How much should we invest in extending human potential?
The rationalization behind Extend AI’s $100B+ valuation target.
Before you ask, we raised $600,000 a few months ago and are only in our pre-seed stage… we haven’t even seeded yet! One could argue that we are a bit delusional to target $100B+… so here’s why we got to that number and why we think other startups wanting to solve core problems should target that too.
But first, let me explain the problem we want to solve.
The problem
With everything at our disposal, with the amazing opportunities we’ve created through technology, why aren’t there more Oprah Winfreys or Elon Musks?
We are strong believers in human potential but we know most people are afraid to jump into the full realization of their aspirations. Deep down, most of us are stressed out and anxious. Our brain’s limbic system, the part of our brain that reacts to our environment, has so much to process that it gets into a fight-or-flight response… choosing to flee more often than not.
The sad thing is that we know we could shape our lives in ways to be able to do things we really care about, stuff that would bring meaning to others and ourselves. What’s the problem then? Is it our fault?
Technology has opened up the world to us. Our neocortex, that inner voice that tells us that we can get out there and rock, knows the value we could bring to the table in this amazing mankind-expedition. We are witnessing so much amazing happenings all around us; we know it is possible.
Without knowing where we are today, it’s hard to envision how to reach our destination tomorrow. And it’s not our fault, our brain, even though it is an absolute masterpiece, has limitations. Technology, along with globalization, has made the world a really complicated and complex meal to digest. So many signals, so much light, that we are dazzled by it. We are scaring out our emotional self… our dear friend the limbic system.
Our solution?
Give our limbic systems a break by extending our abilities through AI. That will enable us to understand where we are today, what options are in front of us, and project ourselves in the future to see how different scenarios could turn out. We will be able to see what needs to be done to get to where we want. This will give us the tools we need to contribute to the world with our full potential.
We want people to see the world in a way they can align their rational and emotional selves and go for it.
To do so, we are going back to the fundamentals — space and time. We are building a platform that will extend people space and time abilities. A real-real-world “digital twin”, an AI virtual space time platform through which millions of signals will be processed for you, clarifying and enriching your mental model of the world in a way that can let you become who you are.
All good, but what’s the thinking behind targeting $100B+?
Reason 1 — the mind is like a fart, it will fill in the space it has
Our mind adapts to deadlines and to free time… it even adapts to our biggest deadline of all: our own mortality. The brain therefore maintains an intricate relationship with its environment, both in terms of space and time.
Based on its objective, the mind will build a mental model of what the target will look like. It will think, find solutions, and try to maximize results within the boundaries it has defined.
That’s why, from day one, we are defining our endeavour in a $100B+ room in which we can let our mind expand. So when we think about Extend AI in ~10 years, in our mental model, it is already worth $100B+. With that in mind, and the strong motives to be described in the remaining reasons below, we have the mental freedom to navigate to that target without limiting ourselves.
Reason 2–$100B+ is already possible today, so we are not targeting the impossible
With 14 years in the making, Facebook is now worth close to $500B. Google and Amazon are now worth near $800B after 20 and 24 years of existence respectively. Ok, so yes it’s ambitious but it can definitely be done, ✔️.
In the next ten years, the probability that a few groups of people will create companies worth $100B+ is pretty high. So we don’t see why we couldn’t be one of them.
Reason 3 — The value of extending human potential
Apple, Google and Twitter (just to name a few) are solving really important problems. They are lighting up the darkness. They are creating the necessary signals needed to let people have access to what is going on around them.
But technology has created a new problem that freaks us out in new ways. Not seeing something that is just in front of us make us look pretty dumb. Not being seen even tho everyone can see, is scary as hell.
The idea of failing while knowing we had everything at our disposal to succeed is absolutely frightening. It all comes down to our capacity to understand and interact with our environment — with space and time.
We believe solving that problem will generate around the world trillions of dollars of value, so we don’t think its delusional to believe we can capture a $100B+ out of it.
Reason 4- because we deeply care about solving this problem and get us closer to a sustainable future
So why $100B+? There are many practical and technical reasons and adding a spreadsheet here would ruin the vibe. But the top reason, is that we believe the best investment that can be done is in you — in all of us.
We want all of us to understand where we are today. Manipulate and organize space and time together in a way to let a maximum of people to get out there and enjoy the ride while giving us the insights we need to ensure we don’t fuck it up.
At the end of the day, we are just a bunch of tiny human bodies moving in space and time on this amazing spacecraft called earth. It’s time to get real people. It’s time to let our limbic systems freak out for more important reasons.
If you are interested in living in a place where people are rocking it, a place where we understand that the earth is ridiculously small and that we are amazingly privileged to be on it, a place were we take great care of what we have and are looking at tomorrow with pride and passion, a place where people value and make the best use of their time, then please get in touch because that’s the direction we’ve taken.
But why $100B+ again? Because it would mean that tens of billions of dollars has been invested in developing and distributing technologies that would get us closer to that world view and would encourage others startups, companies and investors to get on the sustainability train wagon.
It’s easy to drop huge numbers, but how much will it really be?
So how much are we going to be worth in ~10 years? Truth is, it’s way too early to tell and we would be full of shit to pretend otherwise.
The thing we do know though, is that we’ll do everything we can to make our mental model a reality because our rational and emotional selves are both agreeing that it is the most meaningful thing we can do!
We are Extend AI, and we are getting out there.
