My goal when I became a full time investor was to be the type of partner I would have most wanted during my time building a company: someone who had done the work I was doing before, who had the network to help me reach my goals faster, and who had my back no matter what.
I’m really happy to share that we’ve raised Alt Cap II, a $275M early stage fund.
We backed ~20 companies at Seed and Series A in Alt Cap I. The new fund will be the same structure with a bit larger checks. But mostly we just want to be in business with people who inspire us.
There’s no way to say it without sounding cheesy but it’s true; I feel unbelievably lucky to do this job in the way I get to do it.
A special thanks to the founders that let us back them in Alt Cap I, you all are what it’s all about for me!
Episode #92: How AI Changes Governments & Business Models
@MikeVichich is the Co-founder and CEO of Pursuit, which helps companies drive more revenue from the public sector.
We talk about how AI is changing Helmer’s 7 Powers, how it’s impacting the government, if DOGE is actually working, building a startup in the Midwest (specifically Ann Arbor, MI), and how to disagree with your team.
We also get into Mike’s prior company Wisely, and how they went from $11 in the bank account and unable to run payroll for six months, to over $10 million ARR and a $187 million exit to public company Olo a few years later.
Thanks to @jaltma and @Blakeir for their help brainstorming good topics for Mike!
Full episode here on X, or grab a link in the replies.
Timestamps:
3:21 How AI changes Helmer’s 7 Powers
17:06 What becomes important in AI-first economy
21:02 How AI interfaces with the government
24:02 “The rules intended to save taxpayer money ironically cause taxpayer money to be wasted”
29:34 How change orders impact public sector costs
33:20 Why DOGE has not impacted US government spending yet
38:15 Three pieces of wisdom from 2nd-time founders
41:44 Starting Pursuit to make selling to the public sector as easy as the private sector
45:35 Why cities grow expenses 5x faster than tax revenue
51:42 Pros + Cons of building startups in Ann Arbor, MI
57:43 Hiring talent density in the Midwest
59:30 Starting his first company to fix consumer credit cards
1:08:50 Pivoting Wisely to restaurant loyalty
1:12:49 $11 in the bank, missing payroll for six months
1:15:21 Embarrassing demo at an Ann Arbor tech meetup
1:18:18 Why CEOs don’t always have to be right
1:20:54 How to disagree
1:25:48 Hiring at Pursuit
1:28:30 “A bad day with customers is better than the best day in the office”
1:31:33 Crashing their first customer’s PoS on Labor Day Weekend
1:35:55 Using “The Cadence” to hit $10M ARR
1:41:55 Selling Wisely to Olo for $187M