Inside the AI memory machine
Humans are terrible at remembering things. On this episode of The Vergecast, we talk to one of the people who has been working on this problem for a very long time: Dan Siroker, the CEO of Limitless. We talk about what it takes to build a great memory aid, how we might use them in the future, and why it’s so tricky to get right.
We also talk about the human side of it all — what does it change about our lives when we stop forgetting things? Is remembering your friend’s birthday different when it’s actually an AI model doing the remembering? And will these tools ever really work outside of work? Tools like Limitless are coming fast and improving quickly, and we’re going to have to figure out how to live with them.
Further reading:
From The New York Times: Can’t See Pictures in Your Mind? You’re Not Alone.
Limitless AI: a new wearable gadget, and app, for remembering your meetings
Recall is Microsoft’s key to unlocking the future of PCs
Microsoft’s all-knowing Recall AI feature is being delayed
The Pixel 9’s ‘Google AI’ is like Microsoft Recall but a little less creepy
Apple announces iOS 18 with new AI features and more customizable homescreen
Notion AI can automatically write your notes, agendas, and blog posts for you
Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.
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20VC: Fundraising Wisdom that is Total BS; Dilution, Meeting Associates, Taking the Highest Price, Always Be Raising | Why Second Time Founders Are More Investable & Why Not To Hire People Out of College with Dan Siroker, CEO @ Limitless
Dan Siroker is the Co-Founder and CEO @ Limitless, a personalized AI powered by what you've seen, said, or heard. For his latest funding round, Dan took an unusual approach resulting in 1,000 preliminary offers with valuations as high as $1BN — and resulted in a $350 million Series A valuation. Prior to founding Limitless, Dan was the Founder of Optimizely, scaling the company to $120M in ARR and raising from some of the best in the business including Peter Fenton @ Benchmark who led the Series A.
In Today's Episode with Dan Siroker We Discuss:
1. Serial Entrepreneurs are More Investable:
Why would Dan always prefer to invest in serial entrepreneurs than first time founders?
How do serial entrepreneurs approach team building and size of team differently?
How do serial entrepreneurs approach focus and prioritisation differently?
How do serial entrepreneurs approach pivoting differently to first time founders?
What is Dan's advice from Elad Gil and YC's Dalton Caldwell on when to pivot?
2. The Secret to Fundraising: How to Speak VC
Should founders always be raising?
What is the right thing to respond to investors when they reach out to you outside of a round?
What question are investors really asking when they ask, how much are you raising?
How should founders approach valuation, what should they say when they are asked for it?
How can founders create urgency in a funding round? What works? What does not?
3. How to Raise the Best Funding Round:
Should founders engage with associates or only worth it with decision-makers?
Why should founders always choose the investor who is on the early arc of their career?
Why was Dan's first meeting with Peter Fenton the best meeting he has ever had with a VC?
Why does Dan believe that taking the highest price is never the right answer?
To what extent does having a true Tier 1 VC lead your round, change the game for your company?
4. Dan Siroker: AMA:
How did becoming a father change the way that Dan operates?
Why is Dan scared we might see technological progress stall for the next 20 years?
Why did Dan not do YC the second time around with Limitless?
What is the story of how Optimizely nearly bought Amplitude?
Debating personal AI hardware with Rewind AI’s Dan Siroker | E1828
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Today’s show:
Rewind CEO Dan Siroker joins Jason to discuss the new Rewind Pendant AI device that can record conversations (1:08), debate privacy and ethical concerns around covert recording (9:32), and much more!
