I refuse to build another AI startup
by Colin Levine
In the big 26, when it comes to software, it feels almost taboo not to be building an AI startup. Quite literally, 93% of software companies in the most recent Y Combinator batch are AI companies. I tried the AI startup thing, and I failed miserably.
Last August/September, I started working very part-time on a B2B AI security startup while being in college full-time. I was training my own models and quickly realized that I wouldn’t be able to build this company unless I took on outside investment. I made great progress with the money I had, combined with some extra credits that Nader Khalil from NVIDIA blessed me with after I reported some issues (Thanks Nader!). I pitched to big funds, solo GPs, accelerator scouts, and angel investors, and the common thread among the ones that I really connected with was that they wanted to see more progress. I totally get it. I was in this weird chicken...