Perspectives

Prosper AI: Turning Hold Music into Healthcare Access

September 23, 2025

months ago close family member mine needed routine medical procedure care team ready facility opening entire process put hold office staff chased prior authorization insurance company Days back-and-forth Hours time meantime unnecessary anxiety Unfortunately unusual story reality system third healthcare workforce dedicated administrative tasks costing 450 billion annually Endless phone calls long times redundant processes eat resources directed toward patients excited Prosper AI today announced 5 million Seed round bring voice agents purpose-built market Emergence proud lead alongside Combinator CRV Ventures working industry leaders 30 000-employee billing transform core operations speaking customers consistently heard biggest innovation revenue cycle management area since EHR Prosper's product best customer love driving rapid growth quadrupled last quarter co-founders Xavier de Gracia Josep Mingot met Boston studying MIT Harvard backgrounds call centers regulated industries uniquely positioned build healthcare's complex workflows think back delayed help wonder different experience already deployed Faster authorizations Less stress delivered paperwork future building partner journey

When AI Apps Start to Look Like Infrastructure

August 8, 2025

line AI applications infrastructure disappearing decade ago SaaS founder focus product-market fit let cloud platforms handle technical plumbing today application-layer companies afford hands-off win need deep expertise in-house engineers understand intricacies models know experiment iterate quickly abstract complexity away users future application layer led no-code builders thin wrappers deeply teams scale deliver products end-users shift happening faster realize redefining successful startup looks Blistering Pace Model Development evolving breakneck speed past 3 months seen release Anthropic's Claude 4 Series Opus Sonnet OSS world Kimi K2 GLM 4.5 Z.ai Qwen Arcee Foundation pushing boundaries possible forcing adapt real time now end year expecting OpenAI's GPT-5 Meta's Behemoth major drops new drop offers capabilities forces rethink constant change puts pressure move fast product built last quarter's feel outdated competitor launches something better weeks later User expectations Every resets bar people expect smarter responses speeds intuitive experiences felt cutting-edge quarter obsolete cost train frontier exploding OpenAI reportedly spent 100 million GPT-4 Google's Gemini Ultra estimated nearly 200 level capital investment signals rapidly high stakes become stay closest metal adapting based unlocks ones best positioned dynamic landscape importantly LLMs represent paradigm processing text audio video developers involves calling backends inherently nondeterministic unstructured spend understanding behave building internal around behaviors e.g context management prompting practices evals etc production-ready means consume study test treat selection usage decisions maintain roadmap moves research sophistication becoming table Today's Apps Tomorrow's Infra starting look hood differentiate rely APIs improved help navigate run evaluations near build custom optimized domains infrastructure-level service app experience norm theoretical seeing mindset Cline AI-assisted software provides earliest direct access in-agent guiding fully aware model's strengths shortcomings horizontal Bland automates enterprise phone calls realistic voice agents developing shipping support innovation areas text-to-speech TTS seamless simple surface team invested synthesis call routing live agent handoffs beneath modern packaged neatly slick UI interchangeable components plug works work kinks passing directly solutions opinionated approach routes tasks maintaining highest quality customers Others give control hands end-customer giving steering towards increasingly blend knowing expose separate good great go open source determine whether platform money pit Key Traits Next-Gen meet demands day defining see next generation winners Talent often include researchers former ML founders who've places DeepMind academic labs consuming reading papers running benchmarks experimenting fine-tuning Full-Stack R&D orchestration UX design startups necessity investing GPU optimization caching memory multi-model domain Rapid Iteration tight feedback loops engineering ship without overly tied provider Margin Awareness early forgiven low margins pursuit growth window closing Long-term stacks optimize performance balancing premium smaller open-source options believe iconic blur powered sophisticated flexible efficient ask DNA hard technically ready invest use latest anyone else systems benefit power ever needing underneath

