Making Data Simple
Part 2. "Anything that is easy to explain can't be novel" - Jaclyn Rice Nelson, CEO & Co-founder of Tribe AI
Wed Jun 28 2023Description
The episode covers Tribe, an AI service delivery firm, and their marketplace model or managed consulting model for accessing top AI talent. It explores barriers to enterprise adoption of AI tools, the demand for generative AI, and Tribe's four-week methodology for building generative AI solutions. The episode also discusses Tribe's chat experience, Coalition's venture fund, and the importance of investing in early-stage AI companies. It delves into the guest's leadership style, their belief in AI during an AI winter, and the transparency in the venture and startup ecosystem.
Insights
Tribe offers AI service delivery at scale
Tribe provides AI service delivery through their talent network and delivery platform, offering a marketplace model or a managed consulting model.
Barriers to enterprise adoption of AI tools
Enterprise clients are interested in chat, GPT, and OpenAI but want to control their data. Existing solutions using foundational models do not use sensitive data, limiting their impact.
Generative AI is in high demand
Demand for generative AI is high this year, and Tribe has launched a productized service called the generative blueprint to help companies quickly test AI use cases.
Tribe's chat experience and Coalition's venture fund
Tribe has built a chat experience that searches their own database and external data to solve problems efficiently. Coalition is a venture fund that invests in early stage companies with no gender lens.
Investing in early-stage AI companies
Early stage investments focus on category, market opportunity, and founder market fit. Developing a thesis and building a network of founders is crucial in the rapidly moving AI market.
Guest's leadership style and belief in AI
The guest attracts the best through their strong leadership style and appeals to engineers through the brand they've built at Tribe. They believed in the importance of AI during an AI winter.
Transparency in venture and startup ecosystem
The venture and startup ecosystem has become more transparent with the public sharing of content by funds and different groups. Union Square Ventures publicly shares every memo they have written on companies they invest in.
Chapters
- Tribe: AI Service Delivery
- Barriers to Enterprise Adoption of AI Tools
- Tribe's Chat Experience and Coalition's Venture Fund
- Investing in Early-Stage AI Companies
- Guest's Leadership Style and AI Winter
- Transparency in Venture and Startup Ecosystem
Tribe: AI Service Delivery
00:03 - 08:07
- Tribe is a professional services firm focused on helping companies adopt AI.
- They provide AI service delivery at scale through their talent network and delivery platform.
- Tribe offers a marketplace model or a managed consulting model for accessing top AI talent.
- They automate service delivery using technology to scale quickly and deliver results efficiently.
- Tribe works with clients at any stage of their AI journey, including data problems which are core to AI.
- Data and proprietary data remain a core advantage in the industry.
Barriers to Enterprise Adoption of AI Tools
07:42 - 15:50
- Enterprise clients are interested in chat, GPT, and OpenAI, but they want to control their data.
- Existing solutions using foundational models do not use sensitive data, limiting their impact.
- Companies are getting comfortable with cloud deployments for more data privacy.
- OpenAI, cohere, and anthropic are positioning themselves as more data privacy forward.
- Demand for generative AI is high this year, and a productized service called the generative blueprint has been launched to help companies quickly test AI use cases.
- Generative AI can take the form of a chatbot or a knowledge management tool that allows engagement with data or information.
- Tribe offers a four-week methodology from concept to proof of concept for building generative AI solutions.
- Tribe has both the talent that built the underlying technology and experience in building applications at scale.
Tribe's Chat Experience and Coalition's Venture Fund
15:43 - 23:30
- Tribe has built a chat experience that searches their own database and external data to solve problems efficiently.
- Tribe is used for HR use cases, data discovery, and chat assistants.
- Coalition is a venture fund that invests in early stage companies with no gender lens.
- Coalition aims to bridge the equity gap in tech by partnering with larger venture funds and bringing in women operators.
- Coalition has raised $12.5 million for their initial fund and has invested in several exciting businesses.
- Finding companies for investment involves spending time with founders at earlier stages of their journey and betting on interesting categories.
Investing in Early-Stage AI Companies
23:10 - 31:28
- Early stage investments are about the category, market opportunity, and founder market fit.
- Having cash on hand is important for investing, but it's good to have outside capital as well.
- Being a collaborative check allows for flexibility in participating in funding rounds.
- Developing a thesis and building a network of founders is crucial in the rapidly moving AI market.
- Founder attributes like ambition and commitment are important criteria for investment.
- Passion, commitment, and the why behind the idea are deal breakers for investment.
- The idea will likely change multiple times in early-stage AI companies.
- Working with people you believe in and want to work with is essential.
- The focus is currently on tribe to build a generational company and meet incredible founders.
- Investing at tribe overlaps with the role of an investor at coalition.
- Tribe has not taken any outside funding yet but may consider it in the future.
- Attracting the best talent is influenced by leadership style.
Guest's Leadership Style and AI Winter
30:59 - 39:07
- The guest is easy to talk to and the host appreciates that.
- The guest attracts the best by having a strong leadership style.
- The guest appeals to engineers through the brand they've built at tribe.
- The guest is committed to making their vision for the future happen.
- During an AI winter, the guest believed in the importance of AI when others didn't.
- The guest's leadership style includes trust, autonomy, and action orientation.
- Tribe is an AI company that builds solutions for other businesses.
- When investing in founders, the guest looks for resilience and a willingness to start again after failure.
- There is a lot of valuable content available for learning about startups and scaling.
Transparency in Venture and Startup Ecosystem
38:40 - 41:35
- There is a lot of incredible content available, despite the presence of misleading content.
- Union Square Ventures publicly shares every memo they have written on companies they invest in, providing insight into their rationale and decision-making process.
- The venture and startup ecosystem has become more transparent with the public sharing of content by funds and different groups.
- The guest enjoys spending time with their three-year-old and five-and-a-half-year-old children.
- They have a lot of help in various areas of their life and a supportive family network.
- The conversation was enjoyable for both parties, and they hope to have more opportunities to chat in the future.
- The host expresses gratitude for the guest's participation and passion for podcasting.