In this episode of Fault Lines, Augustin Sayer sits down with Damian Cristian, co-founder of rule30, a London fund where an algorithm picks the startups. Marc Andreessen says venture capital will be the last job AI takes over; Damian disagrees. A mathematician from Transylvania who ran a venture builder in London, he found early-stage investing too random, with no feedback loops, and spent years building a system that studies a thousand companies a week and learns from every decision.

They talk about skill, luck and brand in VC, why pre-seed is the hardest stage to pick, the three years of data work behind the model, live testing inside European investment committees, the demo fund now investing with almost no human in the loop, and the next step: an "investor in your pocket" that founders can talk to on WhatsApp. Damian also shares which VCs he thinks will be replaced, why incumbents won't lead the change, and why he is betting on the hard tech that "feeds the machine god".

[00:00:00] Will AI replace VCs? Andreessen's claim

[00:01:05] Meet Damian Cristian: from Transylvania to London

[00:01:52] Why early-stage VC feels random

[00:04:07] Skill, luck or brand: what really drives returns

[00:06:20] Is venture capital a roulette table?

[00:09:27] Rebuilding VC as a self-learning system

[00:11:06] Eight months in an Airbnb to build a startup picker

[00:12:39] Why pre-seed is the hardest stage to pick

[00:14:01] Lovable, Real Madrid and the football scout analogy

[00:16:11] 2019: betting a career on the problem

[00:17:02] Laughed at in fundraising meetings

[00:18:07] Rebuilding every founder's data, point in time

[00:21:01] The VC myths about repeat and young founders

[00:22:03] Model drift after ChatGPT

[00:23:07] Live testing inside European investment committees

[00:25:32] Why rule30 raised its own fund

[00:25:55] Where humans still step in

[00:28:45] The catch-22 of picking unicorns

[00:29:37] Cutting through the noise of "AI VCs"

[00:32:07] Convincing LPs with sandboxes and TVPI tests

[00:34:25] Delusional or onto something?

[00:35:13] Can there be only one AI-native VC?

[00:36:03] Which VCs will be replaced

[00:37:26] Why incumbents won't lead the change

[00:38:40] Building the brand between London and San Francisco

[00:39:54] An investor in your pocket, on WhatsApp

[00:41:45] How long does a tech moat last?

[00:44:16] Feeding the machine god: energy, chips and hard tech

[00:45:43] Contrarian, but not too weird

[00:49:00] Selling shoes to the shoemaker

Fault Lines Podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing in this podcast constitutes investment, financial, legal, or tax advice, nor a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security or pursue any investment strategy. Nothing here is an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security or interest in any fund. The views expressed are those of the host and guests in their personal capacity and do not represent the views of OVNI Capital LLC, OVNI Capital SAS, or any affiliated entity. Opinions expressed by guests are their own. Information is believed accurate as of the recording date but is not guaranteed. Listeners should consult their own professional advisors before making any financial decisions.

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