VCs Are Acquiring Mature Businesses To Retrofit With AI (techcrunch.com) 39
Venture capitalists are inverting their traditional investment approach by acquiring mature businesses and retrofitting them with AI. Firms including General Catalyst, Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures and solo investor Elad Gil are employing this private equity-style strategy to buy established companies like call centers and accounting firms, then optimizing them with AI automation.
Not Surprising (Score:3, Insightful)
Anything to feed their bizarre sexual obsession with firing people and destroying our country.
Have you considered (Score:1)
Have you considered overthrowing the oligarchy?
What sort of returns does "AI" have? (Score:5, Insightful)
If I add "AI" to my business, can I expect some returns in the form of higher productivity, lower costs, and generally increased profits? Or is this all just a big hype bubble for appealing to investors, an elaborate pump-and-dump scheme?
Re:What sort of returns does "AI" have? (Score:5, Interesting)
I guess their model goes:
1. Buy established business
2. Replace lots of staff with AI
3. Sell at profit.
4. Who cares what happens to the business long term
Re:What sort of returns does "AI" have? (Score:5, Insightful)
So, basically the same as their old model:
1. Buy established business
2. Loot it.
3. Sell at profit.
4. Who cares what happens to the business long term.
We were more civilized when we hanged bandits.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
So, basically the same as their old model:
1. Buy established business
2. Loot it.
3. Sell at profit.
4. Who cares what happens to the business long term.
We were more civilized when we hanged bandits.
Bandits were more civilised than what we have now. At least a bandit either used what they stole or sold it for less than it was worth.
Re: What sort of returns does "AI" have? (Score:2)
It is not even that elaborate. And it is not new. Also, you aren't trying hard enough. You need to add .com, block chain and AI to your company name at the minimum.
Also, it should only accept payments in crypto currencies. And have a huge presence in the Metaverse.
Re: (Score:2)
In a few specific cases it is a huge improvement on productivity. A lot of the tools though are really just more like accounting automation than "AI". My accountant had switched to something new that streamlined tagging of data to clean up tagging of transactions, but I didn't get into the weeds about it as my taxes are pretty simple nowadays.
I do some stuff for a nonprofit which includes coordinating with the accountant for filing the 990s... which could use a lot of help from automation and even "AI" as
Re: What sort of returns does "AI" have? (Score:1)
Did you ask the same thing about getting a website for a random business, and would you have looked like you were right to be sceptical after the dot com crash, but would you still be right, today?
Re: (Score:2)
Dunno. It depends entirely on how quickly AI improves...but so far that hasn't been slow.
OTOH, it's also true that even the AI that exists can automate LOTS of jobs, with perhaps a slight redesign. But I think that wouldn't be rapid enough to justify a takeover.
FWIW, it's been claimed that some of the most recent LLMs hallucinate less frequently than people. But I think they probably still do it much more blatantly. (OTOH, Google has reported an architecture that should address that problem. It's not,
if you thought IVR systems were bad (Score:5, Interesting)
Just wait until there is no longer any way left to speak to a human being.
Re: (Score:3)
We're already there. Try speaking to a live agent at Experian. If you can manage, make sure to let us know how you did it.
Luckily I don't need the credit - that's why all my reports stay frozen - but it seems like my bank wanted the money I was going to hand them, and now am unable to.
It makes you wonder how many hidden ways AI is already stunting the economy.
Re: if you thought IVR systems were bad (Score:2)
Yes, I'm aware that many companies already make themselves as difficult as possible to reach. I'm not sure this is because of AI, in the case of Experian.
Even if you don't need the credit now, credit checks are used as screening tools by many businesses when you get your phone, TV services, rent, etc. In some states even to get a job. I would suggest not letting it rot. Communicate in writing, and, if needed, by lawyer working contingency. I had to sue Experian before. You just need to be very patient to ge
Re: (Score:2)
I'm sure they were never a shining example of customer service, but I bring them up because they do appear to have recently made some major changes to their phone lines. Their web site was still listing "hours of operation" for the phone line, implying at one time they had real agents working specific hours, whereas by the time I called, all 3 numbers were redirecting to the same IVR with no human operators at any hour.
I went looking for an email address, and never found that. I did write them a physical le
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It's very common for hours of operation posted to be out of date in both web sites and letters. I have seen that happen several times.
