#257 | Built World AI, Systems of Context, Fintech x AI, & more
Nov 9th | The latest from Bessemer, Emergence, BTV, QED, Maveron, and others
SandHill.io aggregates and shares the latest investment themes, market insights, and best practices for operating and investing from 700+ VCs, analysts, and operators.
This newsletter curates a selection of posts featured on the website each week.
Investment Themes & Theses
Roadmap: Built World AI (Maha Malik, Rayouf Alhumedhi & Kent Bennett, Bessemer)
All You Need Is Context (Joe Floyd, GP @ Emergence Capital)
Fintech x AI: The Next Great Intersection (Nihar Bobba, Partner @ BTV)
Forget “GPT-Wrappers”: The Future of AI Startups is Last-Mile Delivery (Ryan Shannon, VC @ Radical Ventures)
The Future of Open Models (Jasper Platz, VC @ G2VP)
Industry Developments & Analyses
Finance’s back office is entering its biggest upgrade cycle in decades (Shruti Batra & Laura Bock, QED)
A Momentarily Comprehensive Guide to Prediction Markets (Aaron Miller, Principal @ Will Ventures)
Intelligent robotics: the new era of physical AI (Alexandra Sukin, Talia Goldberg & Bhavik Nagda, Bessemer)
AI is breaking the cybersecurity oligopoly (Will Quist, Slow Ventures)
Aging In Place: The New Norm (David Talpalar, ex-VC @ Conversion)
AI Is Transforming CPG Distribution (Simran Suri, Principal @ Maveron)
The Next Frontier in Risk Modeling (Amir Kabir, MP @ Overlook Ventures)
Guides, Case Studies, and Best Practices for Operating
Why category leaders compound (Jax Vullinghs, Partner @ Airtree)
How the Best Products Remove Guilt (Rex Woodbury, MP @ Daybreak)
The biggest mistake founders are making in AI (Amias Gerety, Partner @ QED)
The compounding startup (Kyle Poyar, Growth Unhinged)
Field Notes- Faster, Better, Not Average (Santosh Sankar, GP @ Dynamo)
What’s driving growth right now — and what will redefine pipeline in 2026 (Insight Team)
The Importance of “Ideal Market Profile” (Robin Butler, Partner @ Sturgeon)
Additional Reads
Why most AI-enabled roll-ups will fail (and the 4 rules of those that will win) (Rick Zullo, MP @ Equal Ventures)
Power is power (Yoni Rechtman, Principal @ Slow)
Founder Ideology (Kyle Harrison, GP @ Contrary)
Ghost-Lit by Venture (Brian Sugar, GP @ Sugar Capital)
Why AC is cheap, but AC repair is a luxury (Alex Danco, A16Z)
The Benefits of Bubbles (Stratechery)
Maybe It Shouldn’t be an FDE (Annelies Gamble, Partner @ Zetta)
Self play and autocurricula in the age of agents (Rohan Virani, VC @ Amplify)
Rubrics as Rewards: Reinforcement Learning Beyond Verifiable Domains (Akash Bajwa, Principal @ Earlybird)
What’s Up With The AI Bubble (Glenn Borok, VP @ Jump Capital)
OpenAI’s $1 Trillion Infrastructure Spend (Tomasz Tunguz, MD @ Theory)
Notes:
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