The Long Game w/ Elijah Murray Kal Amin: Venture Studios, AI Innovation, and the Great SMB Transfer
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May 6, 2025 
Kal Amin, President at 1848 Ventures and tech veteran with experience at Google and Spotify, discusses the future of venture studios and their impact on small businesses. He delves into the significant SMB ownership transfer on the horizon and how AI is revolutionizing the landscape for these businesses. Kal shares insights on building defensible AI companies with data moats and the evolving profile of SMB buyers. He highlights what makes a successful founder today, emphasizing grit and industry expertise as essential traits.
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SMBs Are A Massive, Underserved Market
- Small and medium businesses (SMBs) make up 44% of US GDP and drive over 80% of job creation.
- 1848 targets SMBs where AI can boost productivity and efficiency for measurable business impact.
AI Changes SMB Unit Economics
- Historically unit economics made SMB-focused startups unattractive to VCs.
- AI now lowers costs and enables scalable solutions that shift that math in favor of SMB investments.
How TakeUp.ai Was Built End-To-End
- 1848 built TakeUp.ai for bed-and-breakfast and outdoor hospitality via research, interviews, prototypes, and validation.
- They funded pre-seed, got first customers, and scaled toward seed funding.