Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share E210: How Startups Can Avoid Being Disrupted by OpenAI w/Eric Olson
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
E210: How Startups Can Avoid Being Disrupted by OpenAI w/Eric Olson
What does it take to build an AI-native search engine for science?
In this episode, I spoke with Eric Olson, Co-founder & CEO of Consensus, the platform making peer-reviewed research accessible through AI. We covered the company’s journey from Series A to millions of users, the realities of competing with tech giants, and what truly creates defensibility for AI startups. Eric shared his perspective on the “AI talent wars,” building products at hyperspeed, and what truly creates a moat for AI applications. If you allocate to or invest in AI, you’ll want to hear Eric’s frameworks for product strategy, market sizing, and execution speed.
Highlights:
Guest Bio:
Eric Olson is the Co-founder & CEO of Consensus, an AI search engine for scientific research founded in 2021 with Christian Salem. Before Consensus, Eric worked in data science at DraftKings and was a Division I football player at Northwestern University. Under his leadership, Consensus raised an $11.5M Series A in 2024 led by Union Square Ventures with participation from Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross.
Our Podcast now receives more than 300,000 downloads a month. Are you interested in sponsoring an episode? Please email David Weisburd at [email protected].
#VentureCapital #VC #Startups #OpenLP #assetmanagement
Stay Connected:
X / Twitter:
David Weisburd: @dweisburd
LinkedIn:
David Weisburd: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dweisburd/
Eric Olson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-olson-1822a7a6/
Links
Consensus: https://www.linkedin.com/company/consensus-nlp/
Questions or topics you want us to discuss on How I Invest? Email us at [email protected].
(0:00) Preview
(1:03) Series A Celebration and Talent Wars in AI
(3:23) Consensus: Overview and Target Users
(4:25) TAM for Consensus and Comparison with Google Scholar
(8:42) The Edge of Startups in AI and Importance of Focus
(15:57) Product Development and Building a Moat in AI
(23:01) AI Market Investment Strategies for Asset Allocators
(24:36) Fundamentals of Software Investing and Focus on Talent
(26:15) Closing remarks
View all episodes
By David Weisburd
4.2
5757 ratings
What does it take to build an AI-native search engine for science?
In this episode, I spoke with Eric Olson, Co-founder & CEO of Consensus, the platform making peer-reviewed research accessible through AI. We covered the company’s journey from Series A to millions of users, the realities of competing with tech giants, and what truly creates defensibility for AI startups. Eric shared his perspective on the “AI talent wars,” building products at hyperspeed, and what truly creates a moat for AI applications. If you allocate to or invest in AI, you’ll want to hear Eric’s frameworks for product strategy, market sizing, and execution speed.
Highlights:
Guest Bio:
Eric Olson is the Co-founder & CEO of Consensus, an AI search engine for scientific research founded in 2021 with Christian Salem. Before Consensus, Eric worked in data science at DraftKings and was a Division I football player at Northwestern University. Under his leadership, Consensus raised an $11.5M Series A in 2024 led by Union Square Ventures with participation from Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross.
Our Podcast now receives more than 300,000 downloads a month. Are you interested in sponsoring an episode? Please email David Weisburd at [email protected].
#VentureCapital #VC #Startups #OpenLP #assetmanagement
Stay Connected:
X / Twitter:
David Weisburd: @dweisburd
LinkedIn:
David Weisburd: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dweisburd/
Eric Olson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-olson-1822a7a6/
Links
Consensus: https://www.linkedin.com/company/consensus-nlp/
Questions or topics you want us to discuss on How I Invest? Email us at [email protected].
(0:00) Preview
(1:03) Series A Celebration and Talent Wars in AI
(3:23) Consensus: Overview and Target Users
(4:25) TAM for Consensus and Comparison with Google Scholar
(8:42) The Edge of Startups in AI and Importance of Focus
(15:57) Product Development and Building a Moat in AI
(23:01) AI Market Investment Strategies for Asset Allocators
(24:36) Fundamentals of Software Investing and Focus on Talent
(26:15) Closing remarks
More shows like How I Invest with David Weisburd
View all
Motley Fool Money
3,219 Listeners
We Study Billionaires - The Investor’s Podcast Network
3,393 Listeners
This Week in Startups
1,290 Listeners
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
531 Listeners
Masters in Business
2,169 Listeners
The Meb Faber Show - Better Investing
936 Listeners
Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry
796 Listeners
The Acquirers Podcast
301 Listeners
Value Investing with Legends
210 Listeners
Excess Returns
81 Listeners
All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
9,822 Listeners
The Memo by Howard Marks
431 Listeners
Barron's Live
208 Listeners
BG2Pod with Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley
499 Listeners
Wake Up to Wealth
36 Listeners