How AI is Changing The World

In this episode we talk about getting started. Founding a company means you are constantly learning to do new things, like hiring and selling. How do you handle these new situations where you have no experience? How do you avoid mistakes? We are here to help! In this episode we answer questions including:

• How is AI changing the nature of work?
• How do you stay ahead of how fast AI is changing today?
• Will my data advantage still be an advantage in the future?
• Can AI really replace employees for me?

All of these questions were submitted by listeners just like you. You can submit questions for us to answer on our website TheStartupHelpdesk.com or on X/Twitter @thestartuphd - we'd love to hear from you!

Your hosts:

• Sean Byrnes: General Partner, Near Horizon www.nearhorizon.vc
• Ash Rust: Managing Partner, Sterling Road www.sterlingroad.com
• Nic Meliones: CEO, Navi www.heynavi.com

Reminder: this is not legal advice or investment advice.

Q1: How is AI changing the nature of work?

AI has transformed daily workflows across every part of the startup journey. From first drafts of sales and marketing copy, to deep research using tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity, it's become the first step for many creative processes. Internal tooling has gotten faster with tools like Replit and Cursor, while product discovery now often starts with AI instead of Amazon. Whether it’s coding, devOps, or customer discovery, AI gives founders leverage.

Q2: How do you stay ahead of how fast AI is changing today?

The key is to stay focused on your customer. While tech shifts rapidly, true customer pain changes slowly. Solve real, urgent problems—and use AI tools along the way to stay nimble. It’s totally fine to use APIs like OpenAI’s or wrap an existing model. The winning strategy? Build something valuable today, and keep evolving it with your users.

Q3: Will my data advantage still be an advantage in the future?

"Proprietary data" is losing its edge. Even Bloomberg's private GPT underperformed public models. Unless your data is restricted, hyper-niche, or massive, it's probably not a moat. What matters more is how well you deliver value to users—accuracy, speed, experience, and reliability. That’s your real advantage.

Q4: Can AI really replace employees for me?

It’s not about replacing people—it’s about hiring the right combination of people and AI. Founders need to build the muscle of managing both. The real opportunity is in learning when to hire a human, and when to "hire" an AI tool. Treat AI as an employee that never sleeps, but still needs thoughtful management. We are already seeing plenty of instances where founders are using AI to replace content marketing teams. Furthermore, there is a trend towards smaller engineering teams, with engineers using AI tools to complement and accelerate their efforts.