Gethuman says this about Experian . Maybe it'll help : https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgethuman.com%2Fphone-number%2FExperian
They offer a service to navigate the menus for you. I have never tried it.
E-mail is not secure, so I don't expect Experian would ever offer to use it given the sensitive nature of the information.
I would curious which banks disclose the credit bureaus they look up prior to inquire
I am ditching my residential trash service (Score:2)
Re: I am ditching my residential trash service (Score:2)
Around here, the trash pickup is part of my property tax. But I don't want to opt out.
Re: (Score:2)
Just wait until there is no longer any way left to speak to a human being.
Some companies are already there. Try getting through to a human with Amazon or Deliveroo/Rappi/whatever they're called in your neck of the woods.
So destroying stuff that works? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yep, no surprise there.
Re: (Score:2)
That's what VC companies have always done. The only difference now, is that AI is the new cool way to convince investors that they can fire a bunch of people. Investors haven't figured out yet that a lot of the AI hype is...hype. (And I speak as one who uses and appreciates AI every day.)
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Indeed. Will be interesting to see how many actually manage to hire enough people when theu find out that hype is hype. It is already very hard to get competent people in a variety of roles. And quite a few of the qualified ones will remember who fired people.
Definition of capitalism (Score:5, Insightful)
Capitalism: The art of making money with the work of others.
Re: (Score:3)
This is true, but not the problem here.
In capitalism, there are two basic ways to make money: sell something (either that you produced or bought, for a profit), or work for someone else. These are both good and healthy ways to make money.
VC companies are the "house flippers" of businesses. If you own an "mature," run-down house, you have a few choices. You can fix it up and live in it, you can fix it up and sell it, or you can sell it as is to a house flipper. "Mature" businesses are no different. They are
Just go full AI (Score:2)
Re: Just go full AI (Score:1)
Are humans too stupid and cruel to be trusted with exploring the galaxy?
More efficient. (Score:2)
So when is Slashdot going to be acquired?
Optimizing? (Score:3)
...buy established companies like call centers and accounting firms, then optimizing them with AI automation.
I think the verb you reached for but just missed is "pillaging". Or - if you prefer a neologism - "enshittifying".
Re: (Score:2)
"Optimizing" is just the word the VC companies use, to get investors to loan them money to flip the company.
Everything a vending machine (Score:2)
The former has been happening for a while - ATMs, self-checkout, catalog sites like Amazon, anything Google offers.
I expect soon enough the CS industry will decide there doesn't need to be "escapes" from IVR anymore and expect customers to talk to robots only for most things.
If you want to talk to a human, you'll pay for the privilege. For a lot of things, I'd expect the same sort of quiet gating that is
Re: Everything a vending machine (Score:2)
Dave's Universal Law (Score:2)
In all human undertakings, the greediest people will find a way in and enshittify them.
Welp, AI has jumped the shark. (Score:2)
Sorry, but having known some VCs in my own life, this feels like a significant disaster in the making as VCs who bought into the hype of AI dump a bunch of money on existing companies, fail to upgrade them, then dismantle those companies: old school 1980's corporate raider asset-stripping.
There are places where AI can definitely help--but I sincerely don't trust VCs to know where that is. I mean the whole 'vibe coding' thing came from the VC world--and in a sense, VCs don't give a shit if it works or not, s
Re: (Score:2)
Sorry, but having known some VCs in my own life, this feels like a significant disaster in the making as VCs who bought into the hype of AI dump a bunch of money on existing companies, fail to upgrade them, then dismantle those companies: old school 1980's corporate raider asset-stripping.
Come now, they've upped their game significantly since the 1980s. Now they take out a giant loan to buy the company, sell that loan back to the company they bought out, force them to pay back the loan, plus interest, while firing staff, gutting any assets the company used to own, renting properties the company exists on to them at exorbitant rates far above market value, force them to pay for "corporate services" from the main VC firm for any management, and generally suck money out of them like a vacuum un
No Surprises (Score:2)
Venture capitalists only fall into two categories: fundamentally evil or fundamentally stupid. If you meet one, punch them in the face.
in many cases this makes sense (Score:2)
How many of these VC firms ... (Score:2)
It sounds like an age-old game.
1. Buy a company, or enough equity to gain some control.
2. Insist that they stock up on some product* or service that you also supply.
3. ???
4. Profit!
*Sometimes any old crap will do. If purchased on credit and you take a cut of that debt service.