Samuel Bright

We chose a good subject for our march Autotech Council meeting, and after this year's CES, it seems even more obvious. Our meeting on the AI Defined Vehicle will show how it's a natural next step after the Software Defined Vehicle phase that we've been in Tesla launched the Model S in 2012. Now, most carmakers have SDVs. It's time to layer on the AI in user-facing roles, and in invisible functions managing the vehicle.

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🌉 San Francisco’s Population Rebound: Turning the Tide After experiencing one of the sharpest pandemic-driven population declines in the U.S., San Francisco is now seeing a significant slowdown in departures. What's behind this shift? 🌎 International Surge: Nearly 13,200 new international residents arrived last year, dramatically aiding recovery. 📉 Exodus Ends?: Outmigration has plummeted by 90% since peak pandemic levels. 🤖 AI Boom: SF remains the global epicenter for AI, securing 53% of worldwide AI venture capital. 🏢 Offices Filling Up: Companies returning to physical offices signal growing economic confidence. 🚆 Housing Initiatives: Rezoning and transit-oriented developments aim to boost housing supply, though affordability concerns remain. 📈 Wider Recovery: Similar trends are appearing in other major coastal cities. Will San Francisco fully regain its momentum? Let's discuss! #SanFrancisco #PopulationGrowth #EconomicRecovery #AI #UrbanDevelopment https://lnkd.in/gpdXa8Mx

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What a great example of #airporttech! I like the "...friendly nudge by an officer." Excellent use case of curb management. Thank you Andrew K Kirk and Automotus for your partnership. INRIX #airports #govtech

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GPU power is advancing so fast -- and companies are willing to spend so aggressively that they'll only rent the newest model GPUs -- that previous-gen GPUs are effectively worthless. That means data center economics don't work, because you can't recoup the cost of installing GPUs before they become un-rentable. https://lnkd.in/gagATgG2

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Bezos reentering the arena as co-CEO of Project Prometheus signals a shift, elite founders formerly devoted to bits are now building atoms or AI for the physical economy, not just software. With $6.2 billion raised and nearly 100 researchers from Meta, OpenAI, and DeepMind, Prometheus aims to industrialize engineering and manufacturing with simulation-driven AI. https://lnkd.in/drkFdqzG

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Project Vend reads less like a capability story and more like a governability story. Phase two improved because institutional scaffolding (tools, procedures, role separation) reduced predictable judgment failures—persuasion, compliance blind spots, boundary confusion, values drift. The board-level question isn’t “can an agent run a business?” but “what governance primitives must exist before we delegate authority.” Until incentives, escalation rights, and refusal boundaries are structurally enforced—not merely prompted—agents remain high-performing managers, not autonomous executives.

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Tech doesn’t have to be lonely. SMBs are expected to scale like startups and secure like enterprises—often with a fraction of the resources. That’s why mentorship and real-world guidance matter just as much as the tech stack itself. This San Francisco Business Times piece echoes what we see every day: tools are just one piece of the puzzle. What really drives growth? Clarity, community, and making intentional tech decisions that actually serve the business. Because strong tech foundations aren’t a luxury. They’re what keep your momentum moving forward. https://lnkd.in/epGKeQrE  #SmallBusiness #TechStrategy #SMBsupport 

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We're excited to share Timber Grove Ventures investment in Jampack AI. Wholesale operations for CPG brands are workflow-dense, error-prone, and chronically underserved by software. A single PO can touch ten disconnected systems before it's resolved while the status quo is spreadsheets, email chains, and tools that don't talk to each other. Matteo Rossant lived this challenge helping scale N!CK'S from $0 to $40M in revenue. That operator DNA shows up in the product: Jampack's agentic workflows automate the entire operational layer, meeting brands where they are without ripping out existing systems. In just a few months, they're processing $500M in annualized wholesale volume. We’re proud to partner with Matteo, Rezi Tsulukidze, and the entire Jampack team alongside Maveron. If you are a high growth CPG brand scaling in retail please reach out! Full article in the comments below.

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How do you turn AI uncertainty into ROI? Last quarter, a mid-sized NYC tech firm faced stalled innovation and decision fatigue. Their leadership team was overwhelmed by conflicting AI automation options. We stepped in with a cognitive audit, mapped their bottlenecks, and designed a private AI agent system tailored to their workflows. Within weeks, project delivery times dropped by 27%, and decision cycles became days, not weeks. Curious how a cognitive science-led approach can unlock your team’s next breakthrough? Let’s talk about your challenges. (If you’re navigating complex tech decisions, I’d welcome a direct message or connection.)

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Talking to users and thoughtfully integrating their needs and wants was woven through everything we did at IDEO—threaded through every prototype and product decision. Reading my colleagues Joanne and Leo's latest work brought that to mind. They describe a future where research runs continuously, with AI agents recruiting participants and instantly surfacing insights. Synthetic personas, carefully trained on consumer signals, mirror human behavior closely enough to extend live studies and compress timelines from weeks to hours. Today user research mostly runs in fits and starts, prohibitively expensive and locked away in dedicated project cycles when it could be a constant companion, seamlessly integrated into the product development process. Joanne and Leo lay out the full vision here: https://lnkd.in/gEUBSG_J

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A few weeks ago, we brought the Origin Ventures community of LPs and 80+ portfolio company executives together in Park City for our Annual Meeting and CXO Summits. In our annual meeting, we covered the Origin Ventures VI investment themes: ⚡🖥️🔒AI Infrastructure (e.g. compute, power, quantum, language models, security) 📦💿🔗AI-Native Software (e.g. logistics, supply chain, sales, operations, consumer) 🤖🛰️🚀AI Frontier Tech (e.g. robotics & autonomy, defense, electrification, space, materials & manufacturing) We featured Origin Ventures VI CEOs from: Torus fresh off its $200M financing led by Magnetar Voze integrating AI into its sales enablement roadmap for field sales AudioShake scaling 5x YoY with enterprise partners across AI and media & entertainment The next day, portfolio company leaders exchanged ideas in three forums in three iconic locations:  - CEO summit  - Builders Summit (engineering and product) - GTM Summit (sales and marketing) The highlight is an unforgettable dinner at Blue Sky Ranch—an evening of conversation, connection, and community with our LPs and execs together. We are grateful to our LPs and our execs who make it a great week of learning. 👨‍🏫  

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