Zima Red ep 147: Guillaume Therien - Investing In The Future at Triptyq
Primer: What is stopping people from using VR daily? Why is Guillaume Therien skeptical of Web3? How will the media and entertainment sector respond to the encroachment of AI? Let’s find out in this episode of Zima Red.
What’s Exciting For Him Lately
The creative industries are being disrupted by new technology such as generative AI
AI has many different interesting angles to it — rights, IP management, infringement, monetization
What Is He Most Pumped About?
The recent partnership with Roblox and Meta on Oculus
Apple Vision Pro and their entrance into the market
His Definition Of VR, AR, and XR
Prefers to use the term XR
It is just bringing everything to 3D
The Partnership Between Meta And Roblox
What’s missing in XR is the killer app that increases the frequency of visits by users
Roblox is addictive in terms of gaming and social and is part of the lifestyle of the younger generation
Bringing this environment to XR could become the killer app
Think that studio creators should follow this partnership closely
What Is Stopping People From Daily Usage?
Gen Z is really interested in XR
However, there is no real reason for them to buy those headsets to replace their current headsets
Need activities with more frequent usage types to cross the chasm
Adoption will speed up in the next 5 years
It is not necessarily a hardware problem, but more of a software application issue
Meta’s approach has been social while Apple’s Vision Pro is more work-oriented
How Does He See It Playing Out?
Apple is really good at marketing and telling people that they need their products
Think that they are copying their iPhone approach
Don’t think that AR glasses will replace the iPhone within the next 10 years
Interesting Use Cases Of AR/VR Today
Fitness and wellness apps
There’s a company called Tripura that’s doing breathing and meditation activities
Finds location-based entertainment very cool
There’s a great exhibit called The Infinite — a partnership between NASA, Time, and Felix & Paul Studios
People can visit and experience a space satellite from their homes
Alejandro Iñárritu created a VR experience where you are an illegal immigrant from Mexico trying to cross the border into the US
Which Will Be More Popular? AR Or VR?
People are betting on AR because Apple is betting big on it
AR can be applied to tourism, your car, etc.
VR is immersive, but it is hard to stay immersed for a long time
Thoughts On Web3
Still skeptical about it
The data ownership and decentralization make sense but he does not see any application that cannot be done in Web2
We are at the tipping point of blockchain adoption
Which Industries Is AI Going To Impact The Soonest?
Consumer product, media entertainment, and the creator economy
Getty Images has sued Stable Diffusion for training their AI model with their images
Laws are going to change — a lot of work for lawyers and governments
Big-time business models will be completely destroyed and then they will change
Gaming studios will decrease their cost of production through AI
How Does He Categorize Technologies?
XR is the next computing revolution
It will change everything — from graphics, speed, latency, data collection, data processing, etc.
Web3 is more about identity and ownership rather than finance
Media/Entertainment And New Technology
Why does media/entertainment need to be at the cutting edge of technology?
First, it’s not tangible
Second, people want ready access to it — pure emotional consumption
People are underpaying or not wanting to pay for entertainment
Subscription-based entertainment business models do not work (Netflix, Spotify)
The industry is not good at putting the right value on creative works
The Strikes In Hollywood And AI Content
There’s a democratization of content
The top choice of what Gen Zs want to do in life is being an influencer
It’s going to be easier to become an influencer with AI tools
Think that the Hollywood strike will end up as a long negotiation
In the past, after a movie was shot, it was shown in the cinemas/theatres, followed by DVDs, and then subscription TV/broadcast TV
Now, it goes directly to consumers on various platforms. There are no viewership metrics as Paramount, Disney, and Netflix keep them private
The music industry is looking at it because it will impact them soon
People are fighting against it but he thinks that actors will end up licensing their voices
The Deluge Of Content
Every day, 10,000 new songs get uploaded to Spotify
Currently, the ones that are making the most money are funds that invested and bought the catalog
They are monetizing it through streaming and syncing it with movies and video games
In the video games industry, triple-A studios like Ubisoft are struggling to make money with just games
Hence, they are looking for ways to monetize their IP (e.g. licensing to do movies, creating a community around their IP)
Chatbots And Their Future
Would put the word avatar on it
Everyone will have their avatar
There’s a dating app called Snack:
Users have their own avatar that is generated from their data
When you are not on the app, the avatar scouts for dates
“Okay, so my AI avatar is going to get to know me. The AI avatar gets to know my wife. And then they end up finding each other in the metaverse, these two avatars, two AI agents, they start talking. They realize, hey, they're pretty compatible. Let's set them up on an actual date.”
- Andrew Steinwold
Chatbots could become your personal assistant, change the retail world, and serve as advisors
Building A Defensible Business In Light Of AI
When the big generative AI cycle started, he and his partner were thinking about how could they do due diligence on companies since everyone would leverage AI
They decided that they have to analyze each company by removing AI — to find their added value
If someone pitches a new algorithm to him or to start a company in AI, he thinks it is too late
“The one that is leveraging AI to get more value-add will be the one that will win.”
- Guillaume Therien
Difficult to identify the moat in a software company because AI is almost open-source
What Is The Metaverse?
It’s 3D
People think that the metaverse is immersive, with Web3 being a part of it
Triptyq
How He Got Started
He is a big music fan
Worked in a music label first, followed by live entertainment, before joining the family office of Guy Laliberté, the founder of Cirque du Soleil
He was the general manager for 3 years
He realized that there was a gap in the funding at the seed stage
They started raising and their fund closed at $40 million
They do 4-5 deals per year
Their focus is on tech for the creative industry
The Ideal Company That Reach Out To Them
Do not really like solopreneurs
Have at least an MVP
Have a clear go-to-market
Is He An AGI Doomer Or Optimist?
He’s neutral
What Is He Bearish On?
Vanity entrepreneurs — people who are doing it for ego or think that entrepreneurship is a lifestyle
What Is He Bullish On?
Emerging markets
Best Piece Of Advice He Has Received
Getting a balanced life
When he invests in founders, he also looks at what their life looks like because it tells a lot about the person
What Motivates Him?
Impressed by people who change the world in a good way
Would love to have a positive impact on the world
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