Irfan Baqui

On the latest episode of Embracing Erosion I sat down with Suyog Deshpande, Co-Founder & CEO of Webless (a Fluvio Ventures portfolio company). Before starting Webless, Suyog spent years at Amplitude, Salesforce, and Samsara - shaping products and GTM strategy at scale as a product marketing leader. That perspective is now fueling one of the boldest bets in tech: 🏗️ rebuilding the web for LLMs. Instead of optimizing for clicks and SEO, Webless imagines an agentic web -where sites are designed to interact directly with AI models and agents. We dug into: - What an LLM-native web could actually look like - How companies can prepare to be LLM-ready - What metrics will matter beyond pageviews and clicks - Why safety and trust are core to agent-driven experiences - Lessons Suyog brings from “big tech” into this transformation If you’re curious about how discovery, trust, and value exchange will evolve online, this one’s worth your time. Link to the full episode in the comments 👇

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Nearly 2 years ago, Ashutosh, Varun, and I crowded around a whiteboard debating if AI could understand the nuances behind human conversations. Why does a VP of Sales answer “How’s the quarter going?” one way to the CEO and another to a board member? The context changes the response. That was the spark behind Viven, which we invested in this year. Most AI can pull up data. But what about the relationships, unspoken cues, and history that shape decisions? So much gets lost when people move on from orgs or when stories never make it into docs. Viven calls their approach “pairwise context" - training AI to recognize who’s speaking + listening, and how their relationship shapes the conversation. Those endless debates evolved into a mission to help orgs preserve their most valuable knowledge... the experience and insight that lives in people’s heads and is rarely written down. It’s an ambitious vision, but one that will transform how orgs learn. Work that once moved at the speed of meetings could eventually move at the speed of thought. I shared more about how we’re making this possible, and why I believe in Viven, here → https://lnkd.in/g8C3PkK5

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Finding product-market fit isn’t a clean checkpoint — it’s a continuous, often chaotic process that can make or break a startup. At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, leaders like Rajat Bhageria of Chef Robotics, Ann Bordetsky from NEA, and Murali Joshi of ICONIQ emphasize that it’s not about guessing what customers want, but about smart testing, real-time iteration, and deeply listening without getting overwhelmed by noise. The most striking takeaway is that product-market fit should be viewed as an ongoing journey rather than a milestone to tick off. This perspective shifts how founders approach growth: instead of waiting for a magic moment, they build, learn, adapt, and refine constantly. It also matters for investors who back startups navigating this messy terrain—recognizing signals of traction early while understanding the underlying effort required. Whether companies are prototyping or scaling, success hinges on solving real problems so customers can’t live without the product. How do you keep your teams grounded and focused through the unpredictable, often nonlinear path to product-market fit? What tactics or mindsets help you avoid noise and zero in on meaningful signals? #ProductMarketFit #StartupGrowth #TechCrunchDisrupt #FounderInsights

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Grateful for the opportunity to speak at GAI World on a panel moderated by the incredible Luda Kopeikina and alongside two inspiring leaders, Sharna Sattiraju and Neha Shah. Each of us shared how our companies are leveraging AI in unique ways to drive innovation and impact. I had the opportunity to speak about how we at SimpliSafe are applying AI to enhance safety and security in people’s everyday lives. As our moderator Luda Kopeikina so powerfully said: “AI success requires more than algorithms. It’s about building robust systems, yes—but equally about building trust, governance, and culture. The winning formula is: focus on high impact cases, start small, show value, empower champions, create excitement and scale responsibly. Technology may be moving fast, but people, education, and trust remain the real accelerators.” I couldn’t agree more. Responsible, human-centered approaches are what will ensure AI drives positive impact in our communities. Grateful for the chance to share ideas, learn from such thoughtful women leaders, and highlight the meaningful role AI can play in building a safer future. #AI #WomenInAI #Leadership #Innovation #GAIWorld

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🔥 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻 “𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗜 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀” Had an incredible evening hosting a fireside chat with Matt Kraning (𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 & 𝗖𝗧𝗢 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗲, 𝗲𝘅 𝗖𝗧𝗢 𝗣𝗮𝗹𝗼 𝗔𝗹𝘁𝗼 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀) and a group of technology and product leaders from some of the world’s biggest 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀, 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 in the Bay Area. We discussed one of the most urgent questions facing every product and engineering organization today: building 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀, and 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲. 𝗔𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸. The companies that win won’t be the ones waiting for others to define it - they’ll be the ones learning, experimenting, evolving, and writing it themselves. Because the reality is: Your competition is already re-architecting their business around AI agents - driving higher efficiency, faster iteration, and reinvesting those gains to build better products. The next era of product leadership isn’t about adopting AI. It’s about adopting an 𝗔𝗜-𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁. Grateful to everyone who joined and contributed such sharp perspectives and open conversations. Deepak Kumar P Vache Moroyan DB Banerjee

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