Episode 124: The Open-Source Cloud Playbook, The Modular Future of Data and AI Infrastructure, and Meta-Learning as a VC with Casber Wang

Show Notes(01:56) Casber reflected on his experience growing up in China and moving to the US to pursue an undergraduate degree in business at UC Berkeley.(04:45) Casber recalled working on his startup Etch.ai and interning at Wish during his time at Berkeley.(10:03) Casber differentiated investing patterns for B2B and B2C startups.(12:10) Casber reflected on his investment banking experience at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and transitioning to venture capital at Sapphire Ventures.(17:06) Casber gave some advice for analysts who want to transition into the tech and venture industry.(20:06) Casber provided a high-level overview of Sapphire Ventures and its investment focus.(21:54) Casber recalled his early days as a new investor and his process of adding value to portfolio companies.(24:58) Casber dissected his investments in the Series F round of JumpCloud and the Series B round of Uptycs (in the domain of security).(33:03) Casber explained his investments in the Series B round of Tetrate and the Series A of Zesty (in the domain of enterprise infrastructure).(35:59) Casber walked through his investment in the Series D round of Dremio (in the domain of data and analytics).(39:09) Casber shared his advice to his portfolio companies in terms of navigating hiring decisions and growth strategy.(43:06) Casber unpacked the three strategies software companies can borrow from the open-source cloud playbook.(46:42) Casber highlighted the key trends he is most bullish on in the Open Data Ecosystem.(51:49) Casber emphasized the importance of interoperability in the modern data stack tooling landscape.(54:15) Casber painted the modular future of AI infrastructure.(59:44) Casber highlighted the key trends propelling the dynamic evolution of the software development lifecycle.(01:03:06) Casber reflected on his learning process for any new industry as an investor.(01:05:53) Closing segment.Casber's Contact InfoSapphire Ventures ProfileTwitterLinkedInMentioned ContentArticles3 Strategies Software Companies Can Borrow from the Open-Source Cloud Playbook (Aug 2020)What is the Open Data Ecosystem and Why It's Here to Stay (April 2021)The Future of AI Infrastructure is Becoming Modular: Why Best-of-Breed MLOps Solutions are Taking Off and Top Players to Watch (March 2022)Evolution of the Software Development Lifecycle and the Future of DevOps (June 2022)Books"The Power Law" (by Sebastian Mallaby)"Engines That Move Markets" (by Alasdair Naim)Notes

My conversation with Casber was recorded back in late 2022. Since then, I recommend checking out these resources:

Datacast features long-form, in-depth conversations with practitioners and researchers in the data community to walk through their professional journeys and unpack the lessons learned along the way. I invite guests coming from a wide range of career paths — from scientists and analysts to founders and investors — to analyze the case for using data in the real world and extract their mental models (“the WHY and the HOW”) behind their pursuits. Hopefully, these conversations can serve as valuable tools for early-stage data professionals as they navigate their own careers in the exciting data universe.

Datacast is produced and edited by James Le. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

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Datacast features long-form, in-depth conversations with practitioners and researchers in the data community to walk through their professional journeys and unpack the lessons learned along the way. I invite guests coming from a wide range of career paths — from scientists and analysts to founders and investors — to analyze the case for using data in the real world and extract their mental models (“the WHY and the HOW”) behind their pursuits. Hopefully, these conversations can serve as valuable tools for early-stage data professionals as they navigate their own careers in the exciting data universe.

Datacast is produced and edited by James Le. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

Subscribe by searching for Datacast wherever you get podcasts, or click one of the links below:

If you’re new, see the podcast homepage for the most recent episodes to listen to, or browse the full guest list.