like 2005 503 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:41,038 to 2010 was mostly consumer applications 504 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:43,599 like email and chat and maps and people 505 00:18:41,038 --> 00:18:45,319 got people as individuals got used to 506 00:18:43,599 --> 00:18:48,079 using these tools themselves and I think 507 00:18:45,319 --> 00:18:49,798 that made it easier to sell SAS tools to 508 00:18:48,079 --> 00:18:51,798 companies because you know the same 509 00:18:49,798 --> 00:18:53,480 people are both employees and consumers 510 00:18:51,798 --> 00:18:54,879 yeah I I think the answer might just be 511 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:58,279 like this is this is all just a 512 00:18:54,880 --> 00:19:00,360 continuation of software and just 513 00:18:58,279 --> 00:19:02,200 there's no reason it has to reset back 514 00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:05,000 like llms don't have to reset back to a 515 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:07,038 few general purpose like Enterprise llm 516 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:08,798 platforms doing everything because 517 00:19:07,038 --> 00:19:11,519 Enterprises have already been trained on 518 00:19:08,798 --> 00:19:14,400 like the value of Point Solutions and 519 00:19:11,519 --> 00:19:15,359 vertical Solutions um and like the user 520 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:16,480 experience not going to be that 521 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:19,879 different these things will just be a 522 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:21,079 lot more powerful and so if Enterprises 523 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:23,039 have already built the muscle of 524 00:19:21,079 --> 00:19:25,439 believing that like startups or vertical 525 00:19:23,038 --> 00:19:28,200 Solutions can be better than like Legacy 526 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:31,240 broad platforms they are probably going 527 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:33,360 to be willing to take a bet on a startup 528 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:34,880 promising a very good vertical AI agent 529 00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:36,599 solution today and I feel like we're all 530 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:39,000 seeing that in the batch now with some 531 00:19:36,599 --> 00:19:41,480 of our companies are getting faster 532 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:44,279 Traction in Enterprises for these 533 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:45,720 vertical AI agents than like we've ever 534 00:19:44,279 --> 00:19:47,960 seen before I think we're just early in 535 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:50,798 the game right like all software sort of 536 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:52,679 starts quite vertical and then as the 537 00:19:50,798 --> 00:19:56,279 industries actually get much more 538 00:19:52,679 --> 00:19:58,240 developed um then I mean I just answered 539 00:19:56,279 --> 00:19:59,798 my earlier question it's like you know 540 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:02,640 why does company end up having a 541 00:19:59,798 --> 00:20:04,519 thousand employees it's actually that uh 542 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:06,320 you know early early in the game 543 00:20:04,519 --> 00:20:08,558 everyone's making these specific point 544 00:20:06,319 --> 00:20:11,279 Solutions and then at some point you've 545 00:20:08,558 --> 00:20:13,319 got to go horizontal like you're already 546 00:20:11,279 --> 00:20:15,759 doing this crazy spend on sales and 547 00:20:13,319 --> 00:20:18,079 marketing and then the only way you can 548 00:20:15,759 --> 00:20:20,720 actually continue to grow once you sort 549 00:20:18,079 --> 00:20:22,399 of get 100% or you know some large 550 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:25,480 majority of the market is you actually 551 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:27,759 have to do like not just a point 552 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:32,000 solution but things that sort of work 553 00:20:27,759 --> 00:20:33,759 together the other point of why the bull 554 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:36,798 case for vertical AI agents could be 555 00:20:33,759 --> 00:20:39,440 even bigger than SAS is that SAS you 556 00:20:36,798 --> 00:20:41,558 still needed a operations team or set of 557 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:43,038 people to operate the software in order 558 00:20:41,558 --> 00:20:44,798 to get all the workflows to be done I 559 00:20:43,038 --> 00:20:47,798 don't know approval workflows or you 560 00:20:44,798 --> 00:20:50,440 have to input the data the argument here 561 00:20:47,798 --> 00:20:52,000 is that you will get not only replacing 562 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:54,519 all that set of SAS software so that 563 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:56,400 would be like one to one mapping but is 564 00:20:54,519 --> 00:20:58,679 also going to eat all of the a lot of 565 00:20:56,400 --> 00:21:00,880 the payroll because we look a lot of the 566 00:20:58,679 --> 00:21:02,798 spend for companies big chunk is still a 567 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:04,200 payroll and software's Tiny exactly they 568 00:21:02,798 --> 00:21:06,000 spend way more on employees than they do 569 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:07,480 on software so it'll be these smaller 570 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:11,640 companies that way more efficient that 571 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:14,440 need way less humans to do random data 572 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:16,200 entry or approvals or click the software 573 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:18,080 I agree I think it's very possible the 574 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:20,480 vertical equivalence will be 10 times as 575 00:21:18,079 --> 00:21:22,399 large as the SAS company that they are 576 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:24,120 disrupting I mean there there's two case 577 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:26,440 it could be that the vertical Point 578 00:21:24,119 --> 00:21:28,639 solution could be just big enough and 579 