What does it mean to be a “day one partner” for founders—and how does that change in an era of AI-driven acceleration?On this episode of The Data Minute, Peter sits down with Ed Sim, founding partner of Boldstart Ventures and the voice behind “What’s Hot 🔥 in Enterprise IT VC.” Ed shares what it means to invest at the “inception stage”—before a company is even a company—and how startup formation, team sizes, fundraising expectations, and milestones have radically shifted post-AI boom.This episode dives into how Boldstart identifies founding teams before they incorporate, why valuation round sizes are splitting into tiny “discovery rounds” and $25M+ jumbo raises, and why the industry is bifurcating between massive multi-stage funds and lean, focused early-stage firms.Plus: When secondaries make sense, why software moats are elusive, how AI-native investing plays out against pre-AI portfolios, and the surprising thing Ed once did to stop a founder from selling too early. This one’s packed with memorable insights—and honest, founder-first advice.Subscribe to Carta’s weekly Data Minute newsletter: https://carta.com/subscribe/data-newsletter-sign-up/Explore interactive startup and VC data, with Carta’s Data Desk: https://carta.com/data-desk/Chapters: 00:42 – Inception-stage investing explained01:50 – The compressed cycles of AI and the speed of change03:32 – Are we in an AI bubble?05:00 – Why the "middle class" of startups is disappearing06:56 – Inception investing vs Pre-seed, Seed, and Series A08:02 – Finding technical founders before they incorporate09:34 – Boldstart’s “pure play” approach to being first on the cap table10:36 – From inception through IPO: Boldstart’s full lifecycle model11:40 – Snyk as a case study of inception-to-scale investing12:45 – Discovery vs Classic vs Jumbo inception rounds14:30 – How fund size determines which deals you can join15:46 – Why some founders intentionally raise small16:51 – Raising too much: “The tail wagging the dog”18:00 – Rethinking how much capital founders actually need18:57 – Founder pressure and capital: choosing wisely19:40 – Multi-stage firms at the early stage: Helpful or distorting?21:15 – Two worlds: legacy portfolio vs AI-native upstarts22:57 – Superhuman, Clay, and adapting to AI post-launch25:10 – How early is too early for AI revenue?26:19 – Moats, stickiness, and workflow depth27:30 – What makes AI revenue durable?28:39 – Defining “AI company”: product, workflow, or brand?30:16 – Is data the new moat?31:40 – Proprietary data and “day one” data strategy32:37 – Signs that venture is growing up33:54 – The bifurcation of venture: massive funds vs focused specialists35:00 – Why LPs want more true early-stage exposure36:07 – Lack of liquidity—and how it's changing fund strategy37:25 – “Venture didn’t beat the S&P” and why that’s the wrong question38:23 – Secondaries: Which companies actually get them39:20 – Founder secondaries: removing the stigma40:42 – Vesting schedules and proactive founder conversations42:35 – Do we have too many VCs?43:51 – How to navigate a frothy valuation market45:28 – Lightning round51:04 – Outro This presentation contains general information only and eShares, Inc. dba Carta, Inc. (“Carta”) is not, by means of this publication, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax, or other professional advice or services, and is for informational purposes only.  This presentation is not a substitute for such professional advice or services nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business or interests. © 2025 eShares, Inc., dba Carta, Inc. Al

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