Sandhya Venkatachalam of Axiom Partners reflects on over 20 years in Silicon Valley and the resurgence of founder energy in San Francisco.
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Venkatachalam: In 20 years all humans will need new jobs
“In 20 years, I'm actually hoping I become an AI chatbot now, meaning I think that AI will be doing things that we can't even imagine all of us will need new jobs.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Venkatachalam: The era of shallow, horizontal subscription SaaS is ending
“So, absolutely I think the era of horizontal, shallow software that's sold in some kind of monthly subscription is, is reaching its end.”
Insight
Venkatachalam: Transformational startups rarely emerge from existing software categories
“New transformational companies, by definition, rarely emerge from existing categories. So we actually find this application layer relatively uninteresting, again, from a pre-seed and seed stage venture perspective which is where, you know, we largely operate.”
Insight
Venkatachalam: Autonomous AI systems sell into labor budgets, not software budgets
“Usually when companies sell these types of systems, they are selling into labor budgets of customers, not software budgets.”
Opinion
Venkatachalam: Short-Term AI Unlocks Latent Demand Rather Than Eliminating Jobs
“So in the short term, what we're seeing is there are a lot of areas where there is a shortage, especially of highly skilled labor. It's not just unskilled labor. And there are organizations that are actively looking to hire and can't find people. And this crea…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Venkatachalam: Axiom AI portfolio companies charge hundreds of thousands even in alpha
“And, you know, as I look at my portfolio companies who are doing similar things in other areas, they're not charging 20 dollars a month, right? They're not, you know, a twenty-k a year sort of mid-market SaaS solution. They're able to charge hundreds of thousa…”