November Retrospective
November Retrospective
Denying Trends, Sam Altman Saga Explained & Founders Shaping the Future
Hi!
This month we explore the following:
🤔 Why do we deny the obvious, discount trends and dismiss reality?
🔍 How to effortlessly automate procurement
🎙️ How FS leverage AI for communications intelligence
📚 The Sam Altman (OpenAI) saga explained
📣 Why timing is crucial to startup-corporate collaboration
🎉 Game Changers: Founders shaping the future
🤔 BEWARE OF GIMMICKS:
A few weeks ago, I watched the founders of Humane unveil their new type of wearable, the AI pin, a screenless squircle that makes a big, bold sci-fi bet on being the device that will supersede the smartphone.
My team were less than impressed … “I don’t get it?” … “why would you want this?” … “it’s literally Siri” … “so there’s no screen?”
Their reaction reminded me of BlackBerry...
🔍 SCALEUP IN FOCUS:
Client snapshot: Factorial | Leap | Lookout| Onfido | Tractable | Typeform
Summary: Current processes to buy and manage supplier spend are manual and inefficient. No one likes the way it works and it’s slowing businesses down.
Omnea, an all-in-one procurement platform, is building an orchestration layer to fix B2B purchasing, providing one platform to handle the whole process from initial request through to purchase. Whether it’s SaaS, hardware, contractors, or services, customers can use one platform for all of their new purchases, renewals, and ongoing supplier management.
By automating cross-department stakeholder engagement and providing employees one place to ask for the tools they need, Omnea saves its customers time and money, reduces risk, and ensures regulatory compliance.
Customer testimonial: “Omnea simplifies how we manage supplier risk and saves us so much time. A previously manual and laborious process is now simple and easy — non-compliance is flagged before contracts renew, and our Third Party Risk Management is automated. We even get positive feedback from employees now! The UX really is best-in-class.” - Chris Cottrell-Mason, Tech Risk Lead
🎙️ PODCAST
We spoke to Dwane van der Sluis, the Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Wiseworks. We covered topics such deep learning, adapting to hybrid working models, and Dwane’s fascinating journey as a founder.
Chasing Elephants is an analogy for young businesses trying to sell into large enterprise clients. Catch an elephant and feed for a while, but the chase is fraught with risk ... and it might just kill you.
📚 WHAT WE’RE READING
Sarah Silverman's AI Copyright Case Explained - Rolling Stone
The Morality of Having Kids in a Burning, Drowning World - The New Yorker
McKinsey Undermining Climate Change Fight - RFI
Why Sam Altman Was Fired And Why He’s Back - The Times
China’s Breakthrough: A New AI Chip to Rival NVIDIA - Medium
📣 TIME FOR CHANGE
Why time and timing are crucial to successful startup-corporate collaboration
“It excites me when you are able to take incredibly advanced, powerful technology, put it in the hands of anyone…and say there you go. You don’t need any training. You can just take it and you can use it, and it’s super intuitive.”
These are the words of Adam Brown on Episode #007 of the Chasing Elephants podcast. ‘007’ seems an appropriate number as I have no doubt he would be at home in the famous Q-Branch of the James Bond franchise.
Adam is a Tech Lead at Maersk, a former startup founder and a…
🎉 EVENTS
On 23rd November, we hosted our ‘Family Office Breakfast’. Thank you to all who attended and to the six incredible startups who presented:
Aegiq- Quantum computing and quantum networking company on a mission to make quantum technology practical.
Arsenale- An enabling platform for bio-manufacturing with tightly integrated hardware and software from lab to manufacturing.
Concert Bio - Company harnessing Earth’s largest ecosystem by helping businesses create optimal microbial communities.
Emm - Developing the next generation of bio-wearables for better healthcare.
Lynq - Provider of next generation workflow automation for operations and finance teams.
Zonova - Creator of antimicrobial veterinary products designed to prevent infections and eliminate the need for antibiotics.
Next up:
Future Leaders of Cybersecurity: Automation & AI,
Future Leaders is a series of private sessions introducing senior leaders to rising stars in the startup ecosystem and associated cutting-edge technology.