The Power of WEKA with Antonio Gracias and Liran Zvibel + Jam with JCal: Uptrends AI. | E1986
31 Jul 2024 (2 months ago)
Antonio Gracias of Valor and Liran Zvibel of WEKA join Jason.
- Antonio Gracias, a prominent investor from Valor Capital, joins Jason Galanis on the "This Week in Startups" podcast. He discusses his recent investment in WEKA, a company that provides high-performance data storage solutions.
- Liran Zvibel, CEO of WEKA, explains the company's name, which is derived from the Greek unit "W," representing a trillion exabytes. He emphasizes the massive scale of data storage that WEKA enables.
- Gracias highlights the strong demand for WEKA's technology, noting that the recent investment round was oversubscribed. He expresses his confidence in the company's future growth and potential.
Investment thesis for WEKA and discussion on investment strategies
- Antonio Gracias, a capital allocator who invests in companies tackling hard problems, explains his investment thesis for WEKA. He highlights that WEKA fits into their investment strategy of focusing on AI infrastructure, specifically making data centers more productive.
- WEKA addresses the issue of underutilized GPUs in data centers, which typically operate at only 30% capacity. Gracias emphasizes that WEKA's technology significantly improves GPU utilization, making data centers more efficient.
- Gracias was impressed by WEKA's product and the expertise of its founder, Liran Zvibel. He describes Zvibel's deep understanding of the technology and his ability to explain complex concepts clearly. Gracias also highlights WEKA's strong product-market fit and the company's ability to execute effectively, exceeding expectations and experiencing rapid growth.
Investing in winners and the future of compute and AI technology
- Investing in winners: The conversation highlights the strategy of investing heavily in companies deemed "winners" in their respective fields. This approach is based on the power law, where a small number of companies dominate a market. The speakers mention examples like LeBron James' company and WhatsApp, where investors sought to secure significant stakes in these high-growth businesses.
- The future of compute and AI technology: The discussion then shifts to the evolution of data management and the impact of AI technology. The company discussed, Weka, has been involved in data management for years, witnessing the rise of AI and the increasing demand for high-performance computing. The company's strategy focuses on optimizing the performance of AI chips, specifically Nvidia's H100s, to extract maximum value from these expensive components.
- Weka's journey and market challenges: The speakers explain Weka's journey, starting with their previous company, XB Storage, which was acquired by IBM. They highlight the challenges of the traditional data storage market, including the limitations of proprietary hardware and the fragmented nature of the market. Weka's solution addresses these challenges by leveraging containerization, NVMe technology, and the advancements in network speeds, enabling a more efficient and scalable approach to data management.
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- The text then shifts to discuss the challenges of building software for a living. The speaker highlights the difficulty of onboarding new users and the limitations of traditional chatbots. They emphasize the need for a solution that provides intuitive and personalized guidance.
- The speaker introduces a new technology that addresses the issue of slow network performance. This technology optimizes for locality by creating a storage array with multiple controllers, each managing a portion of the data. However, this approach can lead to bottlenecks if all clients access a single controller. The speaker's company has developed a system that overcomes this limitation by dynamically balancing I/O across NVMe devices and CPUs, ensuring linear scalability even in noisy cloud environments. This allows for efficient utilization of GPUs and eliminates the need to worry about access patterns.
WEKA’s product market fit and real-world applications
- WEKA's product market fit is centered around providing a solution for the increasing demand for compute power and storage in AI applications. The company focuses on simplifying the process of running AI workloads by offering a single platform that eliminates the need for multiple products.
- WEKA addresses the challenges of AI workloads by optimizing GPU utilization and reducing storage costs. The company has demonstrated success in real-world applications, such as helping Stability AI reduce their storage bill by 80% and increasing their GPU utilization by over 300%.
- The demand for compute power in AI is expected to continue growing rapidly due to the increasing complexity of AI models and the expansion of AI applications. This trend is similar to the historical growth of bandwidth and storage, which eventually led to the widespread adoption of services like Netflix and YouTube. The authors believe that the demand for compute power in AI will continue to outpace supply for the foreseeable future, creating a long-term opportunity for companies like WEKA.
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- The "Jam Session with JCal" segment on the "Uptrends AI" podcast is a popular feature where Jake Al (JCal) provides feedback to early-stage startups.
- To be eligible for the Jam Session, startups must have less than $2 million in funding and a great .te domain name.
- The contest is open to all startups and encourages them to apply at jamwithjcal.te, as the winners will get the opportunity to pitch their company to JCal on the podcast and receive valuable feedback.
Innovative customers and technology behind the Las Vegas Sphere
- The speaker highlights the use of GPUs in innovative projects, specifically mentioning the Sphere in Las Vegas and the YouTube concert that was the first show held there.
- The YouTube team initially planned to use their own infrastructure for rendering, but realized it would take six months. They switched to using the speaker's company's technology, which allowed them to complete the first render in under four weeks, a six-fold increase in speed.
