What does it mean for a venture capital firm to seek startups that are “AI-first”? What’s a competitive moat now for tech companies, as the big LLM labs continue to disrupt many software businesses? Is there a connection between AI and blockchain, and how do VC firms play in that narrow space?
Finally, what about VC firms themselves? What’s it mean for a VC to become an AI-first financial firm? And going back to the blockchain theme, does tokenizing a VC’s own funds generate value?
Dušan Stojanović is Singapore-based founding partner at True Global Ventures, a global firm focused on seed and Series A opportunities. He describes himself as a “global citizen with a Swedish passport”. He’s been investing in AI since 2012, and in blockchain since 2016. He helped found TGV in 2010 and is now on his sixth fund.
Timecodes:
0:00 - Dušan Stojanović, True Global Ventures
02:09 - Stablecoin/Web3 convergence with AI
6:15 - OpenClaw’s “ah-ha” moment for SaaS companies and its impact on TGV’s portfolio of companies
9:46: What is an “AI-first” startup? How can you tell when “AI” is a real differentiator or a marketing ploy? What’s “AI first” in a regulated field like payments and finance?
12:25 - How do companies risk-manage the AI itself? And how Dušan looks at valuations in AI companies.
15:27 - What’s a defensive business moat for an AI startup today?
17:35 - TGV’s investment strategy: stage, size, how to compete against the biggest Silicon Valley names as the landscape for venture changes
22:46 - How “AI first” applies to TGV’s own business
25:11 - The geopolitics of investment for TGV
26:50 - Exits and liquidity
28:01 - Will TGV tokenize its own funds?