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Time stamps:
(0:00) Jason kicks off the show
(1:08) Dan breaks down the Rewind Pendant
(8:05) Codecademy - Try Codecademy Pro FREE for 14 days at http://codecademy.com/TWiST
(9:32) Privacy and ethical concerns around covert recording
(20:42) .Tech Domains - Apply to get your startup featured on This Week in Startups at https://startups.tech/jason
(21:47) Comparisons to products like Google Glass and Humane
(24:15) Design considerations and the best use cases for Rewind Pendant
(30:09) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://Squarespace.com/twist
(31:32) The need for thoughtful development of personal AI and the value of open feedback
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Viral fundraising tactics with Rewind AI’s Dan Siroker + How to build a strong brand | E1745
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Today’s show:
Rewind AI CEO and Co-Founder Dan Siroker joins Jason to break down his viral fundraising strategy before diving into a demo of Rewind’s AI software (1:27). Then, Scott Bair of Lunour gives a talk on how to build a strong brand, where he dives into topics like branding, creating a logo and more! (34:49)
Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/dsiroker
Check out Rewind: https://www.rewind.ai
Time stamps:
(0:00) Dan Siroker joins Jason
(1:27) Dan discusses his method of raising capital publicly and the valuation they settled on
(9:08) Merge - Integrate up to 3 customers for free today at https://merge.dev/twist
(10:38) Advice for founders taking a high valuation, choosing the right firm, and differentiating Rewind AI from file search
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(20:35) Dan demos Rewind AI
(25:04) Privacy concerns, dealing with legal issues, and Rewind’s enterprise use cases
(33:21) Hyperice - Get $50 off your order of $150 or more with code TWIST50 at http://hyperice.com/
(34:49) How to build a strong brand with Scott Bair
Read LAUNCH Fund 4 Deal Memo & Apply for Funding
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a16z Podcast: Tech's Biggest Ideas and How They Take Hold -- With Marc Andreessen and Dan Siroker
Google, eBay, even the Web itself, in the beginning all of these things appeared as point products, interesting in their way, but small. Of course, they weren’t. “There is this swallow-the-red-pill moment that happens,” Marc Andreessen says, “Where you realize something really, really big is going to happen.” Optimization -- the relentless improvement of everything -- is another one of those ideas.
In this segment of the pod, Andreessen joins Optimizely CEO Dan Siroker during the company’s annual conference Opticon for a conversation that covers a huge swath of what’s most exciting in tech today: the spread of optimization tools, privacy trends, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, Bitcoin, and killer robots. All that, and why Donald Trump’s hair could use some A/B testing.
The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.
This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments and certain publicly traded cryptocurrencies/ digital assets for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly) is available at https://a16z.com/investments/.
Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures for additional important information.
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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SaaS Sales Funnel: Pre-Sold $1K/Month Before Writing Code
Pete Koomen and Dan Siroker failed at two startups before getting their SaaS sales funnel right at Optimizely. They pitched agencies $1,000 a month for a product that did not exist yet - and two said yes before a single line of code was written. That founder-led sales approach gave Optimizely revenue on day one.
Pete reveals how the SaaS sales funnel they built through pre-selling compressed time to first dollar from five months to one day, why hiring the wrong salesperson cost three months of zero closes, and how Optimizely grew from two co-founders to 350 employees and 8,000 customers including Salesforce, Disney, and Starbucks.
Optimizely has raised over $88 million in funding. Pete and Dan ran a friendly deal-signing competition that helped close early enterprise customers, proving that founder-led sales skills transfer directly to hiring and fundraising.
🔑 Key Lessons
🤝 Founder-led sales compress your SaaS sales funnel feedback loop: When a technical co-founder sells directly, the cycle from customer objection to product fix is instantaneous - an advantage you lose when you hand sales off too early.
💰 Pre-sell before you build to prove real demand: Optimizely earned $1,000/month from two agencies before a single line of code was written, compressing time to first dollar from five months at their previous startup to one day.
📉 Hire entrepreneurial sellers, not scripted reps: Optimizely's first sales hire from a competitor produced zero customers in three months. Their second hire, a struggling mattress company founder, now runs Optimizely's European operation.
🎯 Your SaaS sales funnel skills transfer to hiring and fundraising: Pete Koomen says selling, hiring, and raising investment are all the same skill. Every major founder activity requires convincing people to take a risk on your vision.
🛠️ Build the minimum viable thing only you can use first: Optimizely's earliest version was raw JavaScript injection that only Pete and Dan could operate. They productized incrementally after startup validation, not before.
Chapters
Introduction
Pete's favorite quote: Make something people want
What Optimizely does and who it serves
From Google to two failed startups before Optimizely
Building the first prototype at Y Combinator
Pre-selling Optimizely before writing any code
Compressing time to first dollar across three startups
Selling a product description with no demo
The Haiti earthquake and Optimizely's first real use case
Building the minimum viable product
Lessons from over-building at Carrot Sticks
The biggest mistake: building things people don't want
Would you pre-sell again if starting a new company
Why polite feedback from friends is dangerous
How Optimizely acquired early customers
Finding enterprise customers as early adopters
What Pete would do differently with marketing
Scaling from 2 to 350 employees
Why everything a founder does is a SaaS sales funnel
Selling vision and problems when hiring
Optimizely's business today and growth
Mobile, personalization, and Stats Engine
Resources
Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/56
Join 5,000+ SaaS founders: https://saasclub.io/email
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