AI and mental load, AI in the EU, new apps to know, and strategic sector synergy
True Ventures
A Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm focused on early stage technology startups.
Greetings, readers. What a month it’s been!?Pace continues in the AI revolution. We hosted?an AI Design Leaders panel, welcomed a new team member, and made our way to Bluesky. Let’s dig into what else is?new across the True community, beginning with some words from our teammate Dave. As always, thanks for reading.?
AI & Mental Load
By Dave Balter
AI helps us ship code and run companies, but will it make our daily lives easier too??Here’s a scenario: your GE dishwasher is on the fritz, and you realize it needs a new heat pump. So there you are scrolling through replacement parts you don’t fully understand on Home Depot’s site, looking for a deal, fighting decision fatigue, and wondering to yourself, Golly, should I just buy a whole new dishwasher instead?
Now imagine if AI could tell you the likelihood that your heat pump, based on age and make, is only likely to give you another week or month of life from your Ultrafresh Dishwasher with Microban. This question around predictiveness and anticipation, rather than inputs/outputs, has become intriguing to me – and not just because my dishwasher and I aren’t getting along.
My teammate (and, some say better-looking, friend) Clarence Bethea , posed a few of these questions to me recently, and it led to a discussion about how AI will completely redesign companies organizationally?in the future. Short story, as many of us are realizing: the companies we run today won’t look anything like the companies we run in twenty years.??
Here’s a quick example from Flipside: a customer let us know that they’re changing their entire business model (they’re pre-product launch, but awfully close). They explained what was changing and – pulling no punches – it was very complex and technical. Frankly, most of it went over my head.
Typically it would take me hours to distill and then reframe the conversation to my team, but with some simple AI note-generating solutions and querying, we consolidated the discussion into language our engineers could understand. It took 10 minutes and let me both look capable to my team and enjoy (alas!) a leisurely lunch and walk, a luxury for the founder set. (FWIW, I gobbled down some soup, which AI did not create for me.)?
I think we’re all seeing some form of this reduction in (or transfer of) mental load, but AI anticipating what we need before we know we need it is another layer I’ll be curious to see unfold. While the completion of the work had its wow factor, the significance goes well beyond that. Organizations of the future will be designed around these solutions which simplify our work or change the nature of what work we do altogether, meaning employing different forms of talent, reworking operating structures, and getting signals that tell us what to work on – the next phase beyond incremental improvements.
Where you may?have required decades of pedigrees, you might be able to execute just as well with individuals in their first year out of college. Where you may?have needed a dozen people, maybe you’ll need just one. What will an organization look like when the distance between the most skilled and most naive becomes almost imperceptible? And how long will it take for my dishwasher to speak up and warn me before it retires in advance of me hosting a holiday meal?
Dave is an investor at True and founding-CEO of crypto analytics company Flipside. He previously built multiple software companies, several of which were acquired. He's known to crack jokes, even in the board room, and can help founders navigate M&A opportunities. Meet our whole team.
AI Company Briefing
Tough time keeping up with all the new AI companies? Here are a few new AI apps and software to know, try, share.
Lex: AI writing tool with minimalist design packing power.?
What You Should Know?
Pro version includes unlimited usage, premium AI models,?early access to features like context tags, and — this is really cool – a rewind bar that lets you view earlier versions of your work (see image?above). lex.page?
Team-GPT: collaborate within a joint AI workspace.
What You Should Know?
Enterprise AI tool for teams featuring?a shared chat interface, file management systems, enterprise-ready security, an AI agent workflow builder,?and toolkits with department-specific?templates.?team-gpt.com
Spawning: data governance for generative AI.
What You Should Know?
Recently uploaded 12.4 million public domain images into an image-text dataset with community governance to continue the company’s work in empowering rights holders and AI developers to work with genAI ethically. spawning.ai
Keebo: automated data warehouse optimization.?
What You Should Know?
Uses patented AI algorithms to automate the optimization of cloud data warehouses and adjusts in real-time to enhance performance and reduce costs, claiming up to 70%. keebo.ai
Braintrust AIR: AI recruiter for?candidate screening.
What You Should Know?
Tool generates?job descriptions, matches candidates, grades video interviews, and provides a scorecard to help you make informed hiring decisions. Big-time productivity hack for hiring managers. braintrust.com/air
Sector Synergy
AI x Music???
AI x Robotics ??
Diligent Robotics ’ Moxi hospital robot masters elevators, milestone in robotic autonomy
领英推荐
AI x Biotech???
Enveda driving drug discovery 4X faster than industry average
AI x Prediction???
AI time series software Nixtla in Fast Company’s Next Big Things in Tech
AI x Justice ??
JusticeText 's Devshi Mehrotra , a guest on Reid Hoffman’s Possible podcast – software automates the use of video evidence
Rope-Pulling in an AI Regulatory Tug-of-War
In his latest De minimus Substack post, True Partner Gus Coldebella examines how Meta's strategic decision to withhold certain AI technologies from the EU market could reshape the dynamics of tech regulation in Europe.?
He suggests that while EU bureaucrats have historically been insulated from voter accountability for anti-tech policies, Meta's approach of not offering Llama's multi-modal model in the EU shifts the burden from companies paying fines to consumers lacking access to technology — which may lead to regulatory change.
More Portfolio News
Sofar Ocean sensors and Wayfinder?technology helps U.S. Navy route safely?
Power grid management software Gridware in Founders You Should Know?
Meditation app The Way’s Henry Shukman talks habits and tradition on The Kevin Rose Show
GiftShop helps storefront businesses create branded merch, The New York Times?
What We're Reading
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman, shared by Helen Min
Twitter vs. Bluesky by Justin Jackson, shared by Toni Schneider
Charitable Contributions Before Years End
Christiaan Vorkink, who leads TrueVentures.org, our philanthropic arm, shares a roundup of nonprofits and companies driving change for you to consider for charitable donations. Causes span equality, conservation and sustainability, scientific research, youth leadership, and more. See where to donate.?
Community, IRL
Career Opportunities
Looking to make?your next career move??View all True Portfolio jobs.
About True
Founded in 2005, True Ventures is a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology startups, often leading pre-seed and seed rounds. We invest in people and products that capture the world's imagination –?and big, bold creative ideas that inspire new markets altogether. If you're building an AI company and are looking to raise between $500K-$3M, pitch us. Or, get the True Newsletter in your inbox.