#198 | Copilots & Agents, Subterranean Industries, Software with a Soul, & more

Sept 22nd | The latest from A16Z, NFX, Maveron, Bessemer, NextView, and others

SandHill.io aggregates and shares the latest investment themes, market insights, and best practices for operating and investing from 700+ VCs, analysts, and operators.

This newsletter curates a selection of posts featured on the website each week.

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Investment Themes, Theses, & Outlooks

• Every White-Collar Role Will Have An AI Copilot. Then An AI Agent. (Angela Strange & James Da Costa, A16Z)

• The Next Wave of Vertical Software Adoption Will Be driven by ‘Subterranean’ Industries (Paraj Mathur, VP @ BIP Ventures)

• The Future of Work: Investment Opportunities in Industrial Automation (Amit Kini, GP @ Lotus Capital)

Industry Developments & Analyses

• Software with a Soul: AI’s Underestimated Frontier (Anna Piñol, Partner @ NFX)

• A Mosaic, Not a Monolith: Why “ClimateTech Insurance” is More Than You Expect (Sabeeha Islam, VC @ Munich Re Ventures)

• The GLP-1 Deprescription Revolution (Natalie Dillon & Simran Suri, Maveron)

• The Plummeting Cost of Intelligence (Tanay Jaipuria, Partner @ Wing VC)

• Will Coding Automation Create a New Paradigm for Open Source? (Evan O'Donnell, GP @ Timespan)

• Vertical SaaS: Now with AI Inside (Angela Strange & James Da Costa, A16Z)

Guides, Case Studies, and Best Practices for Operating

• Nobody Wants Your Product! (Euclid Ventures Team)

• The Untapped B2B SaaS GTM Channel: User-Led Growth (Akash Bajwa, VC @ Earlybird)

• Sell aspiration, not efficiency (Kojo Osei, VC @ Matrix)

• Fintech entrepreneurs’ guide to creating enterprise value starts with contribution profit (Eric Kaplan & Charles Binbaum, Bessemer)

• How to Prove Your Market Is “Big Enough” to VCs (Rob Go, GP @ NextView)

• How to Launch a Brand in 2024 (Rex Woodbury, MP @ Daybreak)

• 2024 Theory Ventures Go-to-Market Survey: Optimism Rises Amid Changing Market Dynamics (Tomasz Tunguz, MD @ Theory)

Additional Reads

• Ecstatic Highs and Suicidal Lows (Alfred Lin, GP @ Sequoia)

• Untangling Luck from Skill (Rick Zullo, GP @ Equal Ventures)

• Will We See a Better Exit Market Next Year? (Tomasz Tunguz, MD @ Theory)

• Valuations, Fundraises, and MPH (Ali Hamed, GP @ CoVenture)

• AI catalyzes a long-awaited promise (Sundeep Peechu, GP @ Felicis)

• We Need Actually Open AI Now More than Ever (Albert Wenger, GP @ USV)

• Connecting Dots and Making Decisions: The Importance of Founder Mode (Ben Yoskovitz, Partner @ Highline Beta)

• Why VCs Can’t Neglect ESG & Impact (Line Ettrich, Lead @ byFounders)

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