Overrated CEOs, Border collies herding ducks, and VCs Elad Gil and Sarah Guo on the risks and rewards of funding AI

On its earnings call, Meta reported that profits had tripled and said that it is now offering investors a dividend. The news caused the company's shares to soar 14%. Less exciting was the company's disclosure that its metaverse division has lost $42 billion since 2020.

Cloudflare said today that it had been hacked by a suspected "nation state attacker" in November but insisted that no customer data was compromised.

What’s the future of fintech? In an exclusive interview with Juniper Square, David Haber of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) shared his perspectives on the fintech sector—the exciting opportunities driven by GenAI, the urgency of increased efficiency in an era of high-interest rates, and a rising awareness among large companies of the benefits startups provide. Read more here.

Last week, at our first StrictlyVC evening of the year, prominent AI investors Elad Gil and Sarah Guo joined us in San Francisco to talk about how they think about AI investing in a world where deals were getting bid up feverishly two months ago, and where reportedly, some startup teams are now looking to sell because of the costs involved with building their software.

We talked about some of their deals, whether valuations have gotten wildly ahead of themselves, and also how the two -- who cohost a popular AI podcast together -- operate.

Gil, for example, has reportedly raised more than $2 billion from investors in the last couple of years, money that he is investing almost single-handedly. At the event, he declined to confirm that amount but said that he always pulls in support of some kind. For example, after a former chief of staff founded his own company, Gil hired a couple of "highly technical" hired hands to help him understand some of the new tech bubbling up. One of these is Shreyan Jain, a former software engineer at Ramp who has two computer science degrees from MIT, and who has "built an embedding playground" with another engineer in Gil's orbit so they can "basically swap in and out any underlying vector [database] in any embedding framework, so we can play around with different tools," said Gil.

Gil -- who also pours his own capital into deals despite raising so much from outsiders -- also underscored the importance of creating clear guidelines with one's own investors to get ahead of perceived conflicts of interest. "If you have that clarity of how you're going to act, it makes a huge difference. It gets rid of ambiguity, it gets rid of uncertainty, it gets rid of the [bad] feelings," he said.

Guo is taking a more traditional approach with her year-old firm, Conviction. Calling it a "baby little $100 million fund" compared with Gil's billions of assets under management, Guo says she has already brought aboard two other investors, a talent partner, and an operations person. She also said she has enough skin in the game that she doesn't take lightly any decisions in the "relatively concentrated portfolio" that her team is building. "I'm a large investor in my own fund," she said. "Like, I actually need the companies to work over time."

If you want to hear more specifics about their respective approaches to funding deals (they have both invested in Harvey and Mistral, among other companies); how they protect themselves in case they fund AI tech that's later abused; what they see as the biggest questions as it relates to today's foundation models like GPT-4, and why Gils is so concerned with "French values," do check out our conversation.

For what it's worth, Gil says during this discussion that he has probably invested the most over time in the defense tech company Anduril, whose cofounder Trae Stephens, is speaking at our next StrictlyVC event in Los Angeles on February 29.

If you want to check that one out in person, you can learn more here.

DataSnipper, a six-year-old Amsterdam startup whose platform is designed to automate repetitive auditing tasks for clients such as Deloitte, KPMG, Ernst & Young, and PwC, raised a $100 million Series B round at a $1 billion valuation. Index Ventures was the deal lead. Silicon Canals has more here.

Teamshares, a five-year-old Brooklyn startup that helps small U.S. business owners retire by selling their companies to their employees, is reportedly in the market to raise at least $100 million later this year, according to Axios Pro, which has more here.

Watershed, a five-year-old San Francisco startup that provides a platform for businesses to measure, report, and reduce their carbon emissions, raised a $100 million Series C round at a $1.8 billion valuation. Greenoaks was the deal lead, with previous investors Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil, Emerson Collective, and Galvanize Climate Solutions also stepping up. Bloomberg has more here.

ArteraAI, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that develops AI tests for personalizing cancer therapy, focusing initially on prostate cancer, raised a $20 million round. Investors included Prosperity7 Ventures, EDBI, Walden Catalyst Ventures, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, and Trium Ventures. More here.

Metronome, a four-year-old San Francisco startup that offers billing software designed for businesses that charge based on product or service usage, raised a $43 million Series B round led by NEA, with previous investors Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst also pitching in. TechCrunch has more here.

Oasis Security, a Tel Aviv startup that tracks and manages the digital identities of servers, IoT devices, or automated scripts, ensuring they are secure and only accessed by authorized users or systems, raised a $40 million round led by Sequoia Capital, with Accel and Cyberstarts also joining. TechCrunch has more here.

Planet A Foods, a three-year-old Munich startup that uses a fermentation technology to create chocolate from natural ingredients like oats and sunflower seeds, raised a $15.4 million Series A round led by World Fund, with Omnes Capital, Cherry Ventures, Mudcake, Nucleus Capital, Triple Point Capital, and Feast Ventures also contributing. TechCrunch has more here.

Splash, a Denver startup that enables people to participate in various fantasy sports games with real money, raised a $14.1 million Series A extension round. Investors included Boston Seed, Velvet Sea Ventures, K5, Elysian Park, Acies Investments, Accomplice, and Counterview. Sports Business Journal has more here.

