AI for Cheating is Here
When Cluely went viral in recent weeks, I should have known it was only a matter of time before similar apps would be used in pitches. My first time happened this week, and although it was not a good experience for either side, I have little doubt this will be a part of our future.
I knew something was off with the call right away, as the founder was speaking very, very slowly. This wasn't thinking before you speak, they were waiting for their prompts to load. They began with praise that was a little too flattering but perfectly phrased, and at one point, they went from having never heard of a competitive product, to mis-identifying it, to then having in-depth insights into the differences, all within seconds. We did not invest.
Although total reliance on AI isn't attractive for a pitch, I absolutely believe in improving and augmenting your work product with these new tools. Rather than have the bot write fake praise realtime, you can have it prepare a quick report on the investor's background for review before the meeting. Rather than lie about your knowledge of competitors, get AI to do an in-depth analysis of your features versus others, perhaps even using the notes from your customer interviews and data from your roadmap.
Ultimately, I am trying to find the best people to invest in: augmented or not. Right now, those people use AI a lot, but it's not replacing their communication in meetings. It won't be too long before nobody can tell the difference.
Sterling Road invests in idea stage and pre-seed B2B startups based in the US, Canada and UK.