Learning from Our Chatbot GUS: Chunking, Fine-Tuning, and Pre-Distilling
Capria is investing in rapid prototyping of applied GenAI systems both for our portfolio companies and for our internal use. One such use case is called GUS (Get Us Smarter) which is a LLM Chatbot capable of answering questions from our proprietary internal document set. Below in Part 1 you’ll see an interesting problem we…
Late for the GenAI Train?
I’ve been talking to founders across the Global South as often as I can about Generative AI since early 2023. The founders in our portfolio of 350+ companies are GenAI users, not creators. Not surprisingly, as with any other disruptive situation, the founders’ GenAI plans can be divided into three groups. “Ahead of the Curve”…
India Has The Most to Gain and Lose from Generative AI
Let’s dispense with “worries” about Generative AI (GenAI). The genies are out of the bottles and procreating in the clouds. They will infiltrate every aspect of society, quickly, for both good and bad. India is in a pivotal position. Again. The last existential global tech crisis started a quarter century ago as companies prepared for…
Taking GenAI Data Control Into Your Own Hands
Not long after ChatGPT popularity reached high orbit and became seemingly unstoppable, companies began realizing that the massive data-sucking monsters created by OpenAI and others were happy to hoover up data offered from within corporate firewalls, and to train on that as well, making the resulting knowledge readily available for all comers
Don’t Let GenAI’s Hoover Your Data
Not long after ChatGPT popularity reached high orbit and became seemingly unstoppable, companies began realizing that the massive data-sucking monsters created by OpenAI and others were happy to hoover up data offered from within corporate firewalls, and to train on that as well, making the resulting knowledge readily available for all comers
2023: Bullish Expectations for the Global South
It is no understatement to say the world is spinning faster – 1.59 seconds milliseconds in 24hrs one day last year. It sure feels faster. In the last two years, we saw record VC inflows and crazy valuations in 2021, the first need for inflation control in 40 years, the first fully autonomous farming vehicle,…
Can Startups Save the World from AI?
I asked ChatGPT: Please write me 1000 words on what kinds of companies will be needed to help retrain and empower knowledge workers whose jobs will be reduced or eliminated due to advances in generative AI like ChatGPT. ChatGPT’s verbatim answer [**with my not-too-snarky commentary inserted in brackets**]: The increasing use of generative AI, such…
Venture Valuations – Up or Down?
Following up on my comments last quarter, the velocity of emerging market venture transactions have adjusted to what one might say is a corrected and sane pace – but the best deals are still commanding similar revenue multiples at the early-stage. More on that via our view from the field, below. Starting closer to my…
The Dilemma of Every Startup Founder: Acquire, Be Acquired, or What Else?
A little more than three decades of working with startup founders, I’m often called in to help with some of their more vexing challenges. One such challenge is around how to approach the broad topic of mergers & acquisitions. After many engagements with founders who are new to the M&A arena and are gearing up…
VC Slowdown Goes South
Following up on my comments on headwinds from three directions last quarter, I have two dismal topics, and one uplifting topic to discuss: 1. our recent survey confirms that the well-publicized VC slowdown is in the emerging Global South in addition to the North, 2. inflation risks in the USA are greater than many think,…
