Paige Finn DohertyFounding Partner, Behind Genius · Founding Partner at Behind Genius Ventures

our investment approach with AI founders

3 Sept 2023 · 1 min

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In this presentation, the speaker from Behind Genius Ventures outlines the key value drivers and risks they consider when evaluating AI startup investments. The discussion centers on four primary criteria: (1) the founders and team, with a focus on AI expertise, problem understanding, and the ability to attract and retain top talent; (2) the founder’s personal story and motivation, emphasizing a strong "why" that connects the entrepreneur’s experience to the problem they aim to solve; (3) the technology and data, assessing whether the AI solution is truly innovative, capable of delivering on its promises, and supported by robust data; and (4) the sustainability of the business model, ensuring the venture can generate lasting value. These factors shape the firm’s investment parameters and risk assessment framework.

Chapters

I'll go into a deeper dive into just some of the factors that we think about analyzing and how these value drivers and risks apply or change our investment parameters. So the founder and team, we always assess the founders and the team's competency. However, with AI, we evaluate their expertise in AI specifically, understanding of the problem they're trying to solve, and the founder's ability to attract and retain top talent. The story. So our founder-first fund at Behind Genius Ventures is driven by the underlying story that drove the entrepreneur to pursue their idea. In almost any investment we make, we look for a really strong why. Normally this is manifested in the founder's personal experience with a problem they are setting out to solve. This remains unchanged. The technology and data. We look to see whether the AI solution being developed is truly innovative and capable of achieving what it purports to. To do and whether the business model is sustainable.