Tomasz Tunguz

Theory Ventures

Student of startups, author of tomtunguz.com, investor, & partner to founders.

General Partner

Redpoint Ventures

Privileged to support the journey of early stage SaaS, data and infrastructure founders. Worked with Looker ($2.6b M&A), MotherDuck, Mysten Labs (SUI), Monte Carlo, Omni, Chorus ($575m to ZI), Expensify (IPO), ThredUp (IPO), Kustomer ($1b sale to META), & others.

Managing Director

Winning with Data

I co-authored Winning with Data with Looker CEO Frank Bien.  Winning with Data: Transform Your Culture, Empower Your People, and Shape the Future explores  the cultural changes big data brings to business, and shows you how to adapt your organization to leverage data to maximum effect.

Co-Author

Google, Inc.

Managing AdSense for Social Networks including the $900M MySpace deal.
Managed AdSense International including product launches in Greece, Israel, Thailand, Indonesia and Bulgaria

Product Manager

Appian Corporation

Architected, developed and deployed systems for the US Government serving DHS

Engineer

Student of Startups
Backer of 9 unicorns
Author of http://tomtunguz.com 
Subscribe https://ttunguz.kit.com/ef0a779b9c

Founder

Private equity firms have emerged as the newest distribution channel for AI startups.

While public companies have decreased from 6,639 in 2000 to 3,550 in 2024, PE-owned companies in the US have grown from 1,950 to 14,300. The rate of growth continues to accelerate.

The crossover happened in 2009, when PE inventory overtook public company counts for the first time. By 2024, PE-backed companies outnumber public firms by roughly 4:1.

The shift is driven by the massive expansion of PE ownership across corporate America.

That’s not to say the sizes of PE-owned companies are the same as publics. In fact, they are smaller.

The point isn’t that startups previously focused on public companies. Rather, the data reveals the immense scale of private equity portfolios.

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Data Sources : CRSP, Wilshire 5000, PitchBook, American Investment Council, Citizens Bank.

The mid-market profile of these PE-owned companies suits AI startups’ desires for faster sales cycles.

Plus, the profit motive of private equity aligns perfectly with AI startups’ capacity to cut costs & drive efficiency. PE firms acquire companies to improve margins & operational performance before exit.

AI tools that reduce headcount, automate processes, or accelerate workflows deliver exactly what PE operating partners need.

A private equity firm owning 25 companies proves value in one or two before rolling out to the entire portfolio. Control enables rapid deployment. This creates an efficient channel for AI startups to demonstrate value & cross-sell.

PE firms gain operational leverage while AI startups access more than 14,000 motivated buyers. This new go-to-market motion redefines how AI software reaches the market, bypassing the traditional enterprise sales grind in favor of networks that can deploy at scale.

Yurii Filipchuk 🇺🇦 -- e/acc

OpenBabylon

Building the post-training stack for real-world AI adaptation & Sovereign AI models. We fine-tune, benchmark, and optimize AI for enterprises & governments — ensuring models aren’t just built, but deployed effectively.

Techstars ‍Startup Weekend San Francisco AI

At Techstars Startup Weekend SF AI, we're hosting a fast-paced, 3-day event where tech enthusiasts come together to bring AI startup ideas to life. My role is to create an energetic and welcoming atmosphere, build connections with important sponsors, and guide participants in making their pitches clear and impactful.

Community Lead: Vibes & Sponsorships | Pitching Mentor

Ментори в тилу

Leveraging my B2B sales and fundraising expertise to support aspiring entrepreneurs while raising funds for Ukraine

Mentor

Goatstack.AI

As Founder of Goatstack.ai, I lead the creation of an autonomous agent that aggregates data from over 100 sources, delivering summaries of relevant AI/ML research papers directly to your inbox. Our mission is to make the latest insights accessible and personalized, driven by community input and early adopter insights. Join us in transforming the way AI/ML research is consumed.

Party.Space

- Raised over $2m from leading European VC funds and angels
- Hired and led a cross-functional team of 18 people in sales, marketing, delivery and operations, aligning them with a development & product team of 16 led by co-founders
- Managed a $5M sales pipeline, driven by sales-led mid-market $60K ACV deals, and partnership-driven enterprise deals of $150K+ ACV, established through a network of 13 event agencies
Successfully launched two brands, TownHall and DogeTemple, positioning products on new markets
- Helped to raise over $1M for Ukraine on a charity NFT Auction
- Led a strategic pivot to a technology provider for the gambling industry and a few GenerativeAI experiments

CEO & Founder

044.ai

Innovative AI Development | Strategic Consulting | Transformative Solutions

As a Business Advisor at 044.ai Lab, I provide expert guidance and strategic advice to clients in navigating the dynamic landscape of artificial intelligence (AI). With a deep understanding of AI technologies and trends, I shape clients' AI strategies and ensure the successful implementation of AI initiatives.