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:30,440 you don't need to do that bro breath 580 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:32,440 thing right it that could be a nice 581 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:34,400 scenario should we give some examples I 582 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:37,038 feel like we've all been working with so 583 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:38,640 many vertical AI agent companies we've 584 00:21:37,038 --> 00:21:41,480 got like news from the 585 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:44,000 front how it's actually going well your 586 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:46,519 former uh head of product Aaron Cannon 587 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:48,880 is working on a YC company called outset 588 00:21:46,519 --> 00:21:51,960 that I worked with and uh basically 589 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:54,120 they're taking llms uh to the surveys 590 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:56,558 and qual Trix space so qual Trix is 591 00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:58,918 almost certainly not really going to 592 00:21:56,558 --> 00:22:00,798 build the best of breed uh large 593 00:21:58,919 --> 00:22:02,400 language model with reasoning and then 594 00:22:00,798 --> 00:22:04,720 the funny thing about surveys is you 595 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:06,600 know who's it actually for it's for 596 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:08,600 people who run products for marketing 597 00:22:06,599 --> 00:22:10,319 teams it's for people who are trying to 598 00:22:08,599 --> 00:22:12,719 make sense of like what do our customers 599 00:22:10,319 --> 00:22:15,480 actually want and what are surveys like 600 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:18,120 guess what that's language so um and 601 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:20,240 then I feel like these types of 602 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:23,639 businesses um actually have to thread 603 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:27,278 this needle um because Enterprise and 604 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:29,440 SMB software often is sold based on a 605 00:22:27,278 --> 00:22:32,400 particular person who who is the key 606 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:34,798 decision maker and um you have to go 607 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:36,320 high enough in the organization so that 608 00:22:34,798 --> 00:22:38,558 the people you're selling to are not 609 00:22:36,319 --> 00:22:40,200 afraid that their whole their job Andor 610 00:22:38,558 --> 00:22:42,759 their whole team's job is going to go 611 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:45,038 away totally that's kind of the move 612 00:22:42,759 --> 00:22:46,278 that I seen that a lot of companies that 613 00:22:45,038 --> 00:22:48,400 sell need to do because if you're going 614 00:22:46,278 --> 00:22:50,720 to go and sell to the team that's going 615 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:53,759 to get replaced by AI they're going to 616 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:56,600 sabotage it man it just does not work so 617 00:22:53,759 --> 00:22:58,079 I think this is an interesting way that 618 00:22:56,599 --> 00:22:59,839 a lot of these are top down and you have 619 00:22:58,079 --> 00:23:02,480 to go through at some point even get the 620 00:22:59,839 --> 00:23:04,759 CEO to sign off on it a company I'm 621 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:06,798 working with u MCH that's sort of 622 00:23:04,759 --> 00:23:08,000 essentially an AI agent but for at least 623 00:23:06,798 --> 00:23:11,158 where they're starting is like QA 624 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:13,079 testing um they're getting really great 625 00:23:11,159 --> 00:23:15,760 traction right now and it's interesting 626 00:23:13,079 --> 00:23:17,960 because you remember a decade ago um why 627 00:23:15,759 --> 00:23:21,079 can't we worked with rainforest QA like 628 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:24,519 rainforest was a QA as a service company 629 00:23:21,079 --> 00:23:26,399 and that they had this exact tension of 630 00:23:24,519 --> 00:23:29,558 where they couldn't actually replace 631 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:31,600 your QA team and so they needed to build 632 00:23:29,558 --> 00:23:33,440 software that made the QA te more like 633 00:23:31,599 --> 00:23:34,639 efficient but really that obviously 634 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:35,840 meant trying to replace as many of them 635 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:39,000 as possible they couldn't replace the 636 00:23:35,839 --> 00:23:40,798 whole team and so they were always on 637 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:42,319 the sort of like tight rope between 638 00:23:40,798 --> 00:23:43,759 trying to sell the software to like the 639 00:23:42,319 --> 00:23:47,079 head of engineering as like this will 640 00:23:43,759 --> 00:23:48,400 mean you'll need less QA people and 641 00:23:47,079 --> 00:23:49,960 great but then you also have to go sell 642 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,400 that to the QA team who don't want to be 643 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:53,278 replaced and so I think that was always 644 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:56,200 like a friction for that business for 645 00:23:53,278 --> 00:23:59,038 how it could like scale and grow but now 646 00:23:56,200 --> 00:24:01,080 like mtic with AI can actually just 647 00:23:59,038 --> 00:24:02,960 replace the QA people so their pitch is 648 00:24:01,079 --> 00:24:04,319 not oh this like makes your QA people 649 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:06,400 faster it's like this just means you 650 00:24:04,319 --> 00:24:07,918 don't need a QA team at all so they can 651 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:09,960 just focus the sell onto like 652 00:24:07,919 --> 00:24:12,120 engineering and Engineering doesn't need 653 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:14,440 buying from QA at this point and you can 654 00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:16,000 also go in I mean to start with you can 655 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:18,080 