Daniel Khachab is the co-founder and CEO of Choco. He discusses company-building mistakes and argues that creating separate skunkworks teams masks deficiencies in the core organization.
“And I think today I'm convinced that that that's the wrong way to think about company building. Actually this AI would be another example. Like we could give it like to a special project kind of skunk works kind of team. You figure out AI and then you give it back. So that doesn't work. And the reason is that if you're, if the core of your company doesn't have the skills, the capabilities to innovate, then you have a problem in the first place. Like your core needs to be able to innovate, you know, to get it there. So the skunkworks team might just be an excuse to not being able to do it in your core.”
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More from Daniel Khachab
Opinion
Khachab: Europe lacks AI sovereignty because it misses chips, energy, and models
“In Europe today, We're not producing the chips. We're not producing the energy. We don't have the foundational layer models. So in that sense, these countries that don't possess those three elements are not really sovereign countries when it comes to AI.”
Daniel KhachabOct 28, 2024▶ 28:12Daniel Khachab: "We Are in the Middle of a Cold War for AI Talent" | E1220 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Khachab: Europe should subsidize TSMC and NVIDIA instead of Intel
“First of all, Intel is the wrong company to fund. So the first step you ask me is like, put it to the right company. Put it to Taiwan Semiconductor. Put it to NVIDIA. People that can actually produce GPUs.”
Daniel KhachabOct 28, 2024▶ 30:03Daniel Khachab: "We Are in the Middle of a Cold War for AI Talent" | E1220 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Khachab: European regulation does not hold back most SaaS or marketplace startups
“Look, there's certain heavily regulated industries, and I don't know them very well, but I'm sure eventually they're at a disadvantage. But that doesn't hold, for example, for most of SaaS, and also neither for most of marketplaces.”
Daniel KhachabOct 28, 2024▶ 34:32Daniel Khachab: "We Are in the Middle of a Cold War for AI Talent" | E1220 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Khachab: Investors should short Europe under the current government status quo
“So I think status quo, we have to be short. Government is just, yeah.”
Daniel KhachabOct 28, 2024▶ 36:47Daniel Khachab: "We Are in the Middle of a Cold War for AI Talent" | E1220 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Khachab: Reaching a $1B valuation weakens startup urgency and attracts safe players
“Now the real downside to me is that it's at one billion mark, because once we become unicorn and people think, oh, we've made it. Like we've done, we, we're great now. Kind of people get less hungry. And then you get applications of people who look for a safe …”
Daniel KhachabOct 28, 2024▶ 44:34Daniel Khachab: "We Are in the Middle of a Cold War for AI Talent" | E1220 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
PredictionNot checkable as stated
Khachab: AI will replicate years of proprietary software development by 2028
“This thing is going to learn how to code in no time. And maybe not now, maybe not next year, maybe 27, maybe in 28, like where's our technological mode is going to be? Like it might just be gone, like anyone maybe able to replicate what we have built over year…”
Daniel KhachabOct 28, 2024▶ 1:30Daniel Khachab: "We Are in the Middle of a Cold War for AI Talent" | E1220 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
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