Business Lunch Intelligent Data: Empowering Ai Development With Lucy Guo
Aug 29, 2025
In a captivating discussion, Lucy Guo, entrepreneur and investor known for co-founding Scale AI and Backend Capital, shares her remarkable journey from childhood business ventures to tech innovation. She emphasizes the importance of coding knowledge in managing engineering teams and decision-making. Lucy explores investment opportunities in AI and Web3, discussing the potential and challenges of these evolving sectors. The conversation also covers innovative NFT branding strategies and the advantages of acquiring established businesses for growth.
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Early Hustle Built Technical Roots
- Lucy Guo started coding as a child and monetized bots and rare virtual items on platforms like Neopets and PayPal.
- She used early internet tools to build marketing bots and later entered hackathons, which led to startups and dropping out of college.
Learn Code Fundamentals
- Learn coding fundamentals even if you use no-code tools so you can manage engineers and estimate costs and timelines.
- Avoid being a purely non-technical founder hiring engineers or you'll likely get ripped off.
YC's Network Is A B2B Multiplier
- Y Combinator gives B2B startups an unfair advantage by granting access to a large network of fundable customers.
- That network effect can justify joining YC despite dilution for some companies.