go and sell to companies that don't even 656 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:19,640 have big QA teams at the moment they 657 00:24:18,079 --> 00:24:21,000 just use something like mtic and then it 658 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:22,120 will just like keep scaling with them 659 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:25,480 scaling and they'll just never build a 660 00:24:22,119 --> 00:24:26,959 QA team ever yes that is a real life 661 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:28,759 case study of what Diana was saying 662 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:30,000 about why these vertical AI agent 663 00:24:28,759 --> 00:24:31,960 companies going to be 10 times as big as 664 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:33,880 the SAS companies yeah I'm seeing this 665 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:35,440 interesting now um like in recruiting 666 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:38,720 too I had this exact same issue with 667 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:40,278 triple vet where to build the software 668 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,720 um to build software that makes it easy 669 00:24:40,278 --> 00:24:43,278 to like screen and hire software 670 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:45,200 Engineers you need buying from both the 671 00:24:43,278 --> 00:24:47,000 engineering team that they're joining 672 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:48,159 but also the recruiting team and 673 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:49,519 effectively the software we were 674 00:24:48,159 --> 00:24:51,480 building was trying to replace the 675 00:24:49,519 --> 00:24:54,720 recruiters but we couldn't completely 676 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:57,960 replace the recruiters but now with NYC 677 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:59,278 and so the recruiters were always like 678 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:01,000 oppos 679 00:24:59,278 --> 00:25:03,038 opposing it CU it was a threat to them 680 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:06,440 yeah so it just always like friction on 681 00:25:03,038 --> 00:25:08,319 like how um on like how far you can get 682 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:11,360 when the customer you're trying to sell 683 00:25:08,319 --> 00:25:13,918 to is worried about being replaced um 684 00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:15,959 but yeah I think now it's still early 685 00:25:13,919 --> 00:25:18,720 days but now with AI you can build 686 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:20,319 things that do the whole stack like of 687 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:22,120 recruiting we have a company we worked 688 00:25:20,319 --> 00:25:23,639 with last batch like Nico work with them 689 00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:25,239 a priora which is actually just doing 690 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:27,240 like the full like technical screen the 691 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:29,200 full initial recruiter screen and 692 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:31,480 getting great traction so I think as 693 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:32,679 those things keep going like they won't 694 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:33,798 have they have the same thing you won't 695 00:25:32,679 --> 00:25:35,480 have the friction of oh I need to 696 00:25:33,798 --> 00:25:37,639 convince recruiters to use this you're 697 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:39,480 probably just like not build a 698 00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:43,679 recruiting team in the same way that you 699 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:46,440 used to I mean other example is even for 700 00:25:43,679 --> 00:25:49,240 de tool companies they have to do a lot 701 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:51,558 of a developer support and I work with 702 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:54,240 this company called cap. AI that 703 00:25:51,558 --> 00:25:58,599 basically buildt one of the best chat 704 00:25:54,240 --> 00:26:01,679 Bots that responds to a lot of the a lot 705 00:25:58,599 --> 00:26:03,879 of the technical details that are hard 706 00:26:01,679 --> 00:26:05,480 to answer and I think a lot of the 707 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:08,440 companies that started using them they 708 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:10,319 actually ended up having Dev rail teams 709 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:12,720 that are a lot smaller because it 710 00:26:10,319 --> 00:26:14,678 ingests a lot of uh the developer 711 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:17,919 documentations even the YouTube videos 712 00:26:14,679 --> 00:26:19,360 that Dev tools put up and even a lot of 713 00:26:17,919 --> 00:26:22,200 the chat history so it just keeps 714 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:23,759 getting better and better and it's like 715 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:26,000 gives really good answers actually it's 716 00:26:23,759 --> 00:26:28,640 one one of the best I've seen yeah I 717 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:30,240 also worked with a customer support like 718 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:32,600 an AI customer support agent company 719 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:36,798 called Power help well actually we both 720 00:26:32,599 --> 00:26:39,558 did um last batch and I learned a couple 721 00:26:36,798 --> 00:26:42,720 interesting things from parel um the 722 00:26:39,558 --> 00:26:45,200 first is customer like AI agents for 723 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:46,720 customer support was like the category 724 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,399 that's like famously crowded where 725 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:49,798 there's like supposedly like you know a 726 00:26:48,398 --> 00:26:52,278 100 of them and if you go and you Google 727 00:26:49,798 --> 00:26:54,679 like AI customer support agent you'll 728 00:26:52,278 --> 00:26:55,960 get like a 100 results on Google um but 729 00:26:54,679 --> 00:26:57,640 