Xan Wood’s Post

Incredibly proud to be a 🐻! Innovation coming out of the Berkeley ecosystem is better than ever. Latest data point: Savvy Wealth, founded by Ritik Malhotra (Berkeley ee/cs), announced today they crossed $1B in AUM for their AI-driven wealth management platform. 🔗: https://lnkd.in/geeXjxCZ

Full circle moment! From being a student in Jeff Bussgang's class at Harvard to now sitting down with him to discuss the future of AI (and his new book 'The Experimentation Machine'). For those who don't know Jeff, he's not just a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School - he's also the co-founder and general partner at Flybridge Capital Partners, where he's helped shape the future of tech through over $1B in early-stage investments. His unique perspective spanning academia, venture capital, and entrepreneurship makes his insights particularly valuable. 💡Key takeaway: The future isn't just about having AI tools—it's about orchestrating them effectively. This resonates deeply with what we're building at Blitzy, where our multi-agent system is revolutionizing how enterprises approach software development. Jeff's insights on balancing top-down strategy with bottom-up implementation are spot on. As he puts it, successful AI adoption isn't about replacing humans—it's about empowering them to experiment, innovate, and drive real business value. 🎥 Watch the full conversation on our YouTube channel (@blitzyai) to dive deeper into: - The competitive dynamics between startups and established players - Technical complexities of agent coordination - The future of enterprise software - Practical frameworks for AI implementation Follow me and Blitzy for more insights on the intersection of AI, entrepreneurship, and the future of software development! 🚀 #AI #Innovation #Entrepreneurship #BusinessStrategy #AIImplementation #FutureOfWork #HarvardBusinessSchool #TechLeadership #StartupLife #ArtificialIntelligence #EnterpriseAI #AgenticAI #SoftwareDevelopment #VentureCapital #HBS

🧠 Cultivate Your Entrepreneurial Skills with SCET Decals 🧠 Here are four incredible courses designed to ignite your entrepreneurial journey and tech expertise, whether you’re looking to master fundraising, rapidly launch a product, refine your leadership skills, or dive into the world of generative AI. 💸 DECODE: Silicon Valley Fundraising Learn to effectively plan, execute, and manage a successful fundraising campaign. Apply: https://lnkd.in/gUa2RW-4 🔥 Product Launch: How to Quickly Launch Your First Startup Master the essentials of developing, marketing, and growing your product to attract your first users. Apply: https://lnkd.in/g5dQJMUi 💡 Innovators in Residence Develop your entrepreneurial leadership and decode success patterns to elevate your journey. Apply: https://lnkd.in/ghkAxF9q 🤖 Introduction to Generative AI Explore cutting-edge machine learning models with a focus on Generative AI. Apply: https://lnkd.in/gsWVyzGR Submit your applications as soon as possible! Spots are limited, and permission codes will be sent out after August 21st. And remember, all SCET Decals count towards the UC Berkeley Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (SCET) certificate. ---------------- #innovation #entrepreneurship #generativeAI #berkeley #startups #productlaunch

💵 Funding News: 🗓️ News Month: October, 2024 DataCrunch Secures $13M Seed Funding to Revolutionize AI Computing! 🌐🚀 Helsinki-based DataCrunch, a cutting-edge AI infrastructure startup, has raised $13M in Seed funding, bringing its total funding to $18M! 💡 Backed by Industry Leaders: 🔹Led by: byFounders 🔹Investors include: J12 Ventures and angels like Oskari Saarenmaa, Lasse Espeholt, and Maaike Bryon. What’s Next? 🔸Expand Operations 🏗️: Scaling business reach and resources. 🔸Enhance Development 🛠️: Investing in ML infrastructure innovation. About DataCrunch: Founded in 2020 by CEO Ruben Bryon, DataCrunch specializes in: 🔹Dedicated GPU Instances 🖥️: High-performance computing for ML. 🔹GPU Clusters 🔗: Seamless scalability for complex tasks. 🔹Serverless Inference ⚡: Fully-managed, optimized ML workflows. Why It Matters: DataCrunch is empowering AI teams with robust, cost-effective cloud solutions designed to accelerate machine learning innovation. The future of ML infrastructure starts here! 🚀 📢 Stay tuned to Future Techly for the latest updates on this groundbreaking initiative and the latest in tech and business! 💥 Source: FinSMEs ♻️ Repost if you think this insight is worth sharing!

