Equity

Sarah Guo isn’t late to the AI party

Oct 12, 2022

Sarah Guo, founder of Conviction and a former Greylock partner, talks about her new $101 million fund targeting software and AI investments. She explains her departure from Greylock and the evolving venture capital landscape, emphasizing trust between investors and founders. The conversation dives into AI's real-world applications and the skepticism around its hype, while addressing the pressing need for capital efficiency in startups. Guo also shares insights on navigating seed-stage investments and the importance of understanding market dynamics.

38:23

Creator website

Episode guests

Sarah Guo

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Intro

2min

Navigating the New Venture Capital Landscape

15min

Navigating AI's Realities and Hype

11min

The Shift Towards Capital Efficiency in Tech Startups

3min

Navigating Seed-Stage Investing: Metrics, Insights, and Growth Strategies

5min

Engaging Wrap-Up with Teaser for Live Event

2min

Sarah Guo isn't late to the AI party, but she did just raise a $101 million fund to bet on the appetizers.

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This is our Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single person, think about their work, and unpack the rest. This week, Natasha and Alex interviewed Guo, who worked at Greylock for nearly a decade, and her launch of Conviction.

We spoke about the self-correcting venture market, what made her leave Greylock, and even rewound to her last episode with us (recorded almost exactly three years ago).

There was also an especially fruitful conversation about the opportunity in artificial intelligence right now, and how she's defining Software 3.0. (Warning: We talk about SaaS!) We also dug into why she started a fund, the LP market, and more. The conversation ran a bit long, but it felt reasonable to keep going given the sheer breadth of stuff that we wanted to get through.

Don't forget that Equity is going to be live at Disrupt next week, on Tuesday morning. It's going to be a blast. And before we go, two programming notes (that help your wallet, too):

First up, use code “EQUITY” for a special listener discount for Disrupt tickets. We’re less than one month away!
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Equity drops every Monday at 7 a.m. PT and Wednesday and Friday at 6 a.m. PT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews founders, a show that details how our stories come together and more!

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

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