20VC: Benchmark's Eric Vishria on Where is the Value in AI: Chips, Models or Apps | Why Nvidia Will Not Be The Only Game in Town | The Commoditisation of Foundation Models | Which AI Apps Have Sustaining Value vs Hype and Short Term Revenue
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The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
1h 2m
2 speakers
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Foundational models are the fastest depreciating asset in human history. I don't believe NVIDIA is going to be the only game in town on infrastructure. We have a major, major shift in AI, which could be bigger than any of these other shifts maybe combined. It's simultaneously the most exciting and most disorienting time in my 25 years in technology. There's a lot of uncertainty, but we've been more active than we've been since 2010 and 2011.
This is 20VC with me, Harry Stebbings, and today we have Eric Vichry, a general partner at Benchmark, joining me in the hot seat. Now, what is amazing about Eric is the breadth of his investing success. From Benchling, to Amplitude, to Cerebrus, to Confluent, these are incredible companies, but in totally uncorrelated and different industries. A once-in-a-generation investor, a true picker, and one of the greats. But before we dive in today, all of you listening use tons of software every day. Sometimes it fills us with rage. You can't figure something out. The chatbot in the bottom right is useless. You keep getting bombarded with these useless pop-ups. And for those of you who build products, no one wants their product to feel like this. Thankfully, a company exists to help users without annoying them. CommandBar. It does a couple of very helpful things. First, it's a chatbot that uses AI to give users extremely personalized responses and deflect tickets. But it can be beyond just text.
It can also co-browse with the user and show them how to do things inside the UI. Magic! But it can also detect when users would benefit from a proactive nudge, like a helpful hint, or an invitation to start a free trial. CommandBar is already used by world-class companies like Gusto, HashiCorp, Yotpo, and Angelist. If you're a product CX or marketing leader, check them out at commandbar.com slash harry. And talking about incredible companies with Command Bar, I want to talk to you about a new venture fund making waves by taking a very different approach. It's a public venture fund anyone can invest in. not just institutions and accredited investors. The Fundrise Innovation Fund is democratizing venture capital, which could have big consequences for the industry. The fund is already off to a good start with $100 million into some of the largest, most in-demand AI and data infrastructure companies. Companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Databricks.
Check out the Innovation Fund's impressive list of investments for yourself by visiting fundrise.com slash 20VC. Carefully consider the investment material before investing, including objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. This and other information can be found in the Innovation Fund's prospectus at fundrise.com slash innovation. This is a paid sponsorship. And finally, let's talk about Squarespace. Squarespace is the all-in-one website platform for entrepreneurs to stand out and succeed online. Whether you're just starting out or managing a growing brand, Squarespace makes it easy to create a beautiful website, engage with your audience, and sell anything from products to content, all in one place, all on your terms.
What's blown me away is the Squarespace Blueprint AI and SEO tools. It's like crafting your site with a guided system. ensuring it not only reflects your unique style, but also ranks well on search engines. Plus, their flexible payment options cater to every customer's needs, making transactions smooth and hassle-free. And the Squarespace AI? It's a content wizard helping you whip up text that truly resonates with your brand voice. So if you're ready to get started, head to squarespace.com for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, go to squarespace.com and use the code 20VC to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. You have now arrived at your destination. Eric, I am so excited for this, man.
We've been waiting. I think it was like five or six years since our last one, at least. So thank you so much for joining me today. You look older, Harry. The Botox isn't working. But I was just listening to you on another show, actually. Not nearly as good as mine, by the way. You said that as a CEO, you felt you fell short. And it didn't really go anywhere from there in that conversation.
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