Archive - Sarah Tavel's Newsletter

Thinking through the future for LLM companies... and what this means for B2B AI startups

In my last post I talked through the big stack game of poker that is happening with the LLM players.

Sep 26 •

August 2024

The big stack game of LLM poker

The next few years is going to make the "$600B Question" look small

Aug 20 •

April 2024

Rolling Thunder of AI Opportunities

One of the fascinating things about what's happening in AI is that, rather than be a few distinct moments of technological disruption that unlocks new…

Apr 19 •

How AI startups offer a 100x + cheaper disruptive value prop that unlock new markets (think: HeyGen, ElevenLabs, DeepL)

A common trope repeated in the media and behind closed doors is that incumbents, not startups, are best positioned to take advantage of AI.

Apr 1 •

January 2024

A few "Sell Work, Not Software" updated thoughts

I am grateful for all the conversations I've had with founders tackling "sell work, not software" opportunities. Some follow-up reflections from those…

Jan 19 •

August 2023

AI startups: Sell work, not software

For the past 25 years, application software startups have had a singular focus: increasing company and employee (including developer) productivity.

Aug 21, 2023 •

July 2023

The Mitochondria in Startups

On hiring and retaining employees who act more like founders than employees (update to 2016 post)

Jul 25, 2023 •

Benchmark's New General Partner, Victor Lazarte

Today we’re announcing that Victor Lazarte has joined the firm as our newest General Partner and cofounder.

Jul 24, 2023 •

Don't Fall Into the Trap of Taking the Wrong Lessons from Others' Success

Another reminder on the value of first principles thinking

Jul 14, 2023 •

Time to start cross posting on Threads :)

fwiw (not very much) quick take

Jul 6, 2023 •

May 2023

"They're the ones who reached out to me"

AKA you don't want the plumber who can come right away.

May 4, 2023 •

April 2023

How to escape competition -- Building enduring application-level value with LLMs

[Fell off the weekly-post horse when the SVB stuff went down, but trying to get back on.

Apr 24, 2023 •

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