2025 Request for Startups
AJ Solimine
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LLMs are supercharging innovation at a pace we’ve never seen before in our 20 years working building and investing in startups. Here are a few areas that we’re particularly excited about as we enter 2025.
1000x Software
- LLMs will 100x the number of programmers and 10x their productivity
- What does software creation look like as programming gets commoditized by LLMs?
- What does the software stack of the future look like?
- What happens to SaaS when software becomes effectively “ephemeral”?
New Data Economies
- Data from web 2.0 and cloud era has largely been siloed into proprietary SaaS and consumer data models, that is not portable nor interoperable
- LLMs need data to train, but we need new data licensing models to incentivize existing and new data creators to open data to model training
- How data is interpreted & standardized and the new protocols for how agents and models consume and leverage data needs to be reconsidered completely
Agents over Interfaces
- Jobs to be done are more important than app experiences
- AI agents allow for higher levels of abstractions to achieve goals instead of complete tasks
- What do APIs look like in world of agents instead of human developers?
- How can cryptographic protocols enhance agent workflows?
AI-Enhanced Accountability
- Humans need social pressure to be held accountable to improving themselves
- Therapists, tutors, coaches all follow playbooks and there’s very little personalization
- AI will replace personal trainers, tutors, coaches and the anthropomorphic nature of virtual avatars will provide enough social pressure for maximum effect and minimal cost
- What is the right agent model for each traditionally human-centric teaching or coaching modality?
Energy Management Systems
- Energy demand will accelerate w/ AI, not just GPUs but per capita global consumption
- What software stack does the average person or company need to better optimize energy consumption?
- What hardware + software can significantly improve efficiency at home (solar + smart panels, heat pumps, passive house architecture, construction materials)?
Stablecoin Driven Finance
- Stablecoins are the gateway to a world of powerful financial products
- Stablecoin focused neobanks and payment networks will take over majority of financial transactions by 2040
- Focus on non-US countries with volatile currencies, less regulation
- What is the optimal consumer banking experience of the future?
DOGE
- US government budget is $13T, yet we do not have universal healthcare, free university, good infrastructure, etc…
- How can we build software to make the delivery of social services more efficient?
- How can we get better transparency & accountability into our tax dollars and over gov’t spending?