GeekWire The Agentic Entrepreneur: How the next wave of AI is changing the startup playbook
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Oct 4, 2025 T.A. McCann, a Seattle-based serial entrepreneur and managing director at Pioneer Square Labs, dives into the transformative impact of AI on startups. He discusses how AI agents are automating tasks that once required large teams, heralding the rise of the one-person billion-dollar company. McCann also highlights the shift in strategic advantages toward distribution and data, and how AI-generated personas are replacing traditional market research. He predicts a future where agent-to-agent conversations will change negotiations, reshaping the startup landscape.
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Wearing A Continuous Recorder
- T.A. McCann wears a Limitless clip-on recorder that transcribes nearly everything he says during the day.
- He uses those transcripts for memory, presentations, and to reduce note-taking during conversations.
ChatGPT Sparked A Studio Pivot
- McCann says the ChatGPT moment shifted PSL to focus almost entirely on AI and agents.
- The studio now builds and invests in AI-first startups using that strategic pivot.
Spark Automates Idea-to-Validation
- PSL built Spark, a coordination layer that composes sub-agents to ideate and validate startup ideas end-to-end.
- Spark enriches ideas, maps competitors, finds contacts, builds landing pages, and runs investor searches automatically.