A Pioneering Approach to Fixing First-Party Fraud

August 7, 2025

Emergence led Casap's 25M Series thoughtfully eliminate longstanding problem facing banks credit unions fintechs modern finance valuable money trust Unfortunately fraud everywhere persistent tax system costly chronic increasingly personal Third-party fraudsters now access technology makes impersonation stealing card information easier ever real crisis First-party users defrauding financial institution claiming unauthorized purchases actually made skyrocketing increasing 2.5x year-over-year representing 35 losses result 100B+ compounds daily Disputes pile legit Legitimate customers acting good faith lumped bad actors delays scrutiny frustration despite nothing wrong happens worst possible moment feel vulnerable exposed discovered charges account experience customer's bank provides emotional high-stakes make break relationship instead focused creating magic trust-building institutions drowning ever-growing volumes manual processes compliance deadlines meaningful customer care nearly impossible AI transforming everything service investment ops post-transaction risk remains frustratingly analog gap Casap closing Converting Tension building first intelligence layer starting bold mission entry point Dispute operations area long considered broken disconnected banking current process nightmare trapped workflows fragmented systems forced hire armies back-office staff manually auto-approve claims certain threshold often hundreds dollars avoid regulatory penalties outsource expensive vendors limited visibility Meanwhile requirements Reg mandate quick turnarounds enormous operational pressure options changes replaced legacy AI-native infrastructure built scale speed precision platform gives consumers DoorDash-style transparency giving faster smarter manage agents handle entire lifecycle intake evidence collection outcome prediction automatic chargeback filing results speak cut 51 achieved 50 processing times dramatically improved member satisfaction helping 4 5x volume without adding headcount spreadsheets hold music clarity resolution Wedge Compounding Power go-to-market playbook smart surgical Start mission-critical hair-on-fire workflow clear ROI Earn delivering compliance-grade Expand upstream prevention approach powerful automating management simultaneously proprietary dataset transaction patterns becomes foundation ultimate vision real-time scoring engine think FICO recently written broader thesis AI-powered used aggregate previously datasets leveraged 10x better products Imagine future file high score Instant refund caught pretending 1 000 TV Best Buy reflect next time need thorough documentation complete transformation reactive cost center proactive competitive advantage fintech must move fast Founder-Led Fluent co-founders lived firsthand Shanthi Shanmugam former product lead Robinhood launched core consumer including 24 7 support crypto trading child full-time job right Saisi Peter brings equally impressive technical depth Chime Instacart Meta Together understand heavily-regulated safety nonstarter say Enabling requires mindset deep empathy sustained excellence day hardest questions regulated market ship managers want use design sacrificing answer evident notoriously slow making tech decisions converted paying unprecedented superb product-market fit looks Invested risk-drenched weapon world tactics constantly evolve transactions grow complex expectations continue rising intelligent automation desperately fixing prevent rigor roadmap thrilled partner team believe soon become past

Powerful Through Open Source Principle

July 31, 2025

traditionally trained programmer thought fast Excel hotkeys meant anything learned SQL Suddenly analyze millions rows data computer crash every 10 minutes make leap surrounded smartest engineers scientists LinkedIn people patient enough sit next non-technical finance guy teach query relational database kind pair programming unlocked everything gave confidence made want keep going Years later moving venture wanted graduate beyond querying learn build dashboards workflows Actual software time engineer sitting beside looked AI coding assistants help lower learning curve tried tool market broke moment something went wrong Others abstract actually understand happening felt productivity tools already knew code teammates someone figuring changed met Cline Developers founded Saoud Rizwan developer clear point view feel powerful transparent fully control limits models use artificial constraints context feed lock-in walled-off environment find experience anywhere built July 2024 right Claude Sonnet 3.5 dropped entered Anthropic hackathon launched first version become called Claude-Dev back win go viral open-sourced beginning within months community took notice Today 2 million installs 50K GitHub stars 6 000+ forks momentum accident reflection differently Makes Special serious aspiring ones alike another autocomplete agentic designed reason across complex systems operate inside dev setup give complete visibility set apart Model Transparency Choice profit inference means incentive throttle obscure restrict access bring API keys BYOK choose fits workflow full agent behaves file reads plan uses codebase asks clarifying questions plans multi-step actions navigates real-world development environments pioneered Act mode powers behavior giving ability pause think approach problem real Open Source Principle Cline's open-source nature core infrastructure glass box gives users total insight invites contribution ensures evolves ahead enables trust high-stakes MCP Ecosystem Leadership embrace Protocol enable dynamic integration Now marketplace lets expand capabilities plugging third-party debugging testing Excited best smart smarter missing since operating side teammate meets shows work helps better line led 27M Series platform simplifying without compromising power grateful join incredible early backers Pace Capital 1984 Ventures 5M seed round helped lay foundation come 2.5M+ onboarded recent launch Teams enterprise offering vision scaling working choosing horsepower proud partner team continue building

