Emergence Capital

Are we at the top of the S-Curve for AI? Likely, yes. Performance is plateauing. AI companies are scavenging for data. For example, with Whisper, OpenAI has transcribed a million hours of YouTube videos for GPT-4. Model providers can keep following this path but they won’t escape the flattening S-Curve this way. The next great training source for AI models is data produced in a work context. It's of far?higher quality?than what’s left of public data for training purposes, especially compared to running the dregs of the internet through the transformer mill. We have written a deeply researched piece about how startups can help us make the jump to the next S-Curve: By helping companies tap the brilliance of their people, and by building the next great AI tools with business data. We've identified four areas for startups who want to solve for breaking out of the AI plateau to build something new, useful, and powerful. Take a read, and if you're working on this problem, please get in touch! https://lnkd.in/g6M8UvzF

????? Podcast alert: General Partner Joseph F. joined CJ Gustafson on Run the Numbers to talk about our Beyond Benchmarks report, the best SaaS metrics, Waymo, Zuck, Llama, and much more; a fun episode that will make you smarter. Listen here:

Give it a listen and get smart about SaaS metrics (and more) ?????:

Relationships are at the heart of business. While that mantra is widely accepted for sales and success professionals, we've underestimated our role as marketers in building relationships at scale -- this time, between our brand and the audiences we serve. But relationships are also at the heart of company building. I had the pleasure of meeting Colin Fleming during our recent fundraising process, and was fortunate to have him keynote our inaugural Goldenhour conference in April. Beyond being an accomplished executive, Colin is also an incredible marketer at heart -- with a keen eye for the creative and culturally-relevant that I imagine was shaped by his experience as a former Formula 1 test driver. Colin and I share a vision on the power of brand in B2B. Said another way, the CRITICALITY of brand in winning the hearts and minds of our audience, building deep and meaningful relationships, and earning the right to work with them as customers. I can't think of any CMO in our industry blazing this trail - especially at F500 scale -- better than Colin. I'm humbled to have the opportunity to work with Colin at AudiencePlus to not just build a company, but to spark a movement in Audience Marketing for our entire industry. Here's to setting a PURPLE sector of momentum! Sorry F1 fans, I couldn't resist :)

Great opportunities to join an exciting company building a bold new marketing tool: #hiring #jobs

Until now, LLMs have largely struggled in math. But GPT o1's enhanced quantitative reasoning abilities seem poised to help startups further whittle away at the Big 4; accounting, tax, audit, etc will become increasingly in scope for AI. The AI-enabled services companies that will capture this opportunity are being born now. While the opportunity is massive, the path to building these companies is different than a typical SaaS company. At Emergence Capital, we're working to document the "how" to help founders build these new types of companies. Some initial thoughts below with more to come.

Our friends at Acquired have cracked the code on business podcasting. Congratulations to Ben and David on packing the Chase Center last night!

Sure to be a great event, in a beautiful space. Join us!

Congratulations to Unify and Arcee.ai for being recognized on Madrona's Intelligent Applications (IA) 40!

AudiencePlus is a special company solving two critical problems: 1. AI is changing the way marketing teams work, and there's no going back. CMOs and their teams need software that fully leverages these tools to their advantage, not bolt-ons to existing platforms that weren't built for this new world. 2. Owning and mobilizing your own audience is crucial to unlocking growth and revenue for all businesses. It's time to stop sending your traffic to platforms where you have no control and can't build first-party relationships with your customers. Anthony Kennada's vision for a platform that enables marketing teams to build meaningful relationships with AI is the most compelling one we've ever seen. We're proud to support the next phase of AudiencePlus's journey, not only by continuing to be their partner and advocate, but by leading the new financing round they've announced today, enabling them to keep scaling their business and enhancing their product. Congratulations to everyone at Audience Plus on your achievement. Let's go! ??????