A VC's Perspective on AI and Security

SHOW: 395

DESCRIPTION: Brian talks with Dr. Steve Herrod (@herrod, Managing Director at General Catalyst @gcvp) about the transition from CTO to VC, the role of AI and Security in today’s startups, the impact the public cloud has on his evaluations, and tips for selecting the right companies and leaders.

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CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK:

• Ford partners with Amazon to build cloud services for connected cars
• Ford invests $500M in Rivian; companies plan electric vehicle
• Electric truck start-up Rivian announces $700 million investment round led by Amazon
• Apple spends more than $30 million on Amazon's cloud every month, making it one of the biggest AWS customers
• Tinder’s move to Kubernetes

SHOW INTERVIEW LINKS:

• Steve’s Bio at General Catalyst 
• Steve Herrod on Episode 161

SHOW NOTES:

Topic 1 - Welcome back to the show. It’s now been 6 years since your transition from VMware to the VC world. What are some of the lessons you’ve learned?

Topic 2 - When you were a CTO, you were building a comprehensive portfolio. How does that perspective change when you’re looking at a broad range of portfolio companies? 

Topic 3 - Your companies tend to skew towards cybersecurity, where AI is going to play a significant role. How do you think about them from a technology perspective, and how much does the cloud’s resources for data modeling help or challenge them?

Topic 4 - What’s your perspective on the role of open source software for enabling your companies?

Topic 5 - Given your background, how much do you get involved in growing the engineering talent at your portfolio companies?

Topic 6 - Any tips for potential startups wanting to pitch high-level VCs?

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