Building a Generative AI Venture from Portugal: João Aroso, CEO of Leadzai (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: At the point at which this switch is happening, what are the dynamics of the company? Do you have customers? Are you still operating with that 1.5M in financing?

João Aroso: We’re still operating with the 1.5M in financing, but we’re starting a new fundraise. We have some early customers in Portugal and Italy. We were trying to figure out where to go in terms of differentiation when we realized that with GPT-3, we wouldn’t be scalable. So, we were trying to figure out where we wanted to go in that moment. That’s when we realized from a business standpoint that the only thing that matters to our end customer is what business the campaign is generating.

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Catching Up On Readings: Data and Analytics Trends 2024

This report from Gartner identifies the top data and analytics trends for 2024 that emphasize AI’s strategic impact and the need for trust in data. For the last fortnight’s posts, click on the paragraph links.

Colors: Blocks VII

I’m publishing this series on LinkedIn called Colors to explore a topic that I care deeply about: the Renaissance Mind. I am just as passionate about entrepreneurship, technology, and business, as I am about art and culture. In this series, I will typically publish a piece of art – one of my paintings – and I request you to spend a minute or two deeply meditating on it. I urge you to watch your feelings, thoughts, reactions to the piece, and write what comes to you, what thoughts it triggers, in the dialog area. Let us see what stimulation this interaction yields. For today – Blocks VII

Blocks VII | Sramana Mitra, 2022 | Watercolor, Pastel, Ink | 8  x 8, On Paper

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Colors: Blocks VI

I’m publishing this series on LinkedIn called Colors to explore a topic that I care deeply about: the Renaissance Mind. I am just as passionate about entrepreneurship, technology, and business, as I am about art and culture. In this series, I will typically publish a piece of art – one of my paintings – and I request you to spend a minute or two deeply meditating on it. I urge you to watch your feelings, thoughts, reactions to the piece, and write what comes to you, what thoughts it triggers, in the dialog area. Let us see what stimulation this interaction yields. For today – Blocks VI

Blocks VI | Sramana Mitra, 2022 | Watercolor, Pastel, Ink | 8  x 8, On Paper

May 16 – 640th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 640th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, May 16, 2024, at 8 a.m. PDT / 11 a.m. EDT / 5 p.m. CEST / 8:30 p.m. India IST.

If you are a serious entrepreneur, register to “pitch” and sell your business idea. You’ll receive straightforward feedback, advice on next steps, and answers to any of your questions. Others can register to “attend” to watch, learn, and interact through the online chat.

You can learn more here and REGISTER TO PITCH OR ATTEND HERE. Register and you will receive the recording by email, even if you are unable to attend. Please share with any entrepreneurs in your circle who may be interested. All are welcome!

639th 1Mby1M Roundtable Recording

In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording of this roundtable here:

Building a Generative AI Venture from Portugal: João Aroso, CEO of Leadzai (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: So then how long did you do this business? And what kind of revenue levels or what kind of scale were you able to achieve?

João Aroso: We did that business for two years and one of my co-founders from my first startup is still there today. I left, but the company is still very healthy.

Roundtable Recap: May 9 – It’s OK to Discard Ideas

During this week’s roundtable, we discussed validation requirements in early-stage startups.

ONI Early Life Programming

First up, we had Sunil Punjabi from Mumbai, India, pitch https://www.onicares.com/Home, a hospital EMR system focused on caring for pregnant women. We discussed what would be considered a validated business.

Centaurnex

Next, we had Samson Darlong from Riga, Latvia, pitch Centaurnex, an idea-stage venture that appears extremely capital-intensive. I advised him to discard this idea and go back to the drawing board.

You can listen to the recording of this roundtable here:

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