WEBVTT 00:00:00.291 --> 00:00:01.209 Raj, welcome. 00:00:01.209 --> 00:00:04.170 There's so much hype around tech at the moment. 00:00:04.170 --> 00:00:07.090 How do you, as an investor, keep a level head? 00:00:07.090 --> 00:00:08.508 You know, there is definitely hype. 00:00:08.508 --> 00:00:11.136 I think a lot of the hype is being driven by AI 00:00:11.136 --> 00:00:12.095 right now. 00:00:12.095 --> 00:00:13.596 What I would caution about AI 00:00:13.596 --> 00:00:16.599 is that, yes, there is a lot of hype around AI, 00:00:16.683 --> 00:00:19.686 but this is a stage change in technology. 00:00:19.686 --> 00:00:23.273 We talk about a lot of iterative changes for stage changes. 00:00:23.356 --> 00:00:26.443 The reason that AI is so fundamental is because Generative 00:00:26.609 --> 00:00:30.363 AI, AIML, this has been around for 40, 50 years. 00:00:30.447 --> 00:00:32.282 What's different now is that we're getting 00:00:32.282 --> 00:00:36.411 the closest we've gotten ever to computers being able to program themselves. 00:00:36.453 --> 00:00:39.456 Now we're probably five plus years away from that. 00:00:39.581 --> 00:00:42.751 But the power of what's happening in Generative AI 00:00:42.751 --> 00:00:44.044 is truly transformative. 00:00:44.044 --> 00:00:45.086 And the area 00:00:45.086 --> 00:00:49.924 that we're really focused on at B Capital is around the copilot technology. 00:00:50.008 --> 00:00:53.261 And what you're seeing is that there used to be 00:00:53.261 --> 00:00:56.514 only a few programmers who were kind of these 10x programmers 00:00:56.514 --> 00:01:01.061 who were really kind of just far head and shoulders above anyone else. 00:01:01.144 --> 00:01:05.190 My co-founders and I, we're definitely not 10x programmers, but with AI 00:01:05.190 --> 00:01:08.234 technology, we've gone back to coding and programing 00:01:08.234 --> 00:01:10.945 and it's so much easier than it ever was before. 00:01:10.945 --> 00:01:13.740 More and more companies will be able to build their own software 00:01:13.740 --> 00:01:16.743 applications, and that's what's exciting today for us. 00:01:16.951 --> 00:01:18.328 How do you find the quality? 00:01:18.328 --> 00:01:20.580 What is it that you're actually looking for? 00:01:20.580 --> 00:01:25.126 I think for us, first and foremost, we invest in people. 00:01:25.210 --> 00:01:27.879 And so we back great founders. 00:01:27.879 --> 00:01:31.424 We want founders who are really committed to what they're building. 00:01:31.424 --> 00:01:34.427 It's a perilous journey to build a company, 00:01:34.469 --> 00:01:37.889 let alone to build a company that leverages new types of technology. 00:01:37.931 --> 00:01:41.893 And we want founders who are willing to crawl through broken glass to really 00:01:41.893 --> 00:01:45.647 achieve their mission and their visions of transforming these industries. 00:01:45.730 --> 00:01:47.899 And so fundamentally, for us, number one is people. 00:01:47.899 --> 00:01:51.402 And number two is we do look for transformative technologies. 00:01:51.402 --> 00:01:53.279 And number three is timing, 00:01:53.279 --> 00:01:57.909 because so much of investing for us is investing in technologies, 00:01:57.951 --> 00:01:59.786 which time has come. 00:01:59.786 --> 00:02:02.622 And we all know from our past of what happens 00:02:02.622 --> 00:02:06.209 when you invest too early and when you invest too late. 00:02:06.251 --> 00:02:09.212 So just getting that right timing is really key for us. 00:02:09.212 --> 00:02:12.215 Tech has been on something of a rollercoaster the past few years. 00:02:12.215 --> 00:02:15.176 I could probably say the past few decades. 00:02:15.176 --> 00:02:18.346 How do firms and VCs hold steady, 00:02:18.346 --> 00:02:19.013 I guess? 00:02:19.013 --> 00:02:23.226 I think you've got to have a long-term commitment to the sector. 00:02:23.309 --> 00:02:26.563 You know, we invest in two areas technology and health care. 00:02:26.646 --> 00:02:29.941 We're increasingly investing in a third area climate technology, 00:02:29.941 --> 00:02:32.569 which we're really excited to be doing more of. 00:02:32.569 --> 00:02:37.240 These are three spaces that we see long term secular tailwinds, too. 00:02:37.323 --> 00:02:40.326 We think that digitization is just getting started. 00:02:40.410 --> 00:02:45.373 We believe that the health care revolution is still very much in its early stages. 00:02:45.456 --> 00:02:48.877 And in climate, we know we need trillions of dollars to really achieve the 00:02:48.877 --> 00:02:52.130 bold goals that have been set on climate change. 00:02:52.213 --> 00:02:56.593 So we have funds that have a ten-year perspective. 00:02:56.676 --> 00:02:58.803 So we are looking for a return. 00:02:58.803 --> 00:03:00.346 But ultimately we want to back 00:03:00.346 --> 00:03:05.018 founders who are building transformative technologies and founders 00:03:05.018 --> 00:03:09.355 who we believe have the ability to partner with great companies. 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:11.900 BCG clients have been 00:03:11.900 --> 00:03:14.736 a great area for us to be able to connect the companies 00:03:14.736 --> 00:03:18.781 we invest in to large enterprises, and it's a key part of what we do at 00:03:18.781 --> 00:03:23.161 B Capital. Raj, thank you so much. Thank you.