#259 | Fintech Holy Grail, Anti-AI Bet, Modern Finance Stack, & more
Nov 23rd | The latest from Primary, Jump, Sapphire, Altimeter, Scale, Sequoia, 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
Building the Fintech (and AI) Holy Grail: Data Assets (Emily Man, Partner @ Primary)
The Anti-AI Bet (Glenn Borok, VP @ Jump Capital)
The TAM Is All of Human Labor (Sean Cai, VC @ Costanoa)
Industry Developments & Analyses
From Spreadsheet Analysts to AI Agents: Reinventing the Modern Finance Stack (Rajeev Dham, Aditya Reddy, & Jasmine Yang, Sapphire Ventures)
The AI Platform Wars (Jamin Ball, Partner @ Altimeter)
How reinforcement learning is upending the AI infra stack (Eric Anderson, Partner @ Scale)
Gas-Fired Intelligence (Michael Spyker for A16Z)
A tour of China’s electrostate (Climate Tech VC)
Bitter Economics (Martin Casado, GP @ A16Z)
America’s Next Top Model: Gemini 3 (Saanya Ojha, Partner @ BCV)
Application Software Is Dead, Again (Akash Bajwa, Principal @ Earlybird)
Tech Dilution Through Q3: Discipline Cracks at Big Tech (Thomas Reiner, Partner @ Altimeter)
Bitter Economics (Martin Casado, GP @ A16Z)
AI Eats The World (Benedict Evans, Venture Partner @ Mosaic)
Insurance Capacity & Innovation (Adam Chadroff & Andrew Schwartz, Equal)
From Grid Liabilities to Grid Resources: Unlocking Data Center Flexibility (Agustina Soriano Sergi & Eileen Waris, Energize)
Guides, Case Studies, and Best Practices for Operating
Need for Speed in AI Sales: AI Doesn’t Just Change What You Sell. It Also Changes How You Sell It. (Seema Amble & James da Costa, a16z)
Building a moat in the age of AI (Matt Gatto & Jessie Sheff, Insight)
From tasks to systems: A practical playbook for operationalizing AI (Bessemer Team)
From Network Effects to Cognitive Effects: The New Rules for Platform Dominance (Kirsten Green, GP @ Forerunner)
What’s in a Name? A Lot, Actually. Here’s How to Pick the Right One (Arielle Jackson for First Round)
How to use AI agents for marketing (Kyle Poyar, Growth Unhinged)
How to Rethink Campaigns in the AI Era (Mandy Cole, Partner @ Stage 2)
The Real Differentiator in the AI Era (Ben Yoskovitz, Partner @ Highline Beta)
Additional Reads
Business of Risk Taking (Alfred Lin, GP @ Sequoia)
New York Is An Industry Town (Rex Woodbury, MP @ Daybreak)
Stories about the future (Yoni Rechtman, Principal @ Slow)
“Build What’s Fundable” (Kyle Harrison, GP @ Contrary)
What We’re Thinking About Community and Its Nine Lives (Simran Suri, Principal @ Maveron)
The Solo GP Illusion (Brian Sugar, GP @ Sugar Capital)
Why AI Is and Also Isn’t a Bubble (Rob May, GP @ Half Court)
The Bacon & the Skillet: When Does the AI Market Congeal? (Tomasz Tunguz, MD @ Theory)
Notes:
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