AI Models Are The Gold, Forward-Deployed Engineers Are The Gold Miners

July 25, 2025

People models build moat 2023 every enterprise leader suddenly thought need figure AI strategy 2024 raced adopt newest 2025 forward-looking companies asking different question implement safely reliably effectively becomes widespread adoption surging leading labs OpenAI Anthropic maintain edge open-source true differentiator model choose implemented determines whether systems actually solving real business problems in-demand role helping accomplish Forward Deployed Engineer FDE FDEs engineers embedded directly customers internal units understand automate bespoke workflows building trust Unlike traditional product consultants close enough end user context technical turn working software Palantir pioneered approach clients rapidly spreading AI-native startups time 1 reached full maturity successful implementations becoming bottleneck demand talent skyrocket Across Emergence portfolio seeing surge hiring reshaping engineering roles fit mold including leaders Bland Federato rise temporary trend represent new deliver value tied features solve user's problem key insight Palantir's selling buyer drive meaningful usage operational stick bridge gap often rolling sleeves work customizing implementation around clear ROI layer stack path product-market SaaS digitizing processes era using agentic rethink play navigate shift fully harness gold miners Without SOPs False Security Blanket believe already documented critical logic standard operating procedures corporate fiction static incomplete wildly outdated behavioral fidelity gets done idealized version written wiki 74 struggle scale efforts automation initiatives based flawed assumptions rigid documentation help three ways Discovery shadow users reconstruct truly function supposed Integration execute last-mile wiring tools ERPs CRMs call center platforms relationships helps reveal nuance Understanding process now prerequisite AI-driven transformation human interface makes possible increasingly automates labor digital exploding frontline force ensuring production accept require labeled training data built billion-dollar businesses labeling images documents general-purpose perform label observation contextualization code step essential reliable usable applications tailored skip likely brittle untrusted falls short expectations generic trainers retain encode proprietary Blind Spot Enabling ecosystem entire arsenal tooling go-to-market teams developers almost nothing purpose-built sensitive strategic picks shovels said something automated away early growth-stage highly engagement reveals friction realities point mean improve leverage opportunity spend customer less repetitive assist conducting synthesizing interviews mapping free focus high-trust high-impact coming gain fast Next Phase talk future run single monolithic deployment continuous loop humans evolve use finely tuned evolution guided prompts dashboards terrain outputs precision input ensure sides stay sync Human-Led Model-Driven self-sufficient ever win ones invest human-in-the-loop expertise treat operations assets protect translators real-world knowledge turning client products meet needs making sticky create kind empowering missing biggest

AIUC: Establishing Trust & Risk Standards for Enterprise AI

July 25, 2025

Autonomous AI longer theoretical deployed comes new category risk agents move prototypes production stakes rising systems building powerful question trusted Earlier week AIUC Artificial Intelligence Underwriting Company emerged stealth 15M seed funding led Nat Friedman's NFDG participation Emergence Terrain moment marked critical step toward making capable truly enterprise-ready product laying foundation future autonomy matched accountability Matters Enterprises rapidly embraced AI-driven document summarization workflows bring uncertainty covers cost errors agent behaves unexpectedly anchored principle effective adoption requires capability developing insurance framework 1 parallels SOC 2 reassures organizations cloud vendor reliability kind guardrails need embrace scale Rune Kvist AIUC's co-founder CEO first go-to-market hire Anthropic now serves board Center Safety grew farm Denmark far Copenhagen going study philosophy Oxford brings rare combination leadership frontier lab deep policy perspective track record mission-driven entrepreneurship early days shaped views fairness transparency good governance values underpin approach assembled cross-disciplinary team expertise technology regulation result practical operational enables assess allocate responsibility deploy confidence Invested believe speed paired trust long argued enterprise defined raw performance sits precisely intersection grounded addresses three key dimensions Alignment Incentives insurers buyers developers share common interest safe predictable behavior Rigorous Modeling using real-world data quantify price Scalable Assurance designing frameworks adopted across industries bordered niche use cases smartest bot underpinning Reframing Age grow ensure decisions transparent accountable aligned human era testing tools deploying operate independently shift technical rigor demands rooted oversight operates layer stress-testing certifying posture offering insurance-backed deeper contribution enabling decision-makers adopt without surrendering control difference blind earned Infrastructure feel fortunate partner co investors world racing vision balance developed pathway tandem backed round work lays safely confidently integrate core operations

