Artisanal Ventures reposted this
Seems like all the venture money is flowing to AI right now, distorting a lot of industry data as VC is actually shrinking (a good thing), and that may be OK because some of these companies are growing at rates that are hard to comprehend (also burning money at a pace we have rarely or never seen). This is one reason why vertical SaaS and other "boring" categories like security or workflow or big data, etc., likely present the best opportunities. Value investing in venture is a concept that's pretty much contradictory to the industry's overall mindset. I don't recall ever even HEARING that term in this asset class. But given how much capital has been squandered over various "mega trends"like clean tech and mobile, you gotta ask yourself who the next Veeva is and whether mainstream, down the fairway ideas are where the real action should be. Vertical SaaS for example. So who is that co? I think it could be AcuityMD or Benchling or someone like Albert Invent. Artisanal Ventures has plenty of AI investments and we are of course obsessed with the companies and Founders. But we also believe there are a TON of great companies in other spaces sitting out there that are gonna be seriously interesting, real businesses. That's probably where the most money will be made long term. Boring looking stuff that doesn't burn a ton of capital and solves customer pain that has a near term, quantifiable payback...in either reducing costs, compressing workflow cycles, increasing efficiencies or finding new customers. Look for more Klaviyo's. They're out there! And DM me if you see something that is truly special. I'll chase it like a dog would chase a truck full of bones (how's that for a visual?).