Henry Liang

2x Founder, Investor(SBI, WVF), Hacker(Bio, Social)
Go Blue

[Henry Liang @ulenever]

I'm Henry. Early-stage deep tech & AI investor @ SBI/WVF and I'm a 2x founder/operator, Michigan Ross MBA. I write down what's potential and technical diligence actually teaches you. A quick intro 📷

[Henry Liang @ulenever]

sf this week is hot. Basically every building with a queue. Only in sf. #sftechweek

[Henry Liang @ulenever]

I asked Instinct today for its top 10 most-requested tasks. It wouldn't tell me 😅
So I'm asking you: what's the most mind-blowing thing Instinct has done for you? Looking for inspiration. 👀

[Henry Liang @ulenever]

@quxiaoyin On point 2, I'd push back a bit: reorg is a spectrum. Not every job to be done needs the org chart rebuilt, and keeping a human in the loop has real value for a while yet. Many workflows get augmented long before they get replaced

[Henry Liang @ulenever]

Fully agree on point 6. You spotted the demand, built the solution and own the customer relationship. That's most of a company. Go start it. My view could be limited, so I'm open to discussion.

[Henry Liang @ulenever]

A good FDE, like anyone client-facing, should sense where the client's real pain is and solve it creatively. The best ones find the dirty, messy, ugly work nobody wants, or the high-cost, low-value tasks. That's where the startup opportunities hide.

[Henry Liang @ulenever]

Great post. On point 2, I'd push back a bit: reorg is a spectrum. Not every job to be done needs the org chart rebuilt, and keeping a human in the loop has real value for a while yet. Many workflows get augmented long before they get replaced.

[Xiaoyin Qu @quxiaoyin]

I am gonna say something risky:
Most of the FDEs I've seen are solving BS problems.

1. Existing enterprise workflows were designed around people, not agents.
2. Real AI gains require rebuilding the org chart.
3. Most execs have no incentive to do that, and most CEOs aren't in founder mode.
4. So FDEs automate the status quo, because that's what's easy to sell. But the status quo is stupid and will be obsolete.
5. If you FDE on critical workflows, 1) enterprises are really this dumb to hand off trade secrets? 2) if you know that, shouldn't you start a competing firm?
If you FDE on non-essential AND soon-obselete workflows, did you learn anything meaningful and repeatable?
6. If you are a smart young FDE, why spend your best years automating dying workflows and managing people who fear AI will take their jobs? Shouldn't you start an agent-native firm from scratch in that industry instead?

Analogy would be, instead of teaching everyone to be AI builders within a tech company, you as FDE build agents that auto-ingest meeting notes for PM, QA, front-end, back-end, devops, UX and help each of them write PRD, Figma, and meeting notes faster for their sync meeting, but the right solution should be to shrink roles, hire full-stack AI builders, and kill meetings. You gain lots of experience with your PRD/Figma/standup meeting sync agents but it's a useless skill.

I am not a FDE expert so I might oversimplify things. I am genuinely curious about this topic and welcome any critiques and comments.

[Henry Liang @ulenever]

@shakhzod1001 Thinkpad

[Henry Liang @ulenever]

@benabmathew @X Hi Ben!👋

[Henry Liang @ulenever]

Hey @X algorithm 👋
Looking to #connect with builders and investors in:

🤖 Frontier Tech: AI Infra, Physical AI, Space Tech
💸 B2B SaaS: Fintech, Web3
🌱Ecosystem: Early-stage investing & Building in public

What are you currently building or investing in? Let's connect! 👇

[Henry Liang @ulenever]

@CactusFrames @X Hi Cactus!👋

[Henry Liang @ulenever]

@AlDev0 @X 👋👋👋

[Henry Liang @ulenever]

@flytradr_guy @X Hi Reyaz! seems like you are building some cool stuff!

[Henry Liang @ulenever]

@shakhzod1001 @X Hi Shakhzod! followed you back!

[Henry Liang @ulenever]

@quietforgelab @X Hi quietforgelab! followed you back, I like your home office setup!

[Henry Liang @ulenever]

I'll be posting frameworks, diligence notes, and funding-market takes drawn from the deal flow I actually see. If you build or fund deep tech/AI, follow along, and tell me: what's the deep tech question you're still working through? 🧐

[Henry Liang @ulenever]

I'm Henry. Early-stage deep tech & AI investor @ SBI/WVF and I'm a 2x founder/operator, Michigan Ross MBA. I write down what's potential and technical diligence actually teaches you. A quick intro 📷

[Henry Liang @ulenever]

One line I keep coming back to: data compounds, algorithms commoditize. The moats I've seen win are physical infra, proprietary datasets, sticky workflow and regulatory lock-in... things that get harder to replicate over time.