As a general partner at Spark Capital, Nabeel Hyatt backs just one or two companies each year.
But when he does invest, Nabeel picks winners. He was an early investor in Discord, video editor Descript, self-driving startup Cruise (acquired by General Motor for over $1 billion), and, recently, AI note-taking app Granola.
Nabeel’s investment thesis is to look for products like the Japanese toilet.
Don’t fret—Spark Capital hasn’t pivoted into the sanitaryware industry. Nabeel isn’t looking for startups that are disrupting plumbing.
Rather, just like Japanese toilets, he’s looking for products that delight users with new experiences they didn’t know they wanted—and if his past investments are anything to go by, Nabeel has a good eye for that.
On my recent trip to San Francisco, I sat down with Nabeel to talk about the qualities shared by remarkable products and the founders that build them, why he chooses not to invest in more than a couple of startups a year, and how he’s actually using AI in his daily life. Nabeel is one of my favorite people in AI, and this is one of my favorite recent conversations. It’s a must watch for founders who want to build useful AI products with soul.
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Links to resources mentioned in the episode:
Nabeel Hyatt: @nabeel, https://nabeelhyatt.com/
Spark Capital: https://www.sparkcapital.com/
The piece Chris Pedregal wrote for Every: How to Build a Truly Useful AI Product
Chris Pedregal on AI & I: 🎧 The Secret to Building Sticky AI Products
The AI tools Nabeel talks about: Windsurf, Wordware
