Fontana: Why AI Startups Should Target Industries With Convex Payoff Curves
Ash Fontana · Ash Fontana – Investing in Artificial Intelligence at Zetta Ventures (First Meeting, EP.11) · Oct 28, 2019 · at 39:44
Ash Fontana, managing partner at Zetta Venture Partners, discusses industry selection frameworks for artificial intelligence applications.
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“You want to work in industries where the payoff is really high. So I think of like convex and concave payoffs, where if you get it right, it's really valuable to you. But if you get it wrong, it doesn't really matter. So again, going back to medical use cases, if you get it right, okay, people say, thanks, I'm out, I'll check out a hospital now. If you get it wrong, someone dies. Thinking about sales and marketing use cases, if you get it wrong, it doesn't really matter. People waste a bit of time. If you get it right, that's a new sale, and that's some cash in your pocket. Same with financial markets. Like, if you get it right, it's cash in your pocket. If you get it wrong, alright, whatever, we're doing another trade in another microsecond. So, we think about industries where, that have that very convex payoff curve from using technology.”
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