FastForward

2 weeks ago | fastforward.boldstart.vc | Ron Miller

In the late 1990s, a new kind of browser-based file sharing software platform emerged called Napster. Almost immediately folks began sharing copyrighted music and videos in numbers never previously seen. This wasn’t sharing cassettes and VHS tapes with friends and family, it was instant access to content at internet scale. The entertainment industry was not amused, but even with an army of lawyers, they were ill prepared to stop this level of activity.

2 months ago | fastforward.boldstart.vc | Ron Miller

Last week, just one day into the new administration, the president announced an ambitious plan dubbed Project Stargate that involves to some degree the government, OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank and MGX investing $500 billion over the next four years to build AI data centers in the U.S.Meanwhile, Chinese company DeepSeek sent shock waves through the industry when it released a new, cheaper approach to building AI models, one that could call into question whether investments this large are even needed.

Jan 23, 2025 | fastforward.boldstart.vc | Ron Miller

Intuit CTO Alex Balazs has been at the company for over 25 years, and during that time, he’s seen the organization shift from a set of mostly consumer-focused financial tools to one that serves both consumer and business users. He’s also seen his own role change from individual contributor engineer to a person who manages a vast department of over 8000 engineers at a company with a market cap of almost $170 billion.

Jan 17, 2025 | fastforward.boldstart.vc | Ron Miller

We are a little over two years removed from OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT, a moment that will be remembered as a pivotal shift in the technology landscape. Almost immediately, we felt the impact of that change, and it wasn’t long before every software company out there had to adjust and add generative AI capabilities to their platforms. But AI doesn’t come cheap, not for the LLM vendors, and not for the people tapping into those models.

Jan 16, 2025 | fastforward.boldstart.vc | Ron Miller

When you think about a startup, you probably imagine a small company with a handful of daring employees, but Databricks, a company that has been around since 2013 doesn’t really fit that vision, at least not anymore. In its most recent funding round at the end of last year, it raised $10 billion at an eye-popping $62 billion valuation, making it one of the most valuable private companies, according to CNBC. In total, Databricks has raised $14 billion and acquired 10 companies, per Crunchbase.