💡Speaker Spotlight: Radhika Dutt, Author, Radical Product Thinking 💡 The stars have finally aligned: One of the most respected product thinkers in the field, Radhika Dutt is making her first appearance at Turing Fest this year. We’ve been trying to bring her over from Boston for a couple of years so we are delighted we could make it happen in 2025!💥 An MIT engineering alum, Radhika is a celebrated entrepreneur, product leader, and author. Having built products in industries including broadcasting, media and entertainment, advertising technology, government, consumer apps, wine and robotics, she also been through four acquisitions – two of which were companies that she founded. 📚Radhika’s first book “Radical Product Thinking: The New Mindset for Innovating Smarter” evolved from a framework she developed to help organizations systematically build world-changing products. Today Radical Product Thinking has been adopted by organisations around the world including startups, multinationals, nonprofits, and government agencies. 💥 She is working on her next book – and will explore some of the themes involved in her Turing Fest ‘25 presentation, entitled: “Radically Rethinking Metrics: How goal-setting and OKRs are harmful and what to do instead”. We can’t wait. #tech #product #leader #techevent #UK

Brazil at Silicon Valley on April 7th – 9th in Stanford https://lnkd.in/dQe7C_z Brazil at Silicon Valley  April 7th – 9th Google MP7, Sunnyvale Cantor Arts Museum, Stanford Reinventing Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence and its tangible impact on business opportunities Speakers … and many more to be announced! Pedro FranceschiFounder & Co-CEO, Brex Tom SiebelFounder & CEO, C3.ai Anu HariharanFounder, avra Cristiano AmonPresident & CEO, Qualcomm Rob ReichMcGregor-Girand Professor of Social Ethics of Science and Technology, Stanford University Daniella CastroCo-Founder & CTO, Huna Dr. Nigam ShahChief Data Scientist, Stanford Healthcare Alex SzapiroManaging Partner for Latin America, SoftBank Bianca MartinelliPartner, Alexia Ventures Kian KatanforooshCEO and co-founder, Workera Pedro JaharaCo-founder & CEO, Lexter.ai João SobreiraCo-Founder & CEO, Advolve.ai Julia WuCEO & Co-founder, Spark Hesam MotlaghCEO & Co-Founder, Arkifi.ai and Adjunct Professor, Stanford Lucas BrossiPartner and Head of Advanced Analytics, Bain and Company for South America Bhavi MehtaPartner and Global Leader of Advanced Analytics, Bain and Company Misha SalleeCEO & Founder, Curio Sam EatonFounder & Chief Toymaker, Curio Marcelo AlcantaraChief Product Officer, Jusbrasi Samir KaulFounding Partner & Managing Director, Khosla Ventures Galina AntovaCybersecurity Founder, Investor, Board Director We exist to serve as a bridge between Brazil and Silicon Valley Brazil at Silicon Valley is a nonprofit movement spearheaded by students from Stanford and Berkeley, bridging the most influential Brazilian leaders and Silicon Valley. We organize an annual conference where we bring together the most influential Brazilian executives, entrepreneurs, experts, and policy-makers to discuss topics that are relevant to the country’s technological development. We organize a conference that help decision-makers to embrace innovation The event hosts panels in which Brazilian decision-makers interview world leaders and experts about topics that are relevant to Brazil’s growth. In previous editions, we had Carlos Brito (CEO of AbInbev) interviewing Vinod Khosla, David Velez (CEO and Founder of NuBank) interviewing Doug Leone, Julio Vasconcellos (Co-founder of Canary) interviewing Marcelo Claure, and Jorge Paulo Lemann (Co-founder of 3G Capital) interviewing Scott Cook. We share the main takeaways and work towards creating positive change Through our digital products (panels, podcasts, reports), we aim to expand the reach of our initiatives and inspire as many people as we can to contribute to the development of Brazil’s innovation ecosystem.

