Overdrive AI

How do you think AI will impact the VC industry? 🤖 One insight from the Venture Intelligence Day by VESTBERRY that stood out to me was Jochen Küst's comment about using LLMs and chatbots to help VCs error-proof financial processes, like cross-checks. I thought, I just saw something like this - Google's Gemini new feature that lets you share your screen with the AI, so the chatbot can discuss and troubleshoot with you in real time what you are working on. I can see Jochen's prediction becoming reality quite soon! 🚀 Hear more from Jochen Küst (Earlybird Venture Capital), Harry Uglow (Atomico), and Titouan Galpin (Luphy.io) on this topic interviewed by our Natalia Jamborova from VESTBERRY. And thank you guys for sharing your thoughts at the Venture Intelligence Day. 🙏

Outbound is broken—too many teams are relying on outdated tactics that don’t work anymore. But what if you could turn LinkedIn engagement into predictable pipeline? We’ve just released The Complete Allbound Automation Guide, created by Overdrive AI in collaboration with La Growth Machine. 🎁 What’s inside? → 💡 How to track LinkedIn engagement and identify when prospects are ready to talk. → 🔌How to leverage LGM's newest integration with Trigify → ⚡ A complete automation flow (with 3 tools) to launch perfectly timed outreach. → 📑 Templates and step-by-step guides to implement it → 📹 A live webinar to show you exactly how to implement it. This guide is perfect for: ✓ Sales teams wanting better LinkedIn ROI. ✓ Marketing teams tired of declining response rates. ✓ Revenue leaders looking for scalable, repeatable results. Want access? Holidays came early, so just drop "allbound" in the comments, and I’ll send you the link. Eloïse Brice Georgiy David

SaaS Created 300 Unicorns. YC Says Vertical AI Agents Could Be 10X Bigger. In the last 20 years: ✔️ SaaS captured 40% of VC funding. ✔️ Created 300+ unicorns. ✔️ Transformed how we work. But YC predicts Vertical AI agents—agents built for specific industries—will outscale SaaS by 10X. Here’s why: 1️⃣ We’re at an Inflection Point "Every 3 months, things get progressively better. Now, we’re talking about vertical AI agents that could replace entire teams and functions." Vertical AI agents don’t just automate—they specialize, handling healthcare, finance, and logistics tasks seamlessly. 2️⃣ History Repeats Itself 2005: People doubted enterprise software could work in a browser. 2024: People doubt AI can handle complex tasks. SaaS proved them wrong, and now Vertical AI will do the same. 3️⃣ The Scale of Opportunity YC predicts "a Vertical AI unicorn for every SaaS unicorn." The key? Solve boring, repetitive tasks in industries—and you’ll find billion-dollar opportunities waiting to emerge. 4️⃣ Why This Time Is Different Vertical AI doesn’t just cut software costs; it also reduces payroll expenses—10X larger than software costs in most enterprises. 5️⃣ Where To Look Look for high-volume, admin-heavy work in specific industries. YC’s advice: "Dig deep enough into these problems, and there’s likely a billion-dollar startup waiting to be built." Working in automation companies for +3 years, and building agents for VC's and Sales Teams in Overdrive, I see new cases of highly-automatable repetitive work daily. Build that awareness for yourself: → Talk to customers. → Immerse yourself in the industries you want to innovate in. And please, please... SEE THE BIG PICTURE!!! 🙏 The real opportunity isn't in flashy consumer AI. While YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn continue to buzz arround ChatGPT, shiny new LLMs and consumer AI, the real transformation is happening in vertical B2B applications of agents. Just like SaaS, the winners will solve specific industry challenges at scale—and 2025 will be the year this landscape takes form. Which industries are embracing this shift first? 🔖 Tag your favorite Vertical AI Agent company in the comments (with the industry they're working on)! ______ Want to read the full post and get a list of AI Agent companies disrupting traditional industries? 📒 I linked our Complete Newsletter Post Bellow. ↓ You'll get access to the YC's Startup Dashboard in our Newsletter (for Free)🎁

