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EP 121: Where Founders Should Actually Bet with Itamar Novick
Description
In this episode of $100M Exits, Jason sits down with Itamar Novick, Founder and General Partner of Recursive Ventures, to unpack where the real value in AI will be created, why today’s AI infrastructure market looks increasingly like a bubble, and what founders need to build companies that can actually defend their position. Itamar has built and taken Life360 public twice and now backs early-stage AI companies at the application layer.
From AI infrastructure and application-layer valuations, to proprietary data, recursive learning loops, and the growing importance of domain expertise, Itamar shares how he thinks about AI moats, venture-scale businesses, and where founders should be careful about taking too much capital too early.
What You'll Learn:
Why Itamar believes we're in an AI infrastructure bubble — and where he sees the real opportunity
What makes an AI company defensible when building software is easier than ever
Why founders should question whether their business is actually venture scale before taking VC money
How "seed strapping" can help founders build toward cash flow positive growth
Why AI founders need a Plan B for unit economics as today's token costs are heavily subsidized
ABOUT ITAMAR NOVICK
Itamar Novick is the Founder of Recursive Ventures, a pre-seed fund backing AI startups from day one. He has backed 100+ startups, including Deel, HoneyBook, Life360, and Tile, and was part of the early teams at Life360, which scaled from seed to IPO, and Gigya, which was acquired by SAP for $350M. Business Insider has named him a Top 100 global seed investor every year since 2022.
You can reach out to Itamar through:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itamarnovick/overlay/contact-info/
Website: https://www.recursiveventures.com/ - Company
ABOUT JASON KIRBY
Jason Kirby is the co-founder of Thunder, a tech-enabled investment bank helping founders reach their ideal target outcomes through capital strategy and M&A.
He is a serial entrepreneur with four exits and decades of experience in fundraising, M&A, and business building. In his career, he has coached hundreds of entrepreneurs on fundraising, investing, capital strategy, M&A, and business development. He’s transacted over $135M, and his firm Thunder has transacted over $200M+
You can reach out to Jason through:
Email: jason@thunder.vc
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonrkirby/
ABOUT $100M EXITS
My goal is simple: to equip founders with the knowledge, inspiration, and guidance to navigate the labyrinthine world of capital strategy to take your company where you ultimately want it, by interviewing founders and investors who have already done it.
For most, it’s a dream to sell for $100M+, but for others, it’s too cash flow or IPO. Founders doing over $5M in revenue will benefit the most from this podcast.
Be sure to subscribe and let me know who you want me to interview next.
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