E21: VC Insights on Investing in Artificial Intelligence with Sarah Guo and Elad Gil of No Priors Podcast

Nathan Labenz and Erik Torenberg sit down with Sarah Guo and Elad Gil, notable investors and co-hosts of the AI-focused No Priors podcast. They discuss how Sarah and Elad are approaching AI investment opportunities right now, how that differs from how they've thought about investing in the past, where in the stack from hardware to applications they expect to see value accrue, what modes of human-AI interaction they are most interested in, and more.

Sarah is the founder of $100M AI-focused venture fund Conviction VC, which she launched last fall. She was previously General Partner at Greylock. Elad is a serial entrepreneur and a startup investor. He has invested in over 40 companies now worth $1B or more each, and is also author of the High Growth Handbook.

This episode is the first in a series centered on talking to rising voices in AI media, people who are now only working overtime to understand everything going on in AI, but also creating thought leadership and educational content meant to help others get up to speed as well.

LINKS:

No Priors Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0O65xhqvGVhpgdIrrdlEYk

No Priors on Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/no-priors-artificial-intelligence-machine-learning/id1668002688

Elad Gil's blog: https://blog.eladgil.com/

Sarah Guo's blog: https://sarahguo.com/blog

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We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com.

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Episode preview

(04:43) What is software 3.0

(09:14) Disruption coming from startups or incumbents?

(13:42) Sarah and Elad identify overlooked investment opportunities in AI

(15:19) Sponsor: Omneky

(15:46) Future of social media

(22:45) AI agents & personal co-pilots

(25:32) Where to invest in AI?

(31:11) How our kids will interact with AI

(34:50) How to gain conviction as an investor in AI

(45:07) When should founders raise money and when should they bootstrap?

(46:28) How should startups spend their capital now that we have AI capabilities?

(48:10) Sarah & Elad’s favorite products in AI

(51:39) Would Sarah & Elad get a neuralink implant?

(53:41) AI hopes and fears

TWITTER:

@CogRev_Podcast

@labenz (Nathan)

@eriktorenberg (Erik)

@sarahnormous (Sarah)

@eladgil (Elad)

SPONSORS:

Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. Shopify powers 10% of ALL eCommerce in the US. And Shopify's the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy's, and Brooklinen, and 1,000,000s of other entrepreneurs across 175 countries.From their all-in-one e-commerce platform, to their in-person POS system – wherever and whatever you're selling, Shopify's got you covered. With free Shopify Magic, sell more with less effort by whipping up captivating content that converts – from blog posts to product descriptions using AI. Sign up for $1/month trial period: https://shopify.com/cognitive

Thank you Omneky for sponsoring The Cognitive Revolution. Omneky is an omnichannel creative generation platform that lets you launch hundreds of thousands of ad iterations that actually work, customized across all platforms, with a click of a button. Omneky combines generative AI and real-time advertising data. Mention "Cog Rev" for 10% off.

This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at erik@turpentine.co.

More show notes and reading material released in our Substack: https://cognitiverevolution.substack.com/