what I learned through working with 730 00:26:55,960 --> 00:27:00,759 parel is like it's actually kind of 731 00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:03,240 like like almost all of those 732 00:27:00,759 --> 00:27:05,599 companies are doing very simple like 733 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:07,798 zero shot llm prompting that can't 734 00:27:05,599 --> 00:27:08,918 actually replace a real customer support 735 00:27:07,798 --> 00:27:10,839 team that does a lot of really 736 00:27:08,919 --> 00:27:12,759 complicated workflows it just kind of 737 00:27:10,839 --> 00:27:14,720 makes for like a nice demo like to 738 00:27:12,759 --> 00:27:16,480 actually replace a customer support team 739 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:18,000 for like an at Scale company that has 740 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:19,519 like 100 customer support reps that do 741 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:21,038 lots of complicated things every day you 742 00:27:19,519 --> 00:27:22,558 need like really complicated software 743 00:27:21,038 --> 00:27:24,720 that does all the stuff that like Jake 744 00:27:22,558 --> 00:27:26,158 heler was talking about and there's 745 00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:27,720 there were only like three or four 746 00:27:26,159 --> 00:27:28,720 companies that were even attempting to 747 00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:30,720 do that 748 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:32,120 and cumulative they had cumulatively 749 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:33,640 they had like less than 1% Market 750 00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:35,719 penetration and so the market was just 751 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:37,640 completely open I could also see that 752 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:40,319 being another case of um hyper 753 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:42,720 specialization or hyper verticalization 754 00:27:40,319 --> 00:27:45,240 like there's not going to be I mean 755 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:47,640 maybe eventually there could be a single 756 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:50,839 general purpose customer support agent 757 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:52,480 software company but we're like in in 758 00:27:50,839 --> 00:27:54,278 you know that that'll be like a eighth 759 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:56,558 or ninth inning kind of thing and we're 760 00:27:54,278 --> 00:27:58,278 literally in the first inning so you 761 00:27:56,558 --> 00:28:00,879 know instead you know you're going to 762 00:27:58,278 --> 00:28:03,440 have companies like gig ml that you know 763 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:06,399 it's doing it for zepto doing 30,000 764 00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:08,840 tickets uh every single day and 765 00:28:06,398 --> 00:28:11,719 replacing a team of a thousand people 766 00:28:08,839 --> 00:28:14,000 and but it's very specific and it has 767 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:16,240 you know it's not a general purpose demo 768 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:19,159 Weare kind of thing like it's 10,000 769 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:22,759 test cases in a very detailed uh eval 770 00:28:19,159 --> 00:28:25,760 set that you know is basically just for 771 00:28:22,759 --> 00:28:28,119 zepto and things like zepto yeah uh but 772 00:28:25,759 --> 00:28:30,158 if you are you know any of the other 773 00:28:28,119 --> 00:28:32,359 Marketplace companies you're probably 774 00:28:30,159 --> 00:28:34,799 going to use it cuz like that's a very 775 00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:36,759 well-defined kind of marketplace that's 776 00:28:34,798 --> 00:28:38,319 you know instant delivery Marketplace I 777 00:28:36,759 --> 00:28:40,679 think this is the kind of dynamic that 778 00:28:38,319 --> 00:28:42,720 led there to be like $300 billion do SAS 779 00:28:40,679 --> 00:28:44,559 companies rather than like one like1 780 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:45,919 trillion do like meta SAS thing that 781 00:28:44,558 --> 00:28:47,440 provides all the software for the world 782 00:28:45,919 --> 00:28:50,240 it's just like the customers just 783 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:51,679 require really heavily like tailored 784 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:53,159 Solutions and it's hard to build one 785 00:28:51,679 --> 00:28:54,399 that like works for every everyone 786 00:28:53,159 --> 00:28:55,720 exactly I mean we already gave three 787 00:28:54,398 --> 00:28:57,359 examples of customer support but there 788 00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:59,798 are very different verticals it's like 789 00:28:57,359 --> 00:29:01,158 de tool comp need very different kind of 790 00:28:59,798 --> 00:29:04,158 support that you need and the training 791 00:29:01,159 --> 00:29:06,200 set to marketplaces very different right 792 00:29:04,159 --> 00:29:08,080 yeah I guess whether you have agents or 793 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:10,360 real human beings working for you you 794 00:29:08,079 --> 00:29:13,240 end up with the same problem which is 795 00:29:10,359 --> 00:29:15,918 every company bumps up against CO's 796 00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:18,720 theory of the firm which says that any 797 00:29:15,919 --> 00:29:21,559 given firm will grow only so much to the 798 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:23,798 point where it uh becomes inefficient to 799 00:29:21,558 --> 00:29:27,440 be larger than that and then that's why 800 00:29:23,798 --> 00:29:29,558 they sort of networks and ecosystems and 801 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:31,519 you know a full blown economy you know 802 00:29:29,558 --> 00:29:34,079 like every firm will sort of specialize 803 00:29:31,519 --> 00:29:36,880 to do what it is particularly good at 804 00:29:34,079 --> 00:29:38,599 and then the limits the outer limits of 805 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:42,880 what those firms can be it's actually 806 00:29:38,599 --> 00:29:44,480 based on uh your ability as a manager so 807 00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:46,799 yeah that that part a little bit breaks 808 