"The best founders don't think in terms of incremental feature improvements - they think in capability thresholds. We're looking for whether they understand that progress in AI is often non-linear, and whether they can anticipate which future capabilities might fundamentally change or even break their product. One of the most interesting takeaways from our Leonis AI 100 - where we benchmarked the most important AI startups - is that the strongest AI founders build just ahead of the next technical breakthrough."
"Leonis Capital, founded in 2021, is now deploying its second $40 million fund. The venture capital firm is focused on next-generation AI companies and has invested in over a dozen since its launch, including MaintainX, Motion, and SpectroCloud. Business Insider asked Xiao and her cofounder, Jay Zhao, to share the top five questions they ask founders when evaluating their tech. They shared their responses over email, which have been condensed and edited for clarity."
An AI race is unfolding in Silicon Valley, with incumbents like Google, Meta, and Microsoft and newcomers like OpenAI and Anthropic releasing successive models while many startups compete for traction. Investors find it difficult to assess which startups have genuine technical potential. Jenny Xiao of Leonis Capital urges venture capitalists to develop deep technical understanding of AI when investing. Leonis Capital, founded in 2021, is deploying a second $40 million fund focused on next-generation AI and has invested in MaintainX, Motion, and SpectroCloud. Xiao emphasizes asking founders about capability thresholds, anticipating non-linear progress, and whether solutions will be overtaken by foundation-model roadmaps.
Read at Business Insider
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