Verticals: A Weekly Biz Show

Nic Gets Put in the Hot Seat: What’s Actually Happening in Vertical AI?

Everyone wants to build an AI company right now.But most founders are asking the wrong question.The real challenge isn’t building AI.It’s building something defensible once everyone else has access to the same models.In this episode of Verticals, the tables turn.Nic joins Vignesh Ravikumar and Brendon Schmidt from Sierra Ventures for a deep dive into what it actually takes to build and invest in vertical AI today.Nic shares lessons from nearly 15 years investing in vertical software and AI and explains why the biggest opportunities in AI aren’t just about models… they’re about workflows, distribution, and defensibility.They unpack the biggest shifts happening right now:-Why vertical AI is evolving faster than SaaS ever did-How AI-native startups are attacking incumbents-Why “speed” alone is not a moatAnd they tackle the biggest debate in tech right now:Is SaaS actually dying… or are we just watching a new generation of winners emerge?Watch until the end to find out! #verticals #startup #ai #entrepreneurship #businessideas 👉 FOLLOW VIGNESH RAVIKUMARLINKEDIN ➡️https://www.linkedin.com/in/vravikumar1 👉 FOLLOW BRENDON SCHMIDTLINKEDIN ➡️https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendonschmidt/👉 FOLLOW LUKE SOPHINOSX ➡️ https://x.com/lukesophinosLINKEDIN ➡️ https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukesophinos/NEWSLETTER ➡️ https://www.newsletter.lukesophinos.com/👉 FOLLOW NIC POULOSX ➡️ https://x.com/picnoulosLINKEDIN ➡️ https://www.linkedin.com/in/npoulos/NEWSLETTER ➡️ https://insights.euclid.vc/🎬 TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Intro03:01 The shift from vertical SaaS to vertical AI08:18 How AI is changing the founder profile12:24 Why customer discovery matters more than ever18:55 How vertical AI startups beat incumbents28:14 Why “speed” is NOT a moat34:28 The rise of AI services businesses39:35 The vertical AI sectors investors want most42:39 How founders should position their company49:25 Is contrarian investing still alive in venture?58:59 The biggest mistakes founders make early on01:09:12 Is SaaS actually dying?If you enjoyed this episode, drop a comment and hit subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next!

The Hidden Weakness of AI That Most Founders Ignore | Jacob Sandry

In high-stakes industries, 99% accurate is the same as wrong. That last 1% is the entire business. In renewable energy, a single mistake can delay projects by months… or kill them entirely. That’s exactly what Jacob Sandry saw while deploying over $3B into renewable energy projects at Goldman Sachs. 60% of projects were delayed. 30% were canceled altogether. Not because the technology didn’t work… but because the process was chaos. In this episode of Verticals, Jacob breaks down how Euclid Power is building the operating system for renewable energy — using AI, structured workflows, and human expertise to solve the “last messy mile” of energy development. They unpack why vertical AI works differently in regulated, mission-critical industries: -Why AI alone isn’t enough when mistakes have real consequences -How humans-in-the-loop become a competitive advantage -Why trust, compliance, and domain expertise matter more than model quality They also go tactical on what is working right now: -Why services + AI can outperform pure SaaS in vertical markets -How to price against labor budgets instead of software budgets -Why unstructured data is the biggest opportunity in enterprise AI If you are building in AI, energy, healthcare, construction, or any industry where accuracy and trust matter more than speed, this episode is a masterclass in vertical AI. 👉 FOLLOW JACOB SANDRY LINKEDIN ➡️ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobsandry/ 👉 FOLLOW LUKE SOPHINOS X ➡️ https://x.com/lukesophinos LINKEDIN ➡️ https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukesophinos/ NEWSLETTER ➡️ https://www.newsletter.lukesophinos.com/ 👉 FOLLOW NIC POULOS X ➡️ https://x.com/picnoulos LINKEDIN ➡️ https://www.linkedin.com/in/npoulos/ NEWSLETTER ➡️ https://insights.euclid.vc/ 🎬 TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 01:55 The hidden bottleneck nobody talks about 05:01 From “alternative energy” to a $3B investment strategy 10:13 Why AI services work better than pure SaaS here 18:46 The multiplayer workflow behind billion-dollar projects 21:03 Why AI still struggles with the “last 1%” 31:37 Selling into industries where mistakes aren’t allowed 44:47 Is regulation actually a moat in AI? 47:20 Why energy could become the biggest AI opportunity of all 49:19 The long-term vision

