Super Ventures, 6D.ai and New Opportunities
I’m in the process of adjusting to some exciting new priorities, and will be stepping back from Super Ventures while stepping up at 6D.ai. This has been a gradual process over the last 12 months or so, but with 6D’s new funding and the rapid growth we’re seeing, we felt it is time to formalize the change.
About 2 years ago I had just resigned from Samsung after failing to persuade them to invest significantly into an AR software platform, and since the market for AR was close to an inflection point, the opportunity cost of waiting at a large company was too high. I had an amazing team, and had every intention of starting an AR startup to build AR Glasses hardware. What we had learned at our time at Samsung was several years ahead of other market players, and we felt we had several unique insights to the software and design aspects of AR glasses that opened up large market opportunities. After discussing the idea with a number of investors, I received some advice that stuck with me and changed my course. Matt Huang from Sequoia shared that while he agreed the market opportunity was vast, that we represented as good a team as there could be, and our product vision was compelling, the amount of money already invested into the AR Glasses space (by OEMs and VCs) would always be a problem. Not only would we have to succeed in building something very difficult (which was in our control) but to win the market, we had to expect 3–4 large and capable competitors to fail (which we could not control, and it was unlikely that most of them would fail). Matt challenged me to think about how could a startup succeed even if the well funded projects also succeeded (and do it in a capital efficient way, he added, referring to startups that need ~$2B before launching a product)
As I thought about that, I realized that in order to build the product I had in mind, some key pieces of technology needed to exist, that didn’t exist yet…
Around the same time, I received a call from my friend Ori Inbar who shared that he was setting up a new pre-seed Venture fund focussed on early stage investing exclusively into AR startups. This was at the height of the VR hype cycle, and most people struggled to understand why we believed in AR when VR was so hot right now. Eventually our beliefs were validated by Tim Cook, Satya Nadella and others, and Super Ventures has become the clear thought leader and first choice for any AR entrepreneurs who want to skip many product development cycles by tapping into the many years of operational expertise and unrivaled AR industry personal networks our team could bring. We have consistently called the market correctly, focussing on enterprise, infrastructure and core enablers for the AR ecosystem and have built a great portfolio of interesting companies in our first small fund. I loved the work, I loved everything I learned sitting across the table from entrepreneurs and I loved seeing smart founders figuring things out in this dynamic emerging market.
Then about a year ago, I met Prof Victor Prisacariu from the Oxford Active Vision Lab (arguably the worlds top AR Computer Vision lab), who was seeking some commercialization advice on technology he had developed. I immediately saw that he had solved one of the hard “holy grail” problems stopping AR from reaching wide adoption, and my founder instincts started to re-emerge. Over the last year Victor and I, with the support of Super Ventures, gradually figured out how to create a company out of his research and the day had come to step into that new and exciting opportunity. Our startup is called 6D.ai and we recently announced our launch and funding, backed by Super Ventures, General Catalyst and an amazing syndicate of co-investors.
6D.ai has rapidly gained a leadership position in the booming AR Cloud market, and we have ambitious plans for 2018 and beyond. My commitment to see 6D.ai succeed means that I won’t be able to wear 2 hats anymore, and so with the support of the Super Ventures team, I’m stepping down as a partner and doubling down as CEO of 6D.ai. I’ll remain a portfolio CEO, close friend and advisor to the firm and will always be there to help how I can, both to the SV partnership and to our other portfolio founders.
Ori, thank you for the opportunity to help lead the firm, for which I’ll always be grateful. Tom & Mark, I have so enjoyed working alongside you, and I’ve been amazed by how much I have learned from all of you. On top of that I have enjoyed working with such a great group of people who are caring, honest, trustworthy and empathic. The mutual respect amongst the team is something that’s rare.
Thankyou all, and I’m looking forward to building a successful startup in the SV portfolio and continuing to work with you all (in a slightly different capacity) in the coming years
Matt