Aquaconnect, a seven-year-old Indian startup that uses AI and satellite remote sensing to improve efficiency and transparency in aquaculture, from monitoring fish and shrimp ponds to predicting farm input demand and harvest supply, raised a $4 million pre-Series B round. S2G Ventures was the deal lead. The Hindu BusinessLine has more here.

BlokID, a Ho Chi Minh City startup that says it is developing blockchain-powered privacy protection technology for the digital advertising industry, raised a $1.3 million seed round. Ascend Vietnam Ventures and Appworks co-led the deal. More here.

BlueLayer, a two-year-old Berlin startup that offers various tools to help carbon offset projects manage their work more efficiently, handle carbon credit transactions, and ensure their projects meet certification standards, raised a $10 million round. Point Nine was the deal lead. More here.

CARPL, a San Francisco startup that helps healthcare providers pick the most suitable AI radiology apps for their needs and then integrate them into their radiology workflows, raised a $6 million seed round led by Stellaris Venture Partners. TechCrunch has more here.

Foodsmart, a 14-year-old San Francisco company whose platform connects users with registered dietitians who can provide personalized meal planning, raised a $10 million Series C extension round. Investors included Advocate Health, Memorial Hermann Health System, Intermountain Health, American College of Cardiology, and 62 Ventures. Fierce Healthcare has more here.

Fora, a three-year-old New York startup that provides tools to help executives make informed decisions and address operational issues, raised a $3.8 million pre-seed round led by Converge, with GTM Fund, Zelkova Venture Partners, Acadian Ventures, and 14Peaks also anteing up. Carbon Pulse has more here.

Indemn, a three-year-old New York startup that uses AI to enable customers to configure insurance products and go through the underwriting process, raised a $1.9 million pre-seed round led by Markd and including Afterwork Ventures and Everywhere Ventures. Insurance Journal has more here.

Leal, an eight-year-old Bogotá startup whose platform enables businesses in Latin America to reward their customers for shopping with them, raised a $5 million round co-led by Leap Global Partners and Rakuten Capital, with Morro Ventures and Salkantay Ventures also participating. TechCrunch has more here.

Reken, a San Francisco startup that focuses on securing cloud environments by detecting unusual AI activities that could indicate a security risk, raised a $10 million seed round co-led by Greycroft and FPV Ventures, with Firebolt Ventures, Fika Ventures, Omega Venture Partners, Homebrew, and JAZZ Venture Partners also investing. SecurityWeek has more here.

Semron, a four-year-old startup based in Dresden, Germany, that aims to develop advanced chips for AI applications, raised a $7.9 million seed round led by Join Capital, with SquareOne and OTB Ventures also taking part. TechCrunch has more here.

StreamAlive, a three-year-old startup based in Basking Ridge, N.J., whose software integrates into popular video conferencing and livestream platforms, allowing users to engage in interactive games and features such as AI-powered Q&As, polls, and giveaways, raised a $1.6 million pre-seed round led by previous investor Speciale Invest, with additional participation from Foster Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

Twin Labs, a Paris startup that uses AI to control a user's mouse cursor and automate repetitive computer tasks, raised a $3 million pre-seed round. Betaworks and Motier Ventures were in on the deal. TechCrunch has more here.

Xampla, a six-year-old startup based in Cambridge, U.K., that produces biodegradable materials suitable for various commercial uses, such as coatings, films, and microplastics, raised a $7 million round. Investors included CIECH Ventures as well as previous investors Amadeus Capital Partners, Horizon Ventures, Cambridge Angels, Cambridge Enterprise, and Martlet Capital. The company has raised a total of $17.6 million. Flexible Packaging has more here.

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Alt Capital, which is run  by OpenAI cofounder and CEO Sam Altman’s younger brother, Jack, has raised a third fund of $150 million, which is roughly double the size of Alt's last fund. The firm looks to invest in seed-stage enterprise software, including (natch) artificial intelligence startups. Altman recently transitioned from CEO to Executive Chairman at Lattice, the HR startup that he co-founded.

Neo, a Bay Area-based accelerator program founded by serial entrepreneur Ali Partovi (and backed by bigs like Sheryl Sandberg and Reed Hoffman) has opened applications for its next cohort. Good news, bad news: you spend the first month of the program at a residential bootcamp in Colorado. More here. 

Astera Labs, a seven-year-old startup based in Santa Clara, CA, that manufactures chips aimed at reducing bottlenecks in data centers,  is targeting a May IPO. According to Crunchbase, the company has raised over $200 million from investors such as Sutter Hill Ventures and Intel,. The Information has more here. 

On Meta's earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg joined the growing outcry against Apple's new app payment scheme. “They’ve made it so onerous, and I think, so at odds with the intent of what the EU regulation was that I think it’s just going to be very difficult for anyone — including ourselves — to really seriously entertain what they’re doing there,” he said.

Speaking of Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's cofounder and CEO will rake in $700 million a year from his company's recently announced dividend.

Elon Musk has retained his position as Corporate America's most overrated CEO, according to a Fortune survey of CEOs. Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger was second.

On today's earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook defended the Apple Vision Pro's $3,500 price tag by citing the device's 5,000 patents.

A who's who of 

Polygon Labs, a  crypto startup that is building the layer-2 blockchain Polygon, has pink-slipped 60 employees, or about 19% of its staff. TechCrunch has more here.

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Bathers on a floating sauna rescued two passengers from a Tesla that was sinking in Oslo's harbor.

Border collies herd a waddle of ducks through a hula hoop.

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