If AI Does ALL The Work… What Are You Even Selling? | David Haber

If AI can do the work… why are we still valuing software like it only sells tools?And if the real opportunity isn’t software (but labor) are we about to underestimate the biggest companies of this cycle?In this episode of Verticals, Luke and Nic sit down with David Haber, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, to break down why vertical AI is fundamentally changing how businesses are built, and why this shift could be bigger than SaaS itself.David explains why AI-native companies aren’t just selling software — they’re replacing labor. And how that single shift unlocks markets that were previously too small to matter.They unpack the new playbook for vertical AI:-Why TAM is no longer software spend, it’s labor-How messy inputs like email, fax, and voice are becoming billion-dollar wedges-Why AI-native companies are turning services businesses into high-margin softwareThey also explore what actually creates defensibility in this new world:-Why owning workflows and outcomes matters more than ever-How proprietary data compounds into a real moat-Why market structure is more important than market sizeAnd they go deep on the biggest strategic question:If AI owns the workflow, the data, and the outcome… Do you even need to charge for the system of record?If you are building, investing, or trying to understand where AI is actually creating value, this is one of the clearest breakdowns of what comes next.👉 FOLLOW DAVID HABERX ➡️ https://x.com/dhaberLINKEDIN ➡️ https://www.linkedin.com/in/haber/👉 FOLLOW LUKE SOPHINOSX ➡️ https://x.com/lukesophinosLINKEDIN ➡️ https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukesophinos/NEWSLETTER ➡️ https://www.newsletter.lukesophinos.com/👉 FOLLOW NIC POULOSX ➡️ https://x.com/picnoulosLINKEDIN ➡️ https://www.linkedin.com/in/npoulos/NEWSLETTER ➡️ https://insights.euclid.vc/🎬 TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Intro01:28 Why the SaaS-AI shift is bigger than it looks07:09 Why “small markets” suddenly become massive10:06 The 3 ways to attack legacy software15:10 Why incumbents still have an advantage18:02 The real risk (and opportunity) in the AI era27:31 The messy inbox wedge (email, fax, voice)34:31 Why unstructured data is the biggest opportunity40:43 Voice, context, and the future of enterprise data44:15 The biggest mistakes vertical AI founders make45:28 The next wave: financial services, healthcare, industrial AI📃 Topics:1. Vertical AI vs SaaS2. AI replacing labor vs software tools3. System of record vs AI workflows4. AI services vs software margins5. Defensibility in AI startups6. TAM expansion through automation

SaaS-Pocalypse? Here’s What’s Actually Happening

Everyone says SaaS is dead. Public software stocks are down. Multiples are collapsing. And AI is coming for everything. But what if that’s not the full story? In this episode of Verticals, Nic sits down with Morgan Livermore, Founder of Supercruise Capital, to break down what’s actually happening in the software market, and where AI fits into it. Morgan explains why SaaS multiples have dropped below the S&P 500 for the first time in modern history, why the market may be overreacting, and why software isn’t dying... it’s evolving. If you are building, investing, or trying to understand what AI actually means for software, this is a clear, grounded breakdown of where things are headed. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 01:03 Why founders are skipping venture capital 05:44 Is the “SaaS-pocalypse” real? 18:18 How AI is changing the startup landscape 21:48 Will AI replace SaaS or just extend it? 26:33 Can big companies adapt? 31:36 Why commoditization is coming for software pricing 37:39 What actually makes a company defensible now 44:15 AI agents, distribution, and the next growth channel 52:38 The real future of SaaS

Nobody Took Laundromats Seriously… He Built a $1B Company (Here’s How)

When’s the last time you thought about laundromats? Probably never. But behind the scenes, this “boring” industry is quietly making BILLIONS of dollars every year... still running on coins, legacy systems, and almost no modern software. That’s exactly what Alex Jekowsky saw. After selling his first company, he went looking for a simple SMB investment… and instead found one of the biggest untapped vertical SaaS opportunities in the world. Instead of buying laundromats, he decided to build for them. Today, his company Cents powers over 4,500 locations, processes more than $1B in payments annually, and just raised $140M to scale even further. But the real story isn’t laundromats. It’s the playbook. In this episode, we break down: -How hardware became a massive defensibility moat -The hidden power of retention + expansion over pure acquisition -How to build a business that doesn’t fit the VC “box”… and still wins This is one of the clearest breakdowns of how to dominate a niche industry, and why the biggest opportunities still live in places most founders ignore. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 01:05 From startup exit to laundromats 12:00 Hardware vs software: the contrarian bet 15:50 Why hardware became the moat 19:00 The painful M&A that changed everything 23:10 What almost killed the business... 27:30 Building a company that doesn’t fit the VC playbook 31:00 Why distributors beat sales teams 36:00 The hidden power of customer expansion 41:00 Why most SaaS metrics are misleading 46:30 Designing your company for the exit 52:00 The truth about IPOs and liquidity 57:00 How AI actually fits into vertical SaaS If you enjoyed this episode, drop a comment and hit subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next!