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:49,159 my brain because you know when we spend 809 00:29:46,798 --> 00:29:50,879 time with Parker Conrad at ripling uh 810 00:29:49,159 --> 00:29:52,760 one of his favorite points is actually 811 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:55,278 well you know everyone's very obsessed 812 00:29:52,759 --> 00:29:57,798 with with the fact that the rocks can 813 00:29:55,278 --> 00:29:59,720 talk and you know maybe they can draw 814 00:29:57,798 --> 00:30:02,839 but the more interesting thing for him 815 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:04,000 you know running HR It software that uh 816 00:30:02,839 --> 00:30:05,720 you know he spends a lot of time 817 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:07,919 thinking about HR like actually the 818 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:11,038 coolest thing about the LMS is that the 819 00:30:07,919 --> 00:30:13,720 rocks can read and from his perspective 820 00:30:11,038 --> 00:30:16,679 like you he's I think he has 3,000 821 00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:19,000 employees he still runs payroll for all 822 00:30:16,679 --> 00:30:20,320 3,000 employees through Rippling so I 823 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:22,679 think he spends a lot of time thinking 824 00:30:20,319 --> 00:30:26,278 about like how can one person extend 825 00:30:22,679 --> 00:30:27,720 their ability as a manager and uh I 826 00:30:26,278 --> 00:30:28,519 think we're going to see a lot more 827 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:31,278 there 828 00:30:28,519 --> 00:30:34,278 that would be an a reverse argument that 829 00:30:31,278 --> 00:30:37,278 if we're at this moment where uh tools 830 00:30:34,278 --> 00:30:40,720 for managers and CEOs are going to get 831 00:30:37,278 --> 00:30:42,119 much more powerful um oh it could it 832 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:44,000 could it could increase the scale of the 833 00:30:42,119 --> 00:30:45,439 firm that you can run right and that's 834 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:47,480 certainly what ripling is trying to do 835 00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:49,600 like he's attempting to build this like 836 00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:51,319 Suite of HR tools where if he wins he's 837 00:30:49,599 --> 00:30:53,119 going to eat a whole bunch of billion 838 00:30:51,319 --> 00:30:54,678 dollar SAS companies and like one one 839 00:30:53,119 --> 00:30:57,239 giant company it's very interesting 840 00:30:54,679 --> 00:30:59,159 point Gary I think what made me think 841 00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:03,120 about this is that with having all these 842 00:30:59,159 --> 00:31:06,159 AI SAS tools it's going to give the 843 00:31:03,119 --> 00:31:08,359 ability to all these leaders and all 844 00:31:06,159 --> 00:31:10,120 these Orcs to basically open the 845 00:31:08,359 --> 00:31:12,359 aperture of the context window of how 846 00:31:10,119 --> 00:31:14,599 much information they can parse because 847 00:31:12,359 --> 00:31:16,479 there a limit of how much uh humans we 848 00:31:14,599 --> 00:31:17,759 can have meaningful relationship there's 849 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:20,360 like the whole thing with the D Mar 850 00:31:17,759 --> 00:31:22,879 number it's about 300 people that you 851 00:31:20,359 --> 00:31:25,719 150 that you can have a meaningful 852 00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:27,960 relationship with but with AI because 853 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:30,159 all of these rocks now can read I think 854 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:32,319 think we will be able to extend that 855 00:31:30,159 --> 00:31:35,159 dumbar limit that we have yeah I think 856 00:31:32,319 --> 00:31:38,558 uh Flo crell had this interesting post 857 00:31:35,159 --> 00:31:41,480 on Twitter that went viral around um I 858 00:31:38,558 --> 00:31:44,240 think someone had made a voice chat like 859 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:46,360 just weekend project as a CEO but it 860 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:50,278 would call uh all 861 00:31:46,359 --> 00:31:52,439 1,500 of their employees yeah and uh you 862 00:31:50,278 --> 00:31:53,798 know it was you know very short call 863 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:56,840 like kind of sounded like it was from 864 00:31:53,798 --> 00:31:59,480 the CEO just asking kind of personally I 865 00:31:56,839 --> 00:32:02,558 mean it sort of reminds of um that scene 866 00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:04,079 in her where it zooms out and uh 867 00:32:02,558 --> 00:32:06,558 actually you know you're following the 868 00:32:04,079 --> 00:32:09,278 experience of one person using the her 869 00:32:06,558 --> 00:32:11,240 OS but actually that her OSS is actually 870 00:32:09,278 --> 00:32:13,038 speaking to 15 you know thousands or 871 00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:16,880 tens of thousands of people all at one 872 00:32:13,038 --> 00:32:19,398 time how many others 873 00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:21,760 8,316 yeah I mean large language models 874 00:32:19,398 --> 00:32:25,398 can talk and can have conversations and 875 00:32:21,759 --> 00:32:28,200 then to what extent can uh you know this 876 00:32:25,398 --> 00:32:31,000 power actually extend the capability of 877 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:33,798 one or a few people to uh understand 878 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:34,919 what's going on I I heard about that yuk 879 00:32:33,798 --> 00:32:36,278 it got it definitely got me thinking 880 00:32:34,919 --> 00:32:37,759 because as understood the product is 881 00:32:36,278 --> 00:32:39,599 something like it just it will call up 882 00:32:37,759 --> 00:32:41,558 all your employees and then your 883 00:32:39,599 --> 00:32:43,398 employees can just like ramble about 884 00:32:41,558 --> 00:32:45,119 what they've been doing and it will just 885 00:32:43,398 --> 00:32:46,839 extract the meaning out of it and give 886 00:32:45,119 --> 00:32:48,879 the CEO of like a like bullet point 887 00:32:46,839 --> 00:32:50,359 summary of here the most important stuff 888 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:51,639 and there were a bunch of like SAS 889 00:32:50,359 --> 00:32:54,798 companies that attempted to do these 890 00:32:51,638 --> 00:32:56,558 sort of like weekly pulse Pulses from 891 00:32:54,798 --> 00:32:58,720 employees using like traditional SAS 892 00:32:56,558 --> 00:33:00,519 software but like that version is is 893 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:02,600 literally a 100 times better than the 894 00:33:00,519 --> 00:33:07,159 pre- elm version of this idea but I 895 00:33:02,599 --> 00:33:08,959 wonder with like that particular tool um 896 00:33:07,159 --> 00:33:11,399 just like it's not it's going Beyond 897 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:12,679 just like reading and summarizing like 898 00:33:11,398 --> 00:33:14,439 this this is the argument of like if 899 00:33:12,679 --> 00:33:16,080 writing is thinking then like there's 900 00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:19,080 actually just a huge amount 901 00:33:16,079 --> 00:33:20,439 of work that's involved in the effort of 902 00:33:19,079 --> 00:33:22,319 figuring out like who's an effective 903 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:24,278 communicator and like what are the most 904 00:33:22,319 --> 00:33:25,960 important things to be like what what 905 00:33:24,278 --> 00:33:28,159 are the key things to be focused on as a 906 00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:30,200 company and I just wonder if that at 907 00:33:28,159 --> 00:33:31,720 some point do the llms do like they go 908 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:33,720 beyond just like summarizing and reading 909 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:37,159 and doing actual thinking at which point 910 00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:39,919 like who's actually running the the 911 00:33:37,159 --> 00:33:41,720 organization an interesting 912 00:33:39,919 --> 00:33:43,200 thought I guess the other thing that's 913 00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:45,919 kind of interesting about how Parker 914 00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:47,639 Conrad's thinking about it is um I found 915 00:33:45,919 --> 00:33:49,880 out about this recently off a an 916 00:33:47,638 --> 00:33:51,759 interview with Matt mcginness his coo 917 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:54,720 that uh there are more than a hundred 918 00:33:51,759 --> 00:33:57,398 Founders who work at ripling now as sort 919 00:33:54,720 --> 00:34:00,120 of specific people who run like an 920 00:33:57,398 --> 00:34:02,158 entire SAS vertical inside Rippling it's 921 00:34:00,119 --> 00:34:03,918 super cool the way he's built the team 922 00:34:02,159 --> 00:34:04,880 har probably knows a lot about it 923 00:34:03,919 --> 00:34:06,919 because you've done a bunch of 924 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:10,440 interviews with him um yeah I mean it's 925 00:34:06,919 --> 00:34:14,039 definitely very focused on uh recruiting 926 00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:17,720 Founders and I mean Parker like Rippling 927 00:34:14,039 --> 00:34:20,960 is essentially the the case against 928 00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:23,158 vertical like verticalization trying to 929 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:23,159 uh 930 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:31,078 horizontalization like lots of value and 931 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:33,078 he wants to recruit Founders and teams 932 00:34:31,079 --> 00:34:34,599 that build on top of the platform like 933 00:34:33,079 --> 00:34:36,280 it's almost a little bit more sort of 934 00:34:34,599 --> 00:34:39,240 like amazones whereas like shared 935 00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:40,760 infrastructure um yeah I think every 936 00:34:39,239 --> 00:34:42,598 product that they've released I mean 937 00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:45,000 things like time tracking and whatnot I 938 00:34:42,599 --> 00:34:46,960 mean basically they launch a thing and 939 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:49,480 it hits like multi-millions of dollars 940 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:50,960 in ARR on day one of launching and 941 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:53,119 that's exactly what we were talking 942 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:55,760 about earlier like once you once you 943 00:34:53,119 --> 00:34:56,960 have a vertical once you have a tow hold 944 00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:58,920 what you're saying is Well I have to 945 00:34:56,960 --> 00:35:01,800 spend this money on sales and marketing 946 00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:05,358 anyway can I uh you know basically get 947 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:06,920 higher LTV and hold my CAC constant and 948 00:35:05,358 --> 00:35:09,078 uh that's sort of what you if you look 949 00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:10,760 at all the top uh software companies 950 00:35:09,079 --> 00:35:12,079 today it's like that's what Oracle is 951 00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:14,440 that's what Microsoft is that's what 952 00:35:12,079 --> 00:35:17,039 Salesforce is ripling knock on wood 953 00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:20,280 going to be the next but um it's it's an 954 00:35:17,039 --> 00:35:22,719 interesting alternative to uh going from 955 00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:23,720 zero to one totally on your own do you 956 00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:25,279 guys want to talk about some of the 957 00:35:23,719 --> 00:35:27,799 voice companies that we have I think 958 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:30,040 that's like an interesting like sub 959 00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:32,519 category of this of this stuff is like 960 00:35:30,039 --> 00:35:35,759 really blowing up now I have a company 961 00:35:32,519 --> 00:35:37,079 that I work with called Salient that 962 00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:40,200 basically 963 00:35:37,079 --> 00:35:42,760 does AI voice calling to automate a lot 964 00:35:40,199 --> 00:35:44,759 of that collection in the auto Ling 965 00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:46,400 space which tradition so they like call 966 00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:50,079 up people and they're like hey you owe 967 00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:52,599 $1,000 on your car yeah which actually 968 00:35:50,079 --> 00:35:54,519 up with that actually this kind of job 969 00:35:52,599 --> 00:35:57,760 is one of those butter passing job it 970 00:35:54,519 --> 00:35:59,559 kind of sucks because a lot of uh these 971 00:35:57,760 --> 00:36:01,839 low wage workers work in all these call 972 00:35:59,559 --> 00:36:04,480 centers and it's like a terrible boring 973 00:36:01,838 --> 00:36:05,838 job so very high churn and giant 974 00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:07,440 headcount to run these because there's 975 00:36:05,838 --> 00:36:10,039 just so many accounts with these banks 976 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:14,480 that have to do that and this is a 977 00:36:10,039 --> 00:36:17,199 perfect task that AI could automate and 978 00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:19,519 what Salient has done is has been able 979 00:36:17,199 --> 00:36:21,159 to actually get very very accurate and 980 00:36:19,519 --> 00:36:23,199 it has been going live with a lot of big 981 00:36:21,159 --> 00:36:25,279 Banks which is super exciting and this 982 00:36:23,199 --> 00:36:28,000 was a company from last year and 983 00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:29,960 demonstrating that that part of it that 984 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:32,079 they were able to get in because they 985 00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:33,880 sold through top down I guess the space 986 00:36:32,079 --> 00:36:35,760 feels like it's moving very quickly and 987 00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:38,318 that we have incredible companies that 988 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:40,839 are voice infra companies like vapy and 989 00:36:38,318 --> 00:36:43,679 then people can sort of get started 990 00:36:40,838 --> 00:36:45,880 right away and Retail also I mean these 991 00:36:43,679 --> 00:36:48,358 companies that have reached pretty fast 992 00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:50,838 scale just because it's one of the more 993 00:36:48,358 --> 00:36:53,119 exciting like mindblowing things that 994 00:36:50,838 --> 00:36:56,400 you can get up and running within I mean 995 00:36:53,119 --> 00:36:58,880 literally the course of hours um and 996 00:36:56,400 --> 00:37:00,119 then some of the question that you know 997 00:36:58,880 --> 00:37:02,358 remains unanswered and we hope they 998 00:37:00,119 --> 00:37:04,880 figure it out is how do you hold on to 999 00:37:02,358 --> 00:37:08,318 them especially as you uh run into 1000 00:37:04,880 --> 00:37:11,559 things like the new open AI voice apis 1001 00:37:08,318 --> 00:37:13,239 um you know do you go direct like you 1002 00:37:11,559 --> 00:37:16,199 Pro it's probably way more work to try 1003 00:37:13,239 --> 00:37:19,039 to use the underlying apis off the bat 1004 00:37:16,199 --> 00:37:21,279 but these uh platforms are clearly low 1005 00:37:19,039 --> 00:37:23,159 bar and then the question is can you 1006 00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:25,440 keep raising the ceiling so that you can 1007 00:37:23,159 --> 00:37:27,118 hold on to customers forever har you 1008 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:29,400 were making an interesting point earlier 1009 00:37:27,119 --> 00:37:31,880 about like how the apps that people have 1010 00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:34,000 built on top of LMS has changed from 1011 00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:35,400 like early 2023 when it started until 1012 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:36,719 now voice which we were just talking 1013 00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:38,880 about as a great example of this I think 1014 00:37:36,719 --> 00:37:41,279 even if you went 6 months back it felt 1015 00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:43,599 like the voices were not realistic 1016 00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:45,560 enough yet the latency was too high like 1017 00:37:43,599 --> 00:37:48,359 there was it felt like we were probably 1018 00:37:45,559 --> 00:37:51,159 a ways off having AI voice apps that 1019 00:37:48,358 --> 00:37:53,358 could meaningfully like replace like 1020 00:37:51,159 --> 00:37:57,078 humans calling people up and like here 1021 00:37:53,358 --> 00:38:00,519 we are and yeah I was just zooming out 1022 00:37:57,079 --> 00:38:03,920 thinking back to the first YC batch 1023 00:38:00,519 --> 00:38:05,119 where llm powered apps first came in was 1024 00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:08,760 probably winter 1025 00:38:05,119 --> 00:38:11,000 2023 you know almost 2 years ago now and 1026 00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:13,560 the apps were essentially just things 1027 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:15,480 that spat out some text and not even 1028 00:38:13,559 --> 00:38:17,759 like perfect T Rockit talk that's about 1029 00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:20,679 it yeah sort of more like copy editing 1030 00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:22,839 marketing edit email edits it was just a 1031 00:38:20,679 --> 00:38:24,598 kind of more like just like incremental 1032 00:38:22,838 --> 00:38:26,159 yeah like I I had a company I mean the 1033 00:38:24,599 --> 00:38:28,519 one that sticks in my head is a company 1034 00:38:26,159 --> 00:38:30,358 Speedy brand and all what they did is 1035 00:38:28,519 --> 00:38:32,920 make it very easy for like a small 1036 00:38:30,358 --> 00:38:35,199 business to just generate a Blog and 1037 00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:37,519 spit out content marketing um it's like 1038 00:38:35,199 --> 00:38:40,759 very obvious idea and it wasn't perfect 1039 00:38:37,519 --> 00:38:41,838 but it was pretty cool at the time and 1040 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:43,319 that's what we've talked about a bunch 1041 00:38:41,838 --> 00:38:45,159 of the show but that's like the chat gbt 1042 00:38:43,318 --> 00:38:47,519 raer turned out around that time hey 1043 00:38:45,159 --> 00:38:49,480 like this is what an llm app looks like 1044 00:38:47,519 --> 00:38:52,199 it's just a chat GPT rapper it does very 1045 00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:53,639 basic spits out some text like it's 1046 00:38:52,199 --> 00:38:56,439 going to get crushed by openi in the 1047 00:38:53,639 --> 00:38:58,960 next release like and it did yeah