1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator AI Investor Forum: Yanev Suissa, SineWave Ventures (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: My thesis on agentic AI is exactly what we discussed earlier: solving specific problems with deep domain knowledge. The production systems that are getting real traction and generating significant revenue are those solving major enterprise problems.

A great case study is Autonomize. The health insurance authorization process still relies on fax machines. Autonomize digitized the process, added agents and automation, kept humans in the loop, and delivered massive efficiency gains. These are real production systems generating hundreds of thousands of dollars.

We also have a company in 1Mby1M that developed a causality AI engine. Their most profitable use cases are in marketing budget optimization and multi-channel campaign effectiveness. Unilever is a major customer. There’s a horizontal platform layer, but the real value is in solving vertical business problems.

Yanev Suissa: Exactly. Facebook, Google, and OpenAI can’t hire enough AI developers. Regular Fortune 500 businesses definitely can’t. You can’t present a customer with technology and ask them to figure out how to use it. Everyone is busy. You must walk in and clearly show how you’re going to increase revenue or reduce cost—ideally both. Then you get their attention. Your examples show companies doing exactly that.

Sramana Mitra: Another trend I’m seeing is that companies aren’t just selling products—they’re selling solutions. They provide professional services to implement the system because there’s a real shortage of knowledgeable people. You built the system, your team understands it, so you should implement it. Don’t expect the customer to hire people they don’t have.

Yanev Suissa: I always say there’s tech, then product, then solution. Startups need to move toward the solution end of that spectrum. Also, don’t be afraid to bring in people with industry experience. Many technical founders have never worked a day in the industry they’re building for. Bring both sides into the business. Talk to customers, ask what they need, understand the problem sets you can solve—and only solve what aligns with your vision. Customers shouldn’t dictate your roadmap, but their feedback should inform it.

Sramana Mitra: Palantir validated this long ago. They built a hugely successful company by delivering full solution engineering.

Yanev Suissa: Palantir and perhaps Anduril are the only major exceptions to our investment criteria at SineWave. We focus on commercial-first, not public sector–first. But I deeply respect Palantir. They opened the floodgates for bringing new technologies into the public sector.

They succeeded because, unlike big system integrators—who say “tell us what you want, pay $100 million, hope it works”—Palantir said: “Here’s what we built. If it’s not working, let’s fix it together.” That collaborative process is what we call a design partner.

Some companies excel at this: GSK in healthcare, Booz Allen commercially and in government, Bridge, Home Depot on the consumer side. These companies work with startups early to help them deploy successfully.

Founders should seek out those partners. You’re not just selling—you’re collaborating to create value.

Sramana Mitra: Very good. Yanev, you’re staying with us for a bit?

Yanev Suissa: Yes. I have a board meeting soon, but I’ll stay as long as I can.

Sramana Mitra: Fantastic.

One Million by One Million (1Mby1M) is the first global virtual accelerator in the world, founded in 2010 by Silicon Valley serial Entrepreneur Sramana Mitra. It offers a fully online entrepreneurship incubation, acceleration and education resource for solo entrepreneurs and bootstrapped founders working on tech and tech-enabled services ventures. 1Mby1M does not charge equity, offers an AI Mentor in 57 languages, and offers a distinct advantage over other accelerators including Y Combinator.

This segment is part 5 in the series : 1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator AI Investor Forum: Yanev Suissa, SineWave Ventures
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