The biggest AI opportunity in enterprise isn't in your sales team or your chatbot. It's buried in the back office, where inefficiencies have been hiding for decades. What happens when seed-stage startups start solving those problems with 35 people instead of 35,000?

In this episode, Michael Fauscette sits down with Matt Ober, Managing Partner at Social Leverage, to discuss where the real enterprise value is hiding in AI, why go-to-market matters more than ever, and what separates the founders who break through from those who stall.

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Introduction
00:52 - Matt's background and Social Leverage's 17-year investing journey
01:53 - How AI changed what matters at the seed stage
04:41 - What AI capabilities are actually delivering results vs. hype
06:58 - Why outbound sales automation is working again
08:52 - Slash Experts and the power of verified client references in B2B
12:40 - Middle and back office AI: where the biggest inefficiencies live
15:06 - Voice AI in recruiting and why Ribbon AI is changing hiring
17:21 - Leah AI and document intelligence for wealth management
21:01 - Data moats, data pipes, and the opportunity in information services
24:34 - Common mistakes AI-native founders make
28:09 - Social Leverage's $85M fund and where the big bets are going
32:21 - Why vertical-first beats horizontal in AI
33:24 - Advice for prospective founders building in the AI era
36:04 - Matt's recommendation: Patrick O'Shaughnessy's Invest Like the Best

ABOUT THE GUEST:
Matt Ober is Managing Partner at Social Leverage, a seed-stage venture capital firm focused on fintech and vertical AI. Founded 17 years ago by Howard Lindzon (creator of StockTwits) and Tom Peterson, Social Leverage has invested across six funds, most recently closing an $85 million seed fund. Matt spent most of his career in public markets on the hedge fund side before joining Social Leverage.

CONNECT WITH MATT:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/obermattj/
Company: https://www.socialleverage.com/

ABOUT DISAMBIGUATION:
AI clarity for business leaders. New episodes every Wednesday.
Host: Michael Fauscette, CEO & Chief Analyst at Arion Research
Author of "Building the Digital Workforce"

SUBSCRIBE & follow for weekly episodes on AI strategy, agentic AI, and enterprise technology.

Website: https://www.disambiguationpod.com/
Arion Research: https://www.arionresearch.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mfauscette/

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