Chances are, if you're reading this, you're interested in understanding how to build and invest in software startups that can reach 0 to 10M ARR in a new software category.
When I look around the VC and operator space, it's clear that category creation is the hardest task for founders or investors, yet it can yield some of the most outstanding returns.
Category creation founders and investors grasp something about the world that others haven't quite caught onto. Launch too early, and you won't have a big enough market to sustain; launch too late, and you'll be one of many lost at sea.
But today, there are very few people who have actually navigated the journey of operating in a category creation startup from zero to the point where the company reached 10M ARR.
That's where Banyan’s Founders and Investors Series comes into play. Over time, I will release in-depth tactical guides covering everything I've learned from shared successes and failures in starting, investing in, and scaling category creation startups. Subscribe to follow this journey.
Since 2018, Sam has been a pivotal figure in the AI infrastructure sector, advising or being the first sales hire at over 15 groundbreaking companies.
His journey began as the first revenue hire at MissingLink.ai which was acquired by Samsung in the newly formed Experiment Tracking Market. When Sam joined MissingLink, the entire market had low double-digit paying customers; today, there are over 2,000 & over $2B+ in enterprise valuation.
Following his success at MissingLink, Sam took on the role of the first revenue hire at Comet ML. There, he played a key role in scaling the company from seed to Series B, helping close deals with over 150 customers including tech giants like Uber, Cisco, Etsy, and Netflix. Sam further gained invaluable insights into how enterprises buy and build AI infrastructure, witnessing firsthand how a new category of AI infrastructure transitions from early adopters to late adopters.
After his tenure at Comet.ml, Sam founded Awrabi Consulting. Through his consulting, he advised leading AI startups such as Deci.ai, ClearML, Layer.ai, Datature, Deepnote, Activeloop.ai, Segmind, Nomic AI, and Ori.co, among others. His impact was significant: 54% of his advising clients went on to raise Series A funding, and 18% advanced to raise Series B. During this period, Sam also invested or advised four new AI Infrastructure markets, most notably was Deci.ai in the newly formed model optimization space which was acquired by NVIDIA, marking a significant milestone.
Fueled by these achievements and insights, Sam founded Banyan Ventures to further amplify his impact by backing the most crucial AI infrastructure companies.
His early investments through Banyan have shown promising trajectories, with the first three out of four investments on track to become valued at over $1 billion each.
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