Disrupting Data Monopolies to Liberate the Next Generation of Data

July 16, 2025

decades data monopolies dominated entire markets gatekeeping access vital information examples look toward main credit bureaus Equifax TransUnion Experian Along lines FICO scores make break job candidacies financial instrument eligibility customer-facing services auto lending home mortgage management Outside finance fintech consider Epic Systems EHR quasi-monopoly holds 260 million individual patient records representing 80 U.S population Take closer companies literally respective specialty areas Dun Bradstreet regarded central source American commercial regulatory legal repository LexisNexis LinkedIn become de facto truth professional identity aggregating economic graph encompassing employment history skills network connections billion users problem businesses dominant VC believe capitalism unchallenged monopoly power suffocates innovation replacing restless drive invent complacency keeps fresh ideas sidelines Without incumbents buy-in new entrants gain need build better products established market position stand lose innovating classic innovator's dilemma built transparency interoperability adaptability control loses customers remain stuck sub-par feel obsolete compared now possible good news AI-powered workflows give wrecking ball finally AI capture scale unfathomable amount detail used provide 100x end real unlock using structure surface monetize trapped inside opaque human processes Overview Existing dive playbook revisit moats recognize certainly missing aggregate cap 600B slider-2 Traditional Common see types monopoly-disruptors emerging Modernizers startups go datasets hoard files medical listings deliver faster cheaper higher resolution Pioneers teams entirely signals never seen lets observe previously invisible sentiment hidden phone calls clause-level contract deviations micro-movement satellite imagery etc steal moat dig start monopoly-disruptor AI-Native era opportunity replicate closed updated infrastructure embedded high value generate aggregated compounding insights gatekeep create usage expanding Embed deeply choosing standalone workflow something want pay 10x essential sustained driven actually valuable unique passively engage system auto-captures structured high-resolution behind scenes example voice-AI claims inspections log fraud flags repair timelines automatically extra clicks required Incentivize opt-in Day 1 contribution clear win outcomes tiered pricing premium features Early user benefit trust participation time old paradigm started building consortiums co-ops Dual consumption Architect dataset in-product flywheel makes product continuously packaged intelligence underwriting API fraud-signal feed participants Solve cold-start elegantly Narrow beachhead segment geography reach density fast Borrow buy seed public filings niche SaaS acquisition paid labeling sprints Stay portable partnerships fine exit ramps depend someone else's five turns proprietary long guard finishes next quarterly roadmap review Ready every industry lends kind advantage promising opportunities tend share core characteristics velocity changes rapidly think dynamic real-time capacity shifting risk making continuous tracking Lots legacy opacity Industries highly documented especially unstructured ways particular fit often siloed outdated buried manual impact must influence high-stakes decisions affecting revenue cost justify investment Variable cadence meaningful lower-frequency domains e.g clinical trials major M&A support stakes enough short ideal formalize informal turn visibility convert messy actionable theory practice players insurance insulated margins entrenched Embedding require unwinding process rethinking approach baggage move smarter designed insight Unlocking Deep Dives pockets already transforming creating relied slow list non-exhaustive others included please touching disruption article Select uncover slider-1 Wants Disrupt Ask Permission ever powerful eventually AGI algorithms models widely accessible easier defensible advantages remains future post generated However capturing done responsibly Founders privacy ensure piece collect comes predictions smoother richer genuinely improves someone's day-to-day work gladly contribute fuels generation leaders empires find ignore center founder looking enduring wait Use reveal overlooked clarity noise compounds