Excited to share a major milestone from my MSc in Venture Capital and Private Equity with Financial Technology at University College London! My thesis explored a "𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀' 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱, 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀". Startups drive economic growth and innovation, but their volatile and uncertain nature makes forecasting their outcomes particularly difficult. Traditional methods often rely on subjective judgments or incomplete datasets, leaving investors and entrepreneurs in the dark about the likelihood of success. I utilised machine learning models including Logistic Regression, Random Forest, XGBoost, and Support Vector Machines to predict whether startups would achieve IPO or acquisition status using a rich Crunchbase dataset. XGBoost emerged as the best-performing model, achieving a ROC AUC (how well a model separates "yes" from "no") of 80% and an accuracy of 73%. Founding teams with a Bachelor of Science degree, total funding raised, and company age were the key predictors in the models. While machine learning models can make highly accurate predictions, they often operate as "black boxes," making it hard to understand why a prediction was made. To bridge this gap, SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) were used. These values indicate to what extent (positive or negative) each variable affects the predictive power of a model. This work has strengthened my belief in the power of data-driven decision-making and the transformative role machine learning can play in understanding complex dynamics like startup ecosystems. #UCL #MachineLearning #SHAP #PredictiveAnalytics #Startups #VentureCapital #InnovationInFinance #CareerDevelopment

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### AI: A Transformative Business Opportunity 🚀 **Converging Entrepreneurial Visionaries!** 🚀 🌟 Today, I had an incredible opportunity and it was a pleasure meeting Mr. ANAND SHREEKAR to explore the future of high-end business opportunities. My knowledge of AI and Data Analytics, acquired through my course with Dr. Silvia Carpitella, enabled me to engage deeply in discussions about using AI to enhance the skills of engineering students and as a tool to produce efficient solutions to current technical challenges. 💬 Our conversation also touched on innovation and commitment. Mr. ANAND SHREEKAR’s leadership at Engineersoft Inc., where he has successfully run a consulting company for over a decade, was truly impressive. Learning about his experiences and successes provided me with valuable insights, and I look forward to applying this knowledge in our future endeavors. My ability to understand and connect with his perspective was greatly enhanced by the limitless opportunities provided by CSUN University Student Union, which has shaped me into a better leader. 💡 One of the highlights of our discussion was our mutual commitment to building bridges—not just between our businesses, but also within the technical entrepreneurial community. We discussed hosting joint events, launching collaborative initiatives, and mentoring emerging entrepreneurs who share our drive and vision, especially those with strong engineering backgrounds. As a recent California State University, Northridge alumnus, I strongly believe that connecting students from CSUN College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) with industry experts like Mr. ANAND SHREEKAR will provide significant knowledge about the growing needs and opportunities in the market. What excites me most is the potential for long-term impact. Together, we’re not just aiming for short-term gains, but creating a legacy and laying a foundation for innovation, knowledge, and sustainable growth. Our combined efforts and resources can truly transform industries and set new standards. Stay tuned for updates on our collaborative efforts and the exciting projects we’ll be launching in the coming months. We believe in the power of community and would love to hear your thoughts and ideas. Here’s to new partnerships, endless possibilities, and a future filled with innovation! 🚀 #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #BusinessGrowth #Technology #FutureForward #ArtificialIntelligence #AI CSUN Alumni California State University, Northridge CSUN University Student Union CSUN College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) U.S. Small Business Administration District Export Council of Southern California Northern California SBDC University of Southern California UCLA California State University-Sacramento