Yaniv Golan | lool ventures | What to Build Now? Which Companies Will VCs Back?
Host: Eyal David · Guest: Yaniv Golan · About the host
Yaniv Golan, a partner at lool ventures, splits AI-era companies into four archetypes: AI Native, AI-Embedded, Vertical AI and AI Resilient. In his view, a company whose entire value is a thin layer on top of someone else's model can be a good business for founders but is a poor VC investment, because it has no moat. A real moat comes from industry-specific data and knowledge, or from deep technology that doesn't depend on models.
In this episode
- A moat in the AI era doesn't come from the model: even if 99% of the value is the model, your 1% is only worth something if it rests on industry-specific knowledge or data that is very hard to obtain.
- There are four archetypes of AI companies: AI Native (AI is the essence), AI-Embedded (an existing product gets an AI layer), Vertical AI (deep knowledge of one industry) and AI Resilient (Deep Tech that doesn't depend on models).
- A company that is a thin layer over a model is a good business but a risky VC investment: the incumbent will wake up at its own pace, with the distribution and the customers. Yaniv advises such founders to raise from angels and run on their own.
- In an AI-Embedded company it's sometimes better to wait for a capability in the model than to fight for it for months: more than once a new model version ships it built-in two days after the team finished building.
- A real product manager does risk management between innovation and the organization's resources. As AI removes the execution constraint, that skill becomes more important and produces more founders, inside companies and outside them.
- AI Rollup: instead of selling software that saves a business 90% and capturing 10%, buy the business, improve it with AI and keep the savings. The industry is still waiting to see whether it works.
Listen to this episode
Episode Description
Yaniv Golan, a partner at lool ventures (a Pre-Seed and Seed fund active since 2012), lays out a thinking framework that grew out of internal debates at the fund after ChatGPT arrived: how do you analyze companies that are Powered by AI. He explains why he thinks this time it's a revolution and not another hype, why AI agents will probably still go through Gartner's hype cycle, and breaks down four types of companies: AI Native like OpenAI and Base44, AI-Embedded like Notion, Adobe and Microsoft, Vertical AI like Aidoc and Eleos, and AI Resilient like SpaceX and NeoLogic. He also covers when not to take VC money, why model companies' pricing isn't sustainable, what makes the product manager more important in the AI era, and how the AI Rollup model tries to buy businesses and improve them with AI.
Chapters
- 0:21 · Who Yaniv is and what lool ventures does
- 6:42 · Where the framework came from: no moat on top of the model
- 12:32 · A revolution or just another hype?
- 20:21 · AI Native: companies where AI is the essence
- 23:53 · AI-Embedded: adding magic to an existing product
- 31:04 · Vertical AI: deep domain knowledge and unique data
- 34:22 · Companies in disguise, and when not to take VC money
- 37:34 · Model pricing and AI Resilient
- 44:23 · The product manager's skill in the AI era
- 51:08 · AI Rollup: buying a business and upgrading it with AI
Full transcript with speakers and timestamps
Selected quotes
“Ultimately what you do as a company is some small house on the edge... so basically anyone else can come to this mountain and build their own house.”
“Guys, I don't understand why you want money from VCs. What's right for you to do is take the small investments from angels and run with it on your own.”
“Precisely in the fields where I know best what's going on... that's exactly where my decisions as an investor are the least good.”
Questions & answers
Who is Yaniv Golan?
Yaniv Golan is a partner at the venture capital fund lool ventures, which has invested at Pre-Seed and Seed since 2012. Before that he was a technologist for many years and a founder over several rounds.
What's the difference between AI Native and AI-Embedded?
An AI Native company is one where AI is its entire essence, and without it the company has no reason to exist, like OpenAI or Base44. An AI-Embedded company is an existing product that already works well and gets an AI layer that improves it, like Notion, Adobe's Photoshop or Microsoft's Copilot products.
What is Vertical AI and why does it have a moat?
Vertical AI companies have teams with deep knowledge of a specific industry, and usually unique data that is very hard to obtain. Even when they use off-the-shelf models, that knowledge and data create value that is hard to copy. Examples from the episode: Aidoc in medicine and Eleos in psychological therapy.
What are AI Resilient companies?
Companies that don't care which model came out today, because their value doesn't depend on AI. They're usually Deep Tech companies working on scientific or technological breakthroughs, like SpaceX, NeoLogic in chip design or Chiral Energies in nano-coatings. They need more time, more money and more patience from investors.
When should you not raise money from VCs?
According to Yaniv, when the product delivers real value but most of that value comes from the model and there's no long-term moat. In that case it's better to raise small amounts from angels and run the business yourself, instead of inflating the company just to fit a fund's check.
People & resources mentioned
Companies & orgs
Tools
- ChatGPT
- GPT-5
- GPT-4o
- Photoshop
- Microsoft Copilot
- VS Code
- GitHub
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