The State of AI: Down the Rabbit Hole

The State of AI: Down the Rabbit Hole

In this episode of RRE POV, Raju Rishi and Will Porteous unpack two major forces shaping the future of AI: model distillation and the debate between open-source and proprietary models. They break down what distillation means, why it matters for model defensibility, and how open systems have historically reshaped major technology markets. From Linux and Android to the open internet, the conversation explores what past platform shifts can teach us about where AI is headed, and why founders and enterprises should focus less on model lock-in and more on durable workflows, data, and customer value. Highlights: (02:04) Explaining AI Distillation  (03:10) How Distillation Copies AI Models (06:47) LLMs Trained on Everyone Else's Data First (08:26) The Sunk Cost Problem in AI (14:30) 85% of AI Queries Are Repeats (19:47) Open vs. Proprietary Models Explained (21:28) What Windows vs. Linux Teaches Us About AI (26:33) AOL's Walled Garden Warning (34:34) Lock-In on Apps, Not AI Models

AI's Growing Pains: What's Really Slowing the Revolution?

AI is transforming industries at an extraordinary pace, but the path to real-world adoption is proving more complex than the headlines suggest. In this episode of RRE POV, Raju and Will unpack the biggest growing pains facing AI today — from hallucinations and infrastructure costs to GPU shortages, talent bottlenecks, legal uncertainty, data governance, and the realities of enterprise adoption. Drawing on lessons from previous technology cycles and insights from across the RRE portfolio, they explore where the hype is getting ahead of itself, which companies are helping solve critical constraints, and why the next phase of AI may be driven less by broad platforms and more by focused, vertical applications. Whether you’re building with AI, investing in it, or trying to understand where the market is headed, this conversation offers a candid and practical look at what comes next. Highlights:  (00:35) Five AI Growing Pains (02:34) Hallucinations and Trust (06:17) Fixing Hallucinations (08:58) Prime Intellect and RL (10:27) Farsight and Source Links (14:27) AI Cost and GPU Crunch (19:57) Cooling and Space Data Centers (24:18) Efficiency Wins Lovelace (28:22) Talent Legal and Adoption Wrap

4 Million Trackers Later... The Full-Stack Founder Story of Krenar Komoni

In this episode of RRE POV, hosts Raju Rishi and Will Porteous sit down with Tive founder and CEO Krenar Komoni for a deeply personal and forward-looking conversation on building at the intersection of hardware, software, and AI. Krenar shares his journey from growing up in Kosovo during political upheaval, to becoming a full-stack entrepreneur leading one of the world’s most advanced real-time supply chain visibility platforms. What began as a scrappy solution to a family trucking problem has evolved into Tive, a global company powering mission-critical logistics for thousands of customers. The conversation explores how AI, first-party data, and full-stack thinking are reshaping logistics, and why companies like Tive, with years of real-world data and embedded infrastructure, are uniquely positioned to define the future of autonomous supply chains. Highlights:  (00:00) Welcome and Guest Intro (01:55) Early Coding in Kosovo (06:09) War Displacement and Grit (09:30) Falling for RF Engineering (14:03) Founding Tive from Trucking Pain (18:31) From Term Sheet to Trust (19:21) Hitting One Million Trackers (20:21) Soft Skills and CES Connections (23:05) Tive Today Product and Metrics (27:35) AI Roadmap and Wrap Up

The Longevity Equation: Living Better, Longer

In this episode of RRE POV, Raju and Will dive deep into the evolving science and philosophy of longevity. Moving beyond the simple goal of living longer, they explore what it really means to live better for longer. Raju shares his latest thinking on the five major sectors shaping the longevity landscape: health data, insights and planning, personalized medicine, verticalized solutions, and frontier technologies. Along the way, the guys unpack everything from wearables, blood work, and full-body MRIs to the limitations of today’s healthcare system and the need for better feedback loops in personal health. At the heart of the episode is a powerful idea: longevity is not just about correcting biomarkers or adding years to life, but about improving the body’s ability to recover, adapt, and regenerate.   From personal reflections on aging and lifespan expectations to the societal implications of extended life (think careers, marriage, and even prison sentences), this conversation spans both the practical and philosophical and takes a thought-provoking look at the future of health, wellness, and longevity. Shownotes:  (00:00) Welcome  (00:49) Why Longevity Matters Now (03:08) Living Forever Tradeoffs (08:52) Five Longevity Startup Sectors (10:13) Health Data and Wearables Deep Dive (19:56) Battery And Recharge (20:15) Stress States And Regeneration (22:07) Resilience And HRV (24:38) Exercise Ceiling Recovery Floor (28:24) Recursive Feedback Healthcare (30:32) Precision Dosing Personalization (33:04) Longevity Clinics Reality Check (34:17) Microbiome Early Navigation (37:44) Vertical Apps And GLP Ones (41:10) Frontier Tech And Wrap Up

Dan Rosenberg on Building Octane11 and the Future of AI-Driven B2B Marketing

In the first-ever video edition of the RRE POV podcast, Raju sits down with longtime collaborator and friend Dan Rosenberg, Founder and CEO of Octane11. Dan and Raju share stories from their scrappy days building Rave Wireless, and reflect on what makes great early startup teams, why culture is shaped by your first hires, and how those early experiences shaped their approach to building companies today.  Dan shares his journey from Venture to MediaMath and ultimately to founding his latest venture, Octane11, reflecting on the startup lessons that shaped him along the way. Dan and Raju dive into how Octane11 is synthesizing marketing data across channels into a unified model tied to companies and revenue—creating the foundation for AI to generate meaningful insights that help B2B marketers connect campaign activity to real business outcomes and make smarter, faster decisions across the marketing stack. Show Notes:  (00:00) Welcome to the Show (00:59) Dan Rosenberg Bio (02:00) IKEA Box Dive Interview (10:50) MediaMath Rise and Lessons (14:49) MediaMath Focus vs Trade Desk (17:41) Octane11 Origin Story (18:21) Why B2B Attribution Is Hard (19:30) Account Based Marketing Explained (22:13) Mapping Engagement to Companies (24:17) Ideal Customer Profile Sweet Spot (26:32) Agency and Platform Partnerships (27:34) AI Strategy Data First (36:02) Wrap Up Stories Gatling Questions