#GamingBusiness

When VCs pass on investing, the most common reason cited is "market size isn't venture scale." But there's a deeper layer worth examining. While market size is indeed critical - you need a massive market to generate venture-scale returns - what often goes unspoken is the founder's capacity to capture that market opportunity.Think of it this way: you might be operating in a $50B market, but if your execution strategy, go-to-market approach, or leadership capabilities can only capture a tiny slice of it, the massive market becomes irrelevant. The best founders demonstrate not just market understanding, but also the strategic thinking, adaptability, and execution horsepower to dominate their space.This is why VCs obsess over founder-market fit. It's not enough to point at a huge market; we need to see the founder's ability to build and scale an organization that can […]

𝗔𝗜 𝗜𝗡 𝗚𝗔𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗙𝗟𝗢𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗗. Humanity may be on a colossal technology frontier, but gaming is being dragged along with AI. Instead of surfing atop the wave, it's retreated to the wake. Gaming has historically been the first-best use case for new technology, so where did it all go so wrong? In the 26 months since ChatGPT launched, Web3 has made more tangible progress than AI gaming applications. Any technology outpaced by Web3's progress is in danger of irrelevance. And it's for good reason: so far, AI's visible footprint in games has been limited to a series of Cosmic Lounge press releases (I want my match-3 levels!) and a sixth finger in Call of Duty key art. Everything else appears to be cheap VC slideware or corporate investor day fantasies. It's true that gaming effectively subsidized the AI revolution by […]

31/01/2025 Update Only 15 days have passed since I released this article, and a lot has already changed. That’s how fast this industry moves. DeepSeek, a Chinese startup, recently launched its open-source AI model, R1, and it has made massive waves in the tech industry. Not only is it competing with models from OpenAI and Meta in benchmarks, but its efficiency in training, using way fewer resources than others, has even impacted NVIDIA and energy company stocks. But beyond the tech world, DeepSeek’s app has also been crushing it on the iOS & Google Play Store rankings, reaching top positions in key markets like the US, France, UK, Canada, Germany, Japan (#2), and Mexico. No crazy marketing budgets. No ASO magic. Just a disruptive product, launched at the perfect time. While big tech leaders were busy at the inauguration of […]

We at F4 Fund believe there are four major AI consumer opportunities for startups: A. AI Agents- Personal assistants reaching new levels of capability- Personalized and customized consumer experiences- Enhanced decision-making support based on preference- Think OpenAIs Operator but more convenient, personalized and made for consumerB. Generative AI- AI video, audio, photos, posters, etc. reach mainstream- Creating new forms of content with AI- Opening new creative possibilitiesC. Entertainment & Gaming- AI-enhanced gaming experiences- More engaging than traditional human-created contentD. The Consumer Robotics Frontier (not today but soon)- A possible market structure: Tesla robots (comparable to iPhone), and Chinese manufacturers (comparable to Android)- Software Platform: An "App Store" for robot applications emerges