Ep. 7 – The Reasons AI Could Cause a Startup to Fail

The Upgrade: Beyond the Hype

Salvador Klein came from humble beginnings in a single-parent household in Canada surviving off welfare to become a successful post-exit founder, angel investor and an advisor to the CEOs of early-stage ventures all over the world. His Substack, Three Strikes Theory, examines real world case studies of companies large and small, and the three strikes that led them to disaster. Host Peter Bittner spoke with Salvador about the startup world and how one of the biggest stories in internet history, which has been underreported, can be a potential first strike that can take down a business.

(3:17) How investors can give startups good advice

(5:49) The three strikes theory that explains why startups succeed or fail

(7:04) The case of a successful startup that unexpectedly had three strikes against it

(10:16) What setback hurts founders the most

(11:42) Why we often don’t hear stories about when founder fail

(12:34) How generative search can pose a threat to new companies

(14:09) One of the biggest news stories in the history of the internet that has gone almost unreported

(16:00) Why Google’s use of generative search hasn’t received much media coverage

(17:52) Google’s business model

(18:39) Facebook and the organic reach of zero

(18:26) What businesses can do to protect themselves from the effects of generative search

Salvador’s Substack Three Strikes Theory:

https://salvadorklein.substack.com

Find Salvador on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/salvadorklein/?originalSubdomain=au

Learn more about The Upgrade and our online courses

Connect on LinkedIn with Peter Bittner, The Upgrade’s founder and CEO

Special thanks to Mitch Walker for helping to design the podcast’s artwork