🔍 What Actually Makes an Agent... an Agent? The term "agent" gets thrown around a lot these days—often used to describe any API interaction with a large language model (LLM). But let’s be real: asking OpenAI to summarize a text isn’t an agent—it’s just a fancy API call. Often, we call elaborated AI + Automation systems "agents", when we should rather call them "copilots" or simply "automation systems". So, what’s a true agent? An agent is more than a simple input-output pipeline. It must: 1️⃣ Intelligently decide its next action: → Should it execute a task, delegate to another agent, or transition to a new workflow? 2️⃣ Adapt dynamically to context: → Make context-based decisions and adjust its actions to align with evolving inputs and goals. I really like how OpenAI frames it: "An agent packages a set of instructions with various functions (and additional settings) and can transfer execution to another agent." But here’s the catch... Sometimes, you don’t want full autonomy.⚠️ For example: ➡️ A refund-processing agent may require human oversight (human-in-the-loop) to ensure accuracy. ➡️ Outreach agents often include HITL steps, so SDRs can review or tweak messages before they’re sent. This intersection of agency + control is exactly what tools like LangChain, 11x, and Relevance AI aim to address. True agents are adaptive systems, not just glorified scripts. They: ✔️ Decide and adapt intelligently ✔️ Combine dynamic decision-making with pre-set workflows ✔️ Seamlessly transition tasks or delegate to other agents Automation is about following a predetermined path. Agency is thinking and deciding. Just as a co-pilot makes you twice as productive, but an autonomous agent lets you hand over the work entirely. What’s your take? Are we too loose with the term “agent”? PS: Gotta admit, I’ve made this mistake myself.

Outbound in 2025 will be all about mastering intent signals—nailing the perfect timing for outreach. Intent signal platforms allow you to: 🔍 Spot emerging pain points in the market before competitors do 🎯 Connect with prospects at the right moment 🔄 Engage CRM leads at the moment something changes These platforms come in many flavors: ✨ Track and Visualize Signals Tools like Common Room let you layer over 20+ distinct signals from individuals and accounts, giving you unmatched visibility. ✨ All-in-One Prospecting Solutions like Lemlist and Instantly integrate intent signals directly into their prospecting workflows. ✨ Focused Categories Platforms such as Vector and Clay dive deep into specialized areas like visitor identification and enrichment. 🛠️ Here are 5 emerging platforms worth exploring: 1️⃣ Common Room – Ideal for signal tracking at scale 2️⃣ Instantly.ai – Streamlined prospecting and intent integration 3️⃣ lemlist – Engage with intent data in personalized outreach 4️⃣ Vector 👻 – Focused on specific, actionable signals 5️⃣ Clay – the market favorite for customization and enrichment What's your go-to platform for intent signals? Let's talk about how these tools are shaping outbound in 2024 👇

Excited to share our next virtual roundtable session "Predicting Startup Success with Data" with Prof Sandra Matz from Columbia University, Megh Gautam from Crunchbase, Francesco Corea, PhD ex-Greycroft & ex-Balderton, and Dr. Andre Retterath from Earlybird Venture Capital💥 Join us for free 10th Dec 5.30pm CET via https://lu.ma/ga54yfwk

Excited to share our next virtual roundtable session "Predicting Startup Success with Data" with Prof Sandra Matz from Columbia University, Megh Gautam from Crunchbase, Francesco Corea, PhD ex-Greycroft & ex-Balderton, and Dr. Andre Retterath from Earlybird Venture Capital💥 Join us for free 10th Dec 5.30pm CET via https://lu.ma/ga54yfwk

Announcing our latest Platform Partner - Relay.app!

🚀 Getting tons of LinkedIn engagement but not turning it into sales? Ivan E., Automation Consultant at Overdrive AI, shows exactly what you’re missing 👇 Most CEOs and B2B marketers are crushing it with content—but there’s a huge gap. Qualified leads? Stuck in a manual loop. Sales teams? Left hanging. Imagine this instead: 🔹 Leads auto-delivered to your sales team 🔹 Personalized outreach—powered by LGM, Zapier & a secret weapon 🔹 No-code retargeting—built live by Ivan in 20 minutes! Ready to turn LinkedIn into your lead-gen machine? Catch Ivan’s Allbound masterclass replay 👉 https://lgm.rocks/zgq

Crustdata (YC F24) provides APIs and webhooks for real-time data feeds on any company and person on the web. These APIs empower B2B sales teams, AI SDRs, and investors to act on live signals from real-time people and company data. Crustdata has developed technology that allows it to index and pipe in live data from almost any data source. Currently, they do this at scale from sources including LinkedIn, the SEC, funding announcements and milestones, employee ratings, product reviews, and web traffic, and deliver this data instantly to their customers. Their technology also enables you to ‘watch’ companies and people on a live basis. Get monthly, weekly, daily, hourly, or instant updates when a predefined event happens. Events like when a: - Company grows or declines in headcount - Company grows in headcount by certain role - Company grows in certain headcount in specific regions - Company announces or closes funding round - Company gets a new product review - Person changes jobs - Person gets a promotion - Person adds a new skill - Company or Person makes a LinkedIn post Congrats to Abhilash Chowdhary, Manmohit Grewal, and Chris Pisarski on the launch! 🚀 https://lnkd.in/g5dKJ4gT