Business Advisor

Founder Institute

Mentor for Ukrainian chapter: fundraising and B2B sales

CYFRD

Partner

VP of Business Development

JSC Ukreximbank

- Foreign bank analysis, over twenty credit committees
- Macro Analysis and country risks
- Created and managed compliance and international sanction database
- Moody’s and Fitch account management

Analyst at Trade Finance and Financial Institutions department

Founder @ Stealth AI |TechStars AI Startup Weekend SF

I'm an entrepreneur with experience in banking, investments, and tech. I've been both an investor and a founder. Passionate about tech, AI, physics, math, cosmology, and history, I hold a master's in international economics and management from Kyiv National Economics University. I believe accelerating AI is critical to humanity's prosperity.

As the founder of OpenBabylon, I’m building the post-training stack for real-world AI adaptation & sovereign AI models. I focus on making AI deployable, efficient, and aligned by driving strategic partnerships, revenue growth, and enterprise adoption. Our work enables enterprises and governments to optimize AI performance, cut costs, and scale deployment across diverse markets.

Previously, as CEO of Party.Space, a B2B virtual events platform, I navigated pivots and secured partnerships with Google, Zapier, Grammarly, UC Berkeley, and Fortune 500 companies, raising over $2M from top European VCs and angels.

I advise several early-stage companies on fundraising, zero-to-one hustle, and go-to-market strategies. My understanding of AI technologies and trends helps these companies shape and implement their strategies.

Known for my lively personality and ability to build connections, I enjoy mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs and sharing my experiences. My goal is to keep learning, explore new possibilities, and create a lasting impact through technology and innovation.

Saw a man eating soup at a Vietnamese market.

He didn't look up from his bowl once.

I thought: "This man understands focus."

Asked what he does. "GPUs," he said.

"Pho cures bubble hangovers," he added, unprompted.

Finished eating. Put chopsticks in leather jacket pocket. Didn't tip. Left.

His company is worth $4.4T.

3 lessons for startup founders:
→ Soup > Slack 
→ Street stalls > WeWork 
→ $3 meals, $65B quarters

While you were posting about Nvidia earnings, Jensen was already eating breakfast thinking about 2026.

That's the difference.

Founder @ OpenBabylon | Model University for Real-World AI Adaptation & Sovereign AI | Chaotic Good

Okay everyone, please disregard my AI bubble posts from last week. We are so back!
/sarcasm off
For real though: Nvidia just reported $57B revenue. Beat by $2.4B. Q4 guidance: $65B.
Jensen: Blackwell sales "off the charts."
The bubble is real. The infrastructure is getting built. Both things are true.

Cheers to that, Mr. Huang🍸

https://lnkd.in/ggk2Pd4R

Yeah you probably know me as the guy who started Party.Space from a cold email to Spotify.

Thought I had B2B sales figured out. Then I met  Alex Lugosch and Ilya Druzhnikov and they showed me what I was missing. The phone. 

We've done 15+ sessions together calling C-level execs at $100M+ mid-market and enterprise companies. 7am cold calls. Catching decision-makers before their calendar fills up.

The insights were pivotal for our new product direction at OpenBabylon. 

Hearing exactly why someone doesn't want your product -- in real time -- beats months of surveys and LinkedIn messages.

These guys are hosting a live cold-calling session tomorrow at European Startup Embassy (hidden gem of European culture in SF btw -  props to Luca Stirbat 🌀). They'll pitch founder products to real decision-makers while you watch.

If you want to learn how to actually talk to customers -- not send another email sequence -- this is it.

Tag your B2B founder friend or send them the link in comments 👇

Founder @ OpenBabylon | Strategic Foresight Engine | Chaotic Good

This post will make your AI founder friend wake up at night.

Especially if they didn't raise their sweet $50M seed round yet.

PitchBook just dropped 5 charts on the AI bubble debate. The numbers:
45% of fund managers say AI bubble is the biggest tail risk to markets. Up 12 points from last month.

For the first time since 2005, majority of investors say companies are overinvesting in capex.

$5 trillion required for AI infrastructure buildout. $1.4 trillion funding gap.

Hyperscaler CapEx tripled since end of 2023.

Late-stage AI valuations back to 2021 ZIRP-era levels.

Any fool makes money in a growing market. The real test is what you build for the falling one.

When the correction hits, CFOs will ask one question: "What's the ROI?"

Products that survive: 
→ Cost reduction (not growth acceleration) 
→ Decision-making under uncertainty 
→ Proving unit economics in 90 days 
→ Doing more with less compute

Products that don't: 
→ AI wrappers with no moat (except for AI GFs) 
→ "We'll figure out monetization later" 
→ Anything that needs 18 months to show value

At OpenBabylon, we're building AI for corporate strategy and decision-making. The kind of tool that becomes more valuable when markets get uncertain -- not less.

The bubble will pop. The infrastructure will remain. The question is whether your product is infrastructure or foam.

Tag a founder who needs to see this.

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Yurii Filipchuk 🇺🇦 -- e/acc

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The Battle

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Yurii Filipchuk 🇺🇦 -- e/acc

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