Our Investment in Layer: Simplifying Small Business Accounting

July 9, 2025

Layer built powerful intuitive financial tools combine smart design embedded distribution coupled shared vision serve small businesses drove lead Layer's 6.6M seed funding round mid-sized SMBs account nearly half U.S GDP exist shapes sizes result wide range needs among companies comes manage finances time gone legacy SMB-focused accounting platforms e.g QuickBooks Xero moved upmarket drifted away delivering quick time-to-value ease-of-use smaller end SMB spectrum care deeply need good solutions Research shows 82 fail due inadequate cash flow management lack resources deploy complex software Without adequate understanding numbers immensely difficult spot growth opportunities address problems Enter developed exactly want solution fast implementation no-effort integration key data beautiful user interface AI-powered bookkeeping delivers human-level value fraction cost traditional bookkeeper founders Justin Meretab Daniel O'Neel learned build magical products cater individual users Square Wealthfront understand important part economy within vertical SaaS use run operations using approach makes easy turn pre-populated company's clicks lowers barrier entry started provides additional functionality offerings compelling partnership aligned themes invested first backed likes Veeva Doximity Blend prove industry-focused deliver unique horizontal second partnered Bill Gusto demonstrate benefit 30 000 board momentum speaks amazing product company unmet market demand thrilled partners toward becoming leading Welcome Emergence family Dan

Charging for Intelligence: How to Price AI Software

June 19, 2025

Jake Saper Josh Bloom Madhavan Ramanujam common question hear early-stage founders today deceptively simple price AI product Getting wrong cripple company wrestling fundamental questions value capture era including use seat usage outcome-based pricing hybrid replaces human labor falling LLM costs factor strategy help answer GP Emergence Capital hosted lively discussion offices best minds GPs 49 Palms Ventures former Managing Partners Simon-Kucher advised 500+ companies wrote Monetizing Innovation widely read book key insights Changed Age Three shifts reshaping software enables true Unlike traditional SaaS tied directly business results though attribution challenges remain taps budgets reduces headcount per-seat models become self-defeating creates new cost dynamics inference declining significant unit economics Determining Charge Despite principle remains constant willingness pay conversations early ideally development 1 Bring sales immediately Technical often avoid discussions thinking feels salesy critical mistake accomplish several objectives Qualify buyers real intent budget Anchor around features Co-develop ROI customers Prioritize roadmap based prospects resist propose audit post-pilot session jointly calculate actual delivered data exists audits particularly powerful products deliver increasing improve justify initial discounts offer discount six months conduct reassess Never wait procurement discuss Procurement's job reduction assessment force standard buckets users experience benefits firsthand far receptive ROI-based choose offering signals confidence share risk Present alongside fixed-fee options comparison makes fixed fee appear fairer lower-risk push back point alternative option 2 holistically analyses focus hard savings vendor revenue uplift challenging establishing agreed framework upfront simplifies post-deployment calculations insight Work agree model inputs deployment locked outputs harder challenge identify overlook Time efficiency gains opportunity Implementation advantages proper frameworks capturing 25-50 created significantly higher SaaS's 10-20 3 acceptable expensive prohibitively gauge ask typically lands near Rahul Vohra used technique Superhuman Evaluating evolved dramatically 30 years category-defining pioneering Salesforce Emergence's first investment seat-based AWS consumption-based Uber dynamic likely popularize already seeing experimentation front days make sense various put together chart laying major see adopt grading rubric notable points Per Example Notion bundled Pros predictable familiar Cons Misaligned reducing addressable seats Power destroy margins heavy compute action Examples Voice Bland Regal charging minute margin-aligned Penalizes faster calls less Invites commoditization competitors identical units mitigate consider adding another dimension create agent Harvey Vivun monthly spend offset Upside limited ACV offsetting today's completed workflow Salesforce's Agentforce uses credits successfully tasks e.g populating database Balances consumption outcomes making ideal complex standardized processes outcome Popular support Assembled Intercom's Fin successful resolution Strongest clear differentiation requires evidence causation Right described 2x2 decide dimensions covered upcoming Scaling Autonomy independently operate augment replace entirely clearly AI's actions linked measurable four strategic zones Low Bottom Left assists co-pilot fashion lacks impact productivity tools email summarizers prices easy implement limits boosting unlocking High provable Combine metrics tiers outcomes-based Useful domains finance legal quantifiable Gradually deepen transition fully toward Autonomous Usage-Based Top works unclear volume task-based seen backend automation document processing becomes closest stand-in 4 effort delivers increased scenario strong trust consistent proof authors collectively believe future monetization sanguine fact built necessary tap prefer start whichever quadrant find set goal evolve State rapidly disrupting year ago half flat-fee dominate combining elements shift reflects need flexibility learn landscape long road lots detours bumps think arc history bend towards paying wanted buy solutions autonomously raise objections buyer preference argue solved Indeed eventually demand code commodity feature ships instantly feature-building execution guarantees selling insurance humbling reminder buying tech something world total corner focused solving specific problem crafting user thought exercise helps clarify direction head Survey Growth Unhinged confirms 5 currently 25 expect 2028 perhaps straightforward basis AI-native services Service businesses naturally end-to-end Mechanical Orchard great move mainframe workloads cloud take ownership entire process thus suited success written extensively building refer Concept POC Motions POCs Matter shape commercial motion interactions teach evaluate decisions Treat experiments validations design wins carefully adopters expectations market Select pain co-building industry influence friendly champions Structure prevents drift Unstructured pilots costly distractions vague path Yes Smartly free forever trap Endless drain resources without seriousness nominal fees filter serious tire-kickers Frame engagements Say 4-week engagement quantify build case rather pilot 5K deals 100K 300K unlocked explicitly anchoring commitments cash possible Letters logo rights executive access signal Rules High-Impact criteria scope Define KPIs decision-makers Time-box ruthlessly 30-90 maximum weekly checkpoints Open timelines kill momentum Pre-commit next steps hit stakeholders full center alone close Meet contract Formalize terms deliverables elevates beyond casual test Final Thoughts deeply let analysis paralysis Experiment different iterate quickly Try learning said team grok junior rep 2-3 college explain easily gets clearer align know excited keep folks field plan update view matures emcap.com rishub mram 49palmsvc.com joshua

