#226 | Embedded vs Standalone AI, Tariffs in Startupland, & more
April 6th | The latest from Felicis, Bessemer, Insight, NextView, First Round, and others
SandHill.io aggregates and shares the latest investment themes, market insights, and best practices for operating and investing from 700+ VCs, analysts, and operators.
This newsletter curates a selection of posts featured on the website each week.
Investment Themes & Theses
Embedded vs. standalone AI: which one wins? (Parul Singh, Board Partner @ Initialized)
Industry Developments & Analyses
What do Tariffs Mean for Startupland? (Tomasz Tunguz, MD @ Theory)
The Evolution of Marketplaces (Eric Flaningam, VC @ Felicis)
The Healthcare Sherpa: How Navigation Tech Is Becoming the Glue in a Fragmented System (Amit Kini, VC @ Lotus Capital)
Q1 2025 SaaS Multiples Fall Hard (Sammy Abdullah, GP @ Blossom Street VC)
AI agents as 'first-class citizens' in software development (Janelle Teng, VP @ Bessemer)
How software pricing is changing in a world of AI services (Eduard Danalache & Jeremy Kaufmann, Scale)
Economic Uncertainty (Jamin Ball, Partner @ Altimeter Capital)
Guides, Case Studies, and Best Practices for Operating
The metrics that matter for a successful exit (Hilary Gosher, MD @ Insight Partners)
Building a Deep Tech Company? Most Startup Advice Doesn’t Apply — Read This Instead (First Round Review)
OMTM vs. NSM: Why You Need Both to Drive Startup Growth (Ben Yoskovitz and Sean Ellis)
The 25-Day Plan to Revive Closed-Lost Opportunities (Liz Christo, Partner @ Stage 2)
Additional Reads
The Four S’s of VC (David Beisel, GP @ NextView)
Observations from the 2025 Enterprise Tech 30 (Tanay Jaipuria, Partner @ Wing VC)
Small Funds, Big Wins (James Heath, Principal @ dara5)
The Legal Issues You Need to Nail Down for Your New Private Equity or VC Fund (David Teten, Partner @ Versatile VC)
Don't Die With Your Music Still in You (Kyle Harrison, GP @ Contrary)
Context Collapse, Context Capital, and Capital Thoughts (Sajith Pai, VC @ Blume)
On why AI is coming for my job next (Jared Heyman, Founder @ Rebel Fund)
Notes:
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