Event 7: Founders Lounge: Fireside Chat with Soohyun Bae and Rachel Hu

We had a wonderful event with Soohyun Bae and Rachel Hu! Here is the recap:

Panelists:

• Rachel Hu (Founder of Cambio ML)
• Soohyun Bae (Founder and CEO of Podonos)

Key Topics Discussed:

1. AI Developments and Impact
• Discussion on GPT-o1, OpenAI's new model with improved logical reasoning and planning capabilities.
• Shift towards more efficient inference methods, described as "think before you tell" or "slow thinking for hard problems."
• Debate on specialized models for specific tasks versus large general models.
• Soohyun Bae emphasized the potential of multiple specialized models working together.
2. Data Quality and AI Development
• High-quality data emphasized as crucial for AI model performance.
• Rachel Hu stressed the importance of founders being directly involved in data labeling.
• Challenges of identifying and handling bad data in large datasets discussed.
• Soohyun Bae mentioned that even a small amount of bad data can significantly impact model accuracy.
• Jing Conan Wang shared a story about building AI friends:
• His AI model struggled with American humor until he watched American TV shows.
• This personal experience with the data improved the model's performance, highlighting the importance of domain knowledge in AI training.
3. AI Business Models and Moats
• Importance of user adoption and retention as a moat for AI companies discussed.
• Rachel Hu suggested OpenAI's moat is widespread adoption and integration into various applications.
• Value of proprietary data and enterprise partnerships in creating competitive advantages highlighted.
• Both panelists emphasized the importance of building trust with customers in enterprise AI applications.
4. Startup Challenges and Advice
• Critical nature of co-founder relationships and handling conflicts addressed.
• Regular, open communication among founders stressed as crucial for startup success.
• Strategies for managing remote co-founder relationships discussed.
• Advice on equity vesting and protecting the company in case of co-founder departures provided.
• Jing Conan Wang likened co-founder relationships to a trust bank account, emphasizing the need to continually build trust.

This summary captures the key insights shared by the panelists on AI technology developments, the critical role of data, business strategies for AI startups, and navigating the challenges of startup founder relationships.

Resources Recommended By Speakers

Rachel Recommends:

• Podcast: Lenny's podcast , Saastr podcast.
• Books I wrote post a while ago: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rachelsonghu_startup-entrepreneur-ycombinator-activity-7147148235319484416-GsPS

Soohyun Recommends:

Podcast: The Product Market Fit Show

Join us for future events and stay tuned for more inspiring stories!