well I 1048 00:38:56,440 --> 00:39:01,000 I I don't know if that one did but but 1049 00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:02,838 the that that first that first wave of 1050 00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:06,039 llm apps mostly did get crushed by the 1051 00:39:02,838 --> 00:39:07,759 next wave of GPT I feel like we've had 1052 00:39:06,039 --> 00:39:09,400 this sort of boiling of the Frog effect 1053 00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:11,240 where from our perspect it's sort of 1054 00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:13,480 like every three months things have just 1055 00:39:11,239 --> 00:39:14,598 kept getting progressively better and 1056 00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:17,119 now we're at this point where we're 1057 00:39:14,599 --> 00:39:19,160 talking about like full-on vertical AI 1058 00:39:17,119 --> 00:39:22,119 agents that are going to replace entire 1059 00:39:19,159 --> 00:39:23,838 teams and functions and Enterprises um 1060 00:39:22,119 --> 00:39:26,400 and just that progression is still 1061 00:39:23,838 --> 00:39:28,358 mindblowing to me like with two years in 1062 00:39:26,400 --> 00:39:30,400 which is still relatively early and the 1063 00:39:28,358 --> 00:39:33,358 rate of progress is just like unlike 1064 00:39:30,400 --> 00:39:34,760 anything we've seen before and I think 1065 00:39:33,358 --> 00:39:37,480 what's interesting to see is we 1066 00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:39,760 discussed this in the last episode is a 1067 00:39:37,480 --> 00:39:41,400 lot of the foundation models are kind of 1068 00:39:39,760 --> 00:39:43,680 coming head-to-head there used to be 1069 00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:46,960 only one player in town with open AI but 1070 00:39:43,679 --> 00:39:48,598 we've been seeing in the last batch this 1071 00:39:46,960 --> 00:39:51,400 has been changing Claude is a huge 1072 00:39:48,599 --> 00:39:53,960 Contender thank God it's like 1073 00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:57,400 competition is you know the the soil for 1074 00:39:53,960 --> 00:40:00,079 a very fertile Marketplace ecosystem uh 1075 00:39:57,400 --> 00:40:02,079 for which consumers will have choice and 1076 00:40:00,079 --> 00:40:04,200 uh Founders have a shot and that's the 1077 00:40:02,079 --> 00:40:06,200 world I want to live in so people are 1078 00:40:04,199 --> 00:40:08,559 watching and thinking about starting a 1079 00:40:06,199 --> 00:40:11,519 startup or maybe have already started 1080 00:40:08,559 --> 00:40:13,639 and uh they're hearing all of this how 1081 00:40:11,519 --> 00:40:16,519 do you know what the right vertical is 1082 00:40:13,639 --> 00:40:19,920 for you you got to find 1083 00:40:16,519 --> 00:40:21,559 some boring repeative admin work 1084 00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:23,800 somewhere and that seems to be like the 1085 00:40:21,559 --> 00:40:26,159 common threat across all of the stuff is 1086 00:40:23,800 --> 00:40:29,720 if you can find a boring repetitive 1087 00:40:26,159 --> 00:40:33,078 admin task um there is likely going to 1088 00:40:29,719 --> 00:40:35,439 be a billion dollar AI agent startup if 1089 00:40:33,079 --> 00:40:37,039 you keep digging deep enough into it but 1090 00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:39,159 it sounds like you should go after 1091 00:40:37,039 --> 00:40:42,199 something that you directly have some 1092 00:40:39,159 --> 00:40:44,078 sort of experience or relationship to 1093 00:40:42,199 --> 00:40:45,480 that is a common like there there's 1094 00:40:44,079 --> 00:40:47,720 definitely a Common Thread I've seen in 1095 00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:49,358 the companies that are that I'm seeing 1096 00:40:47,719 --> 00:40:50,639 promis with and another one just pops 1097 00:40:49,358 --> 00:40:52,480 into my head sweet spot I think I 1098 00:40:50,639 --> 00:40:54,159 mentioned on this before like they're 1099 00:40:52,480 --> 00:40:56,358 basically building an AI agent to bid on 1100 00:40:54,159 --> 00:40:58,519 government contracts and the way they 1101 00:40:56,358 --> 00:40:59,920 found that idea and a year ago was they 1102 00:40:58,519 --> 00:41:01,239 just had a friend whose full-time job 1103 00:40:59,920 --> 00:41:03,039 was to sit there on like a government 1104 00:41:01,239 --> 00:41:05,358 website like refreshing the page like 1105 00:41:03,039 --> 00:41:07,119 looking for new proposals to bid on and 1106 00:41:05,358 --> 00:41:08,519 they they were pivoting they're like ah 1107 00:41:07,119 --> 00:41:10,838 like that seems like something an llm 1108 00:41:08,519 --> 00:41:12,480 could do um a company from a recent 1109 00:41:10,838 --> 00:41:13,880 batch which pivoted into a new idea 1110 00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:15,240 that's getting great traction like 1111 00:41:13,880 --> 00:41:17,000 they're basically building an AI agent 1112 00:41:15,239 --> 00:41:18,759 to do um process like medical billing 1113 00:41:17,000 --> 00:41:21,119 for dental clinics and the way they 1114 00:41:18,760 --> 00:41:22,800 found the idea was um one of the 1115 00:41:21,119 --> 00:41:24,039 founders mother is a dentist and so he 1116 00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:25,760 just decided to go to work with her for 1117 00:41:24,039 --> 00:41:27,759 a day and just sit there seeing what she 1118 00:41:25,760 --> 00:41:29,280 did and she's like oh like all of that 1119 00:41:27,760 --> 00:41:31,040 like processing claim seems like really 1120 00:41:29,280 --> 00:41:32,240 boring like an llm should totally be 1121 00:41:31,039 --> 00:41:34,960 able to do that and he just started 1122 00:41:32,239 --> 00:41:36,879 writing software for like his mother's 1123 00:41:34,960 --> 00:41:40,079 dental clinic so I guess I mean in 1124 00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:41,559 robotics the classic Maxim is uh you the 1125 00:41:40,079 --> 00:41:42,720 robots that are going to be profitable 1126 00:41:41,559 --> 00:41:47,799 and that are going to work are going to 1127 00:41:42,719 --> 00:41:50,719 be um dirty and dangerous jobs and in 1128 00:41:47,800 --> 00:41:53,960 this case for vertical SAS look for 1129 00:41:50,719 --> 00:41:56,399 boring butter passing 1130 00:41:53,960 --> 00:41:58,599 jobs well with that we're out of time 1131 00:41:56,400 --> 00:42:01,130 for today we'll catch you on the light 1132 00:41:58,599 --> 00:42:12,449 cone next time 1133 00:42:01,130 --> 00:42:12,449 [Music]