Ruthlessness as a founder trait

What happens when AI stops assisting humans and starts replacing decision-making itself? David Weisburd speaks with Camilo Acosta about the rise of agentic AI, why incumbents still leave massive openings for startups, and how AI will reshape labor, venture capital, and entire asset classes. Camilo explains how investing ahead of regulation, betting on founders over ideas, and building for a fully agentic future define the next era of venture.

Highlights:

• Why agentic AI replaces prediction, judgment, and action—not just tasks
• Lessons from building products at Meta and founding startups
• How incumbents’ scale creates opportunity rather than safety
• Why $10B outcomes are “too small” for Big Tech but ideal for VCs
• The danger of competing with platforms that control distribution
• Why copilots miss the point of where AI is going
• AI’s uneven impact across regulated vs. unregulated industries
• How AI will disrupt private equity, asset allocation, and the Yale Model
• The extinction-level event facing emerging VC managers
• Why building a firm is fundamentally a branding and marketing exercise
• Founder psychographics, ruthlessness, and investing pre-idea
• Why some of the best founders are the hardest to work with
• Audio-first interfaces as the next major compute platform shift

Guest Bio:

Camilo Acosta is the Founder and Managing Partner of Perceptive Ventures, an early-stage fund focused on agentic AI. He is a former startup founder and CEO whose company was acquired, and previously served as a senior AI engineering leader at Meta, where he helped run multi-billion-dollar product suites. Camilo invests with a thesis-driven approach centered on agentic systems, founder psychographics, and long-term technological disruption across industries.

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We’d like to thank AlphaSense for sponsoring this episode!

Sponsor:

AlphaSense is the AI-powered market intelligence platform trusted by 85% of the S&P 100, helping investment professionals make faster, more confident, data-driven decisions. Built for hedge funds, asset allocators, private venture capital firms, and investment bankers, AlphaSense uses advanced AI and powerful search across premium proprietary content to surface the insights that matter most—before the market moves. Elevate your research and stay ahead of the competition. Visit https://www.alpha-sense.com/howiinvest/ to learn more.

Stay Connected with David Weisburd:

X/Twitter: @dweisburd LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dweisburd/ Weisburd Capital: https://www.weisburdcapital.com/

Stay Connected with Camilo Acosta:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camiloacosta/

Questions or topics you want us to discuss on How I Invest? Email us at david@weisburdcapital.com.

Disclaimer:

This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, financial, legal, or tax advice. Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as an offer to buy or sell any securities or to participate in any investment strategy. All opinions expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the views of Weisburd Capital. Participants may hold positions or have financial interests in the companies, funds, or investments discussed. Any references to specific investments are for illustrative purposes only. Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of capital. Past performance is not indicative of future results, and any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. Any third-party data or opinions have not been independently verified. Listeners should conduct their own research and consult their own advisors before making any investment decisions.

(0:00) Introduction (1:12) Distribution power and AI's disruptive potential (3:27) Framework for AI disruption and future opportunities (9:42) Conceptualizing an agentic AI future (10:53) AI's impact on asset classes and investment strategies (13:02) Strategies for emerging VC managers to survive (14:22) The significance of a strong LP network (17:14) Learning from investment misses: team vs. idea (18:44) Balancing AGI safety and national security (19:32) Founder ruthlessness and its effects (21:54) Ego and humility in venture capital (23:01) Managing relationships with challenging founders (25:05) Future of computing platforms (26:38) Career advice for aspiring tech professionals (28:29) Big tech vs. entrepreneurship for career start (29:36) Closing remarks