Beyond Benchmarks 2025

June 17, 2025

New Language Startup Performance good look 2025 simple question moment answer anything straightforward past years seen AI reshape software landscape go-to-market strategies evolve real time capital become selective expensive Founders forced operate precision build conviction scale far discipline prior cycles traditional benchmarks used define think CAC payback burn multiple NDR shifting weight changes created Beyond partnership Benchmarkit collected data 560+ B2B SaaS companies latest report offers lens redefined era surfacing behaviors mindsets distinguish today's durable high-performing startups rest AI-Native Different Curve entered age layer built around day focused core products loops infusing operations efficiency results stark According average growing nearly 4x faster peers posting 100 median ARR growth compared 23 higher customer retention lower cost structures Anecdotally see raising Series A's 0 3-4MM first year monetizing building systems save reduce costs efficiently reengineering workflows layering features cool tools platform shift fastest-growing using fundamentally rethink product creates value business runs Eating Acquisition playbooks centered aggressive top-of-funnel However tells story hit 100M 67 coming expansion net-new customers showing earlier investing success product-led long-term creation lifecycle mean dead support upsell great winning today Metrics Matter Simpler change underway easy over-index metric benchmark looked top-performing dataset found four consistently correlated healthy Net Dollar call Emergence founder scaling market focus right everything else tends fall place GenAI GTM Finding Footing delivering shows motions early often underwhelming example sales teams 59 form satisfaction score issue tech workflow Plugging broken process fix best buying redesigning work gets done decisions made reps spend Survival Tactic toward notable treating cutting chasing targets stay alive operating philosophy designing leaner clearer journeys thoughtful models evident stage multiples less 1x per FTE 300K increase 20 previous year's Paradigm takeaway old architecture strategic setting pace