- This faster rendering time allowed the artists to iterate and improve the visuals for the concert, resulting in a more impressive and engaging experience for the audience.
Impact of Weka’s technology on rendering and data management
- Weka's technology is crucial for rendering and data management in large-scale projects like the Sphere, a concert venue with 150,000 screens. The technology enables real-time processing of massive amounts of data, allowing for seamless visual experiences with no lag.
- The text highlights the importance of Weka's technology in addressing the challenges of rendering complex visual content. It compares the rendering process of a Pixar film, which used to take days, to the real-time rendering capabilities enabled by Weka.
- The text emphasizes the role of Weka in managing the massive data sets required for AI applications, self-driving cars, and protein folding. It explains how Weka's technology enables the efficient storage, sharing, and processing of data across large, distributed computing systems.
Energy solutions for future data centers and capital allocation strategy
- The need for energy solutions in data centers: The text highlights the growing demand for energy in data centers, particularly with the increasing use of GPUs and the need for more powerful computing. This demand is outpacing traditional energy sources, leading to a need for innovative solutions.
- Capital allocation strategies for energy solutions: The text discusses the various approaches to addressing the energy needs of data centers. These include building new nuclear power plants, utilizing stranded energy sources (like wind farms with excess capacity), and repurposing existing energy infrastructure.
- The role of WEKA in energy efficiency: The text emphasizes the importance of WEKA in improving data center efficiency. By increasing the productivity of data centers, WEKA can reduce the overall energy footprint and lower the need for additional energy infrastructure. This makes WEKA a valuable investment for companies seeking to reduce their environmental impact and optimize their capital allocation.
Weka's hiring and job opportunities
- Weka is currently hiring for a variety of positions, including engineering roles in the Bay Area, Tel Aviv, and Bangalore, as well as go-to-market roles in sales, sales engineering, and marketing.
- The company is looking for talented software engineers with expertise in areas such as infrastructure, kernel development, front-end, and cloud technologies.
- Weka is also actively seeking individuals with strong sales and marketing skills to contribute to their go-to-market efforts.
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Jam with JCal winner Ramsey Schaffer, CEO of Uptrends AI.
- The "Jam with JCal" segment is inspired by Uber's "Jam Sesh," where founders would gather to brainstorm and discuss business ideas.
- The segment is sponsored by iste domain names, and companies with under $2 million in funding and a .te domain name are eligible to participate.
- Ramsey Schaffer, CEO and co-founder of Uptrends AI, is the guest for this episode and will be presenting his company and its product.
Ramsey’s pitch and Jason's feedback
- Ramsey pitches Uptrends AI, a service that helps financial advisors stay ahead of the news by providing AI-powered summaries of market-moving events. The service monitors thousands of news sites, filings, and financial data sources to detect and summarize trends affecting stocks. Uptrends offers a free basic plan and premium plans for more customizable and higher-volume alerts.
- Jason provides feedback on Ramsey's pitch, praising its conciseness and clarity in explaining the product, target customer, and value proposition. He emphasizes the importance of a tight pitch, especially in a short format, and highlights the B2B2C nature of the product, enabling financial advisors to better serve their clients.
- Jason questions the size of the problem Uptrends addresses, noting the high earning potential of financial advisors and the growing number of millionaires. He suggests that Uptrends could consider expanding into markets like Abu Dhabi and Dubai, where there is a strong appetite for investment opportunities. He also advises a design refresh to make the product less techy and more finance-focused.
Importance of founder-led sales, pricing strategy, and UX improvements
- Founder-led sales are crucial in the early stages of a startup. The speaker emphasizes the importance of founders directly engaging with customers to understand their needs and build relationships. This allows for valuable feedback and helps refine the product.
- The current pricing strategy is too low and undervalues the product. The speaker argues that the product's value proposition justifies a significantly higher price point, potentially $500-$800 per month. This would increase revenue, attract higher-value customers, and signal a stronger brand image.
- Focusing on high-end customers is key to growth and product development. By targeting wealth advisors with significant assets under management, the company can gain access to valuable insights and feedback, leading to better product development and a more refined user experience.
Engaging with customers and final thoughts on Uptrends ai
- The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding customer needs and tailoring solutions accordingly. He highlights that different customers may prioritize different aspects of a product, such as team features versus go-to-market strategies. He suggests that the company should leverage this information to create a more intelligent and personalized experience for users.
- The speaker provides specific recommendations for the company's next steps, including developing a mobile interface, hiring a Business Development representative, and engaging with wealth managers. He also encourages the company to continue fostering relationships with existing customers through platforms like Discord and iMessage.
- The speaker expresses his enthusiasm for the company's idea and its potential for success. He praises the founder's ability to articulate his vision and engage in insightful discussions. He also suggests that the founder might be a good fit for the speaker's accelerator program, given his strong communication skills and drive.