What happens when your AI product isn't the real product?
Todd Smith, CEO of TAHO (Formerly Opnbook), shares how a year into building a business intelligence tool for AI usage tracking, his team stumbled into something bigger - a game-changing infrastructure optimization layer that boosts high-performance computing across AI, gaming, crypto, and more.
In this episode, Todd walks us through:
- The original idea behind Opnbook and why they shelved it
- How pivoting to their infrastructure layer (TAHO) opened a massive market opportunity
- Why AI-era startups can run leaner, faster, and cheaper than ever before
- What most VCs get wrong about true innovation
- Why the next generation of enterprise wins will be powered by software efficiency
From pre-IPO tours at Facebook, Snapchat, and Docker to rolling the dice on his own venture, Todd brings decades of hard-earned infrastructure insight and startup humility to the table.
🧠If you’re building in AI, high-performance compute, or B2B SaaS — this one’s essential listening.
⛓️ Resources
Learn more about TAHO: https://www.taho.is/
Grow your revenue with Big North Marketing: https://bignorthmarketing.com
đź•’ Chapters (Timestamps)
00:00 – Todd’s path from DJ gear to Silicon Valley IT
03:40 – What big tech teaches you about scale
07:15 – Founding Opnbook and the first AI productivity tool
13:20 – Pivoting into infrastructure: the TAHO origin story
17:45 – What Nvidia’s backlog says about the real market gap
23:10 – How Opnbook’s tech slashes compute time and energy use
29:45 – Fundraising frustrations in a risk-averse VC climate
35:20 – Why most VCs can’t spot game-changing tech
43:00 – The next 12 months: landing a flagship enterprise customer
47:30 – The real bottlenecks: admin drag and scaling operations
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