David Cahn

David Cahn is a partner at Sequoia Capital. Cahn joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss how much revenue the AI industry must generate to pay back its massive infrastructure investments and why the pursuit of AGI is driving companies to keep spending. Tune in to hear his assessment of the strategies guiding OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Nvidia, and SpaceX. We also cover the risk of an investment-timeline mismatch, the value of AI talent and proprietary chips, and whether building artificial intelligence could change religion and spirituality. Hit play for a cool-headed examination of the enormous financial and strategic bets shaping the future of AI. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Watch the full documentary here: https://www.gravitee.io/ai-agent-documentary Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Cahn

Partner

Sequoia Capital

David Cahn is a Partner at Sequoia Capital and one of the world's leading AI investors. At Sequoia David has led investments in Clay, Juicebox, Sesame, Kela, Stark, etc.. Before Sequoia, David was a General Partner @ Coatue where he led investments in Notion and Hugging Face. AGENDA: 00:00 We Are in an AI Bubble 05:04 Why Building Physical Data Centres is a Moat 13:58 Winners and Losers in a World of AI 19:13 The Role of Big Tech and Monopolies 23:37 Breaking Down Circular Deals in AI: The Truth No One Sees? 38:19 Why Kingmaking is BS and VCs Do Not Make or Break Companies 41:30 The Importance of Margins in AI Investments 43:41 The Required Growth Rates in AI to Get Funded by Sequoia 45:30 The $0-$100M Revenue Club: Is Triple, Triple, Double, Double Dead? 51:53 Why the Most Important Hire for Startups Today is 23 Year Olds 01:01:19 The Future of Defence: Who Wins and Who Loses 01:10:15 Quickfire: Biggest Miss, Parenting Advice, Doug Leone Advice

David Cahn

Partner

Sequoia Capital

In this episode of Gradient Dissent, host Lukas Biewald sits down with David Cahn, partner at Sequoia Capital, for a compelling discussion on the dynamic world of AI investments. They dive into recent developments, including DeepSeek and Stargate, exploring their implications for the AI industry. Drawing from his articles, "AI's $200 Billion Question" and "AI's $600 Billion Question," David unpacks the financial challenges and opportunities surrounding AI infrastructure spending and the staggering revenue required to sustain these investments. Together, they examine the competitive strategies of cloud providers, the transformative impact of AI on business models, and predictions for the next wave of AI-driven growth. This episode offers an in-depth look at the crossroads of AI innovation and financial strategy. Mentioned Articles: AI’s $200B Question AI’s $600B Question 🎙 Get our podcasts on these platforms: Apple Podcasts: http://wandb.me/apple-podcasts Spotify: http://wandb.me/spotify Google: http://wandb.me/gd_google YouTube: http://wandb.me/youtube Connect with David Cahn: @DavidCahn6 Follow Weights & Biases: https://twitter.com/weights_biases https://www.linkedin.com/company/wandb Join the Weights & Biases Discord Server: https://discord.gg/CkZKRNnaf3

David Cahn

Partner

Sequoia Capital

David Cahn is a Partner @ Sequoia Capital, one of the great venture firms of the last 5 decades. Before joining the Sequoia partnership, David led Coatue's venture business as a General Partner and COO where he led investments in Hugging Face, Runway and Supabase. David also joined the boards of Weights & Biases and Replit. In Today's Episode with David Cahn We Discuss: 1. AI's $600BN Question: What is the $600BN question in AI today? Is it possible to believe "AI will change the world" and "Capex levels are too high" at the same time? Why do the cloud players have to act now? When does the Capex reduce for them? How does Meta not having a core cash cow in cloud change the way they can respond? Why is all the risk today being borne by the large incumbents? Why is that good for startups? How will we see Satya and Zuckerberg change their narrative towards their Capex spend to the public markets? 2. The Data Centre is the Most Important Asset: Why does David believe that data centre is the most important asset? What does he mean when he says "servers, steel and power" are the pillars of AI? What happens when the development of models outpaces the construction of data centres? Why does David believe no one will ever train a frontier model on the same data centre twice? 3. The Biggest Opportunities in AI: Why does David believe the biggest opportunity right now is in the build-out of data centres? What does the supply chain look like for the build-out of data centres? Who are the winners? Why does David believe the biggest opportunity in finance is in creating new debt instruments that will allow the largest incumbents in the world to move this data centre spend off balance sheet? Why does David believe that AI will drive more energy innovation than any policy has done? 4. The Secrets of Sequoia: Inside the Walls of the Greatest Firm in Venture: What does David and Sequoia believe is the one definition of success in venture? Who is the best at find companies in Sequoia? Who is the best at picking? Why does David believe conviction, not picking is the hardest part in venture? How do Sequoia want to shape and mould every investor in the firm? 20VC: Sequoia's David Cahn on AI's $600BN Question | Why the Data Centre is the Most Important Asset | Servers, Steel and Power: The Core Pillars Powering the Future of AI

David Cahn

Partner

Sequoia Capital