Umesh Tibrewal

Customer obsession isn’t a pre-PMF phase of company-building. For the most successful founders, it never stops. T.J. Rylander, General Partner at N47, joined me on CLIMB where we talked about patterns he’s seen across succeeding investments like Skydio, Luminary Cloud, and Encord. Founders like Adam Bry, Pete Schlampp, and Eric Landau don’t just focus on a sharp understanding of the pain to get started. They build it into a culture of customer obsession even after and especially as the revenue shows up. He shared an early insight from meeting the Encord team. Their product vision wasn’t framed around growth curves or new technical capabilities. It was simple: delight the customer. For TJ, that stood in contrast to many legacy and AI-first platforms they had evaluated with strong revenue ramps but unhappy users who openly admitted they were looking to make a change. That NPS gap matters more right now than legacy SaaS companies want to admit. In this AI era, buyers are scrutinizing spend. Switching costs feel lower. And “good enough” software is easier to rip and replace than ever. If you’re building today, the takeaway is to stay close to your customers even as you scale. Find ways to make sure you’re hearing their feedback from your teams on the ground so you know when they’re settling instead of satisfied. What are some ways you have seen leaders build customer obsession into their org as they scale?

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Working with NRF to pursue our patent strategy is an important step in recognizing that proprietary AI systems and workflows are becoming a new form of intellectual property for modern firms. Great to partner with George, John McBride, and the team at Norton Rose Fulbright as we work at the frontier of how AI can transform investment decision-making in venture capital. At Decasonic, we believe the next generation of companies will reinvent with AI workflows and systems how organizations operate, how leaders make decisions, and how teams collaborate with intelligent systems. In going through this streamlined process, it's clear to me that many more startups should clarify their IP strategy. Our internally developed AI platform, RLEN, reflects that philosophy. We are building AI not to automate tasks and flourish outcomes, in collaborative ways for human and AI teammates. This enables our investors to test ideas, explore alternative perspectives, and reach deeper insights faster when navigating uncertainty. More broadly, we are seeing trailblazing work across industries and cities as leaders experiment with how AI can reshape communities, companies, and countries. Leadership with AI forever transforms. We are still in the early innings. Appreciate the partnership and collaboration from the Norton Rose Fulbright team as we continue inventing and innovating. Special shoutout to my colleague Abdul Al Ali who's listed as a co-inventor.

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Honored and excited to partner with Drew Baglino and the incredible team at Heron Power as they re-imagine the electric grid for the modern world. Power in America is not zero sum. We deserve access to cheap and abundant electricity and we should win the AI race. And we must build the capacity to manufacture critical technology here at home. When faced with existential challenges, we deploy technology against them. And we win.

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I’m lucky to work alongside colleagues like Richard Fruehauf, who constantly push my thinking. His latest piece unpacks why U.S. robotics and drone manufacturing faces uphill economics, and how public policy can help turn the tide. One key takeaway: 232 tariffs on robotics imports could help reset the economics that are holding back U.S. investment and production. It’s a sharp perspective on how policy can shape the future of advanced tech here at home. Well worth a read: https://lnkd.in/edMPTQPQ Richard Fruehauf, Robert J. Szczerba, Michael Lutzky, Edward Ovando, Karl Sanchack, Herman Herman, Jeff Legault, Phil English, Richard Fruehauf, Ryan Aument, Michael Guido, Sheila Fitzgerald Sterrett, David McCormick

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