Feels Good Friday

Quote on earned genius:

“Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see." - Arthur Schopenhauer

Many have talent, few become genius.

Talent is given, genius is earned.”

Friday always feels good!!! Here is a departure from the norm as I am providing several quick hits including:

1. Three dynamic AI related companies I would invest in now if they had an IPO.

2. Coca-Cola’s AI and Human created brand

3. What type of decision maker are you…a framework for decision bias?

Three AI Related Companies I would Invest in if they an IPO

1. Zapier

Zapier is a web automation platform that allows you to connect different apps and services together. This can save you a massive amount of time and hassle, especially if you use multiple apps for work or personal use. I currently have a whole ecosystem of time saving “Zaps” that I am using to do everything from automating my expenses by linking gmail to my Google Sheets to managing my contacts by linking Google Forms to Contacts.

Zapier was founded in 2011 by Wade Foster and Bryan Helmig. The company has raised over $400 million in funding, including a $100 million Series F round in 2022.

Zapier's competitive moat is its large and growing network of integrations. The company currently supports over 4,000 apps and services, giving users a lot of flexibility to automate their workflows.

2. Eleven Labs

Eleven Labs is a company that develops AI-powered voice cloning technology. This technology can be used to create realistic clones of people's voices, which can be used for a variety of purposes, such as creating audiobooks, podcasts, and video games. I love using Eleven Labs' easy to use interface from uploading and cloning celebrity voices for social media posts to finding the right voice and tone in creating sales and marketing training videos.

ElevenLabs was co-founded in 2022 by Piotr Dabkowski, an ex-Google machine learning engineer and Mati Staniszewski, an ex-Palantir deployment strategist. Both were raised in Poland, and their inspiration for founding ElevenLabs reportedly came from watching inadequately dubbed American films.

The company has raised over $100 million in funding, including a $50 million Series B round in 2023.  ElevenLabs, which recently raised $19 million from investors, including Andreessen Horowitz and DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman at a $99 valuation, plans to eventually extend its AI models to voice dubbing.

Eleven Labs' competitive moat is its proprietary AI-powered voice cloning technology. I tried a number of their competitor’s offerings and I have found theirs to be the best, especially in its ability and flexibility in allowing you to upload any voice to be cloned. Eleven Labs’ technology is superior to other voice cloning technologies on the market, and it is constantly being improved.

3. Copy AI

Copy AI is a company that develops AI-powered writing tools. These tools can help users write better and faster, by providing suggestions for grammar, style, and tone. I attended one of Copy AIs most recent video calls and was blown away with the ease of use in creating workflows to automate everything from blogs to personalized marketing campaigns. You can view their most recent video call here:

Copy AI was founded in 2021 by Paul Yacoubian and Dan Yacoubian. The company has raised over $30 million in funding, including a $25 million Series A round in 2023.

Copy AI's competitive moat is its focus on AI-powered writing tools. This is a rapidly growing market, and Copy AI is one of the leading companies in this space.

I could not be more excited about the future of AI, and I believe that these three companies are well-positioned to succeed in this growing industry. If they were to have an IPO, I would definitely drop at least $1k on each of them!!!

Coca-Cola, forever reinventing themselves to drive recruitment of new youthful users, recently launched Coca-Cola Y3000, a beverage the company says is the first flavor to be “co-created” with both human and AI intelligence. “Coca-Cola Y3000 is being paired with an AI-powered experience the company said will give fans “an unexpected and exciting perspective” on what the year 3000 could look like”.

I honestly found more value in this article in reading about several other examples of CPG companies AI inspired new item launches versus simply reading about Y3000. So take a look and learn more about AI’s growing impact in the CPG space.

Framework on decision-making bias:

Maximizer vs. Satisficer

Psychologists distinguish between two types of decision-makers:

1. Maximizers: People who want the absolute best option.

2. Satisficers: People who want the "good enough" option.

The idea is that the way you make decisions is largely determined by where you land on the spectrum between extreme Maximizer and extreme Satisficer.

An extreme Maximizer will constantly seek to optimize every aspect of every decision. An extreme Satisficer will accept the first credible option as good enough and move on.

The majority of us fall somewhere in between these two extreme ends, though with a clear bias towards one end.

In a 2006 study, researchers followed 548 college seniors and found that the Maximizers got better jobs with higher salaries, but were less satisfied with their jobs than the Satisficers.

This leads to an important point:

The constant search for the best possible option can lead to better outcomes, but more unhappiness.

One of the researchers, Dr. Barry Schwartz, notes, "The maximizer is kicking himself because he can’t examine every option and at some point had to just pick something...Maximizers make good decisions and end up feeling bad about them. Satisficers make good decisions and end up feeling good."

Both extremes have downsides:

• The Maximizer may leave happiness on the table.

• The Satisficer may leave achievement on the table.

In my view, the goal should be to develop an awareness of your natural decision-making bias, and then to work on balancing it out with deliberate effort.

If you're naturally a hard Maximizer, how can you soften that tendency on certain lower-stakes decisions to reduce stress and focus on important things?

If you're naturally a hard Satisficer, how can you push yourself to take a bit more time with certain high-stakes decisions to improve your potential outcomes on important things?

Where do you sit on the spectrum? Take an online quiz or use the image below to get a frame of reference.

Source: WSJ Article, Illustration: Rob Shepperson

#Coca-cola #AI #copyai #zapier