#231 | The Future of Entrepreneurship, ChatGPT for Robotics, & more
May 11th | The latest from Slow, A16Z, Scale, Wing, Humba, Daybreak, 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
The Future of Real-World Entrepreneurship (Yoni Rechtman, Principal @ Slow)
How to Build ChatGPT for Robotics (Jacob Phillips, VC @ A16Z)
Our Most Controversial Thesis: Open Source SuperIntelligence Will Be Widely Available (Rob May, GP @ Half Court Ventures)
The future of biological foundation models and value creation in AI-driven drug discovery (Maggie Basta, VP @ Scale)
Industry Developments & Analyses
Nine Emerging Developer Patterns for the AI Era (Yoko Li, Partner @ A16Z)
Q1 '25 Cloud Update: Risk-Adjusted AI (Eric Flaningam, VC @ Felicis)
Why Measuring Job Replacement is a Bad ROI Metric for AI (Peter G Schmidt, Sr. Associate @ Refinery)
AI’s Next Phase: From Research to Real-World Value (Jon Turow, Partner @ Madrona)
The Agentic AI Runtime Stack (Jake Flomenberg & Richard Li, Wing)
Stanford HAI AI Index Report 2025 (Radical VC Team)
Survey Says: Tech Spending Slows Slightly, AI Tops CXO Priority List (Scott Goering & Evan Witte, Battery Ventures)
Guides, Case Studies, and Best Practices for Operating
The Explore/Exploit Framework for Startups (Leo Polovets, GP @ Humba)
A Framework for Defining and Refining Your ICP (Michael King, GTM @ A16Z)
Inside a high velocity sales-assisted GTM motion (Kyle Poyar, Partner @ Tremont)
Early-Stage Product Strategy in Vertical AI (Euclid Ventures)
A Framework for Secondary Sales (Santosh Sankar, GP @ Dynamo)
Running a Series A Process (Megan Maloney, MP @ Dria Ventures)
9 Early Metrics That Predict PLG Success (and How to Track Them) (Ben Yoskovitz, Partner @ Highline Beta)
The Discipline of Liquidity (Brian Sugar, GP @ Sugar Capital)
Cracking the SMB playbook: Scaling through the leaky bucket (Noah Gross, Principal @ Scale)
An Explosive New Distribution Channel (Tomasz Tunguz, MD @ Theory)
From hype to utility: What agents actually mean for GTM teams (Kristina McMillan, EIR @ Scale)
Additional Reads
State of the Venture Market Today (Alex McIsaac, GP @ Northside)
The Urgent Buyer Era (Brett Bivens & Gregory Bernstein, Venture Desktop)
Compounding in the Age of Generative Software (Parul Singh, Board Partner @ Initialized)
Came for the AI Tool, Waiting for the AI Network (Rex Woodbury, MP @ Daybreak)
The AI TAM Expansion Opportunity (Tanay Jaipuria, Partner @ Wing VC)
When Software Buys Software (Jeff Morris Jr, GP @ Chapter One)
M&A Sweet Spot (Jamin Ball, Partner @ Altimeter Capital)
Getting Passed (David Beisel, GP @ NextView)
Uncomfortable and Unanswered Questions I Have as an AI Investor (Charles Hudson, GP @ Precursor)
Part I: The Generative AI P&L (Dawn Capital Team)
Notes:
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