AI and the Art of Venture — Part II Automating the Platform Function
by Vic Singh
The Platform Era: How Venture Capital Scaled Its Own Complexity
In our first post, I introduced the paradigm and irony of the return of the boutique model in venture capital powered by emergent technology. In this post, I discuss the impact of AI on one of the biggest cost centers and perceived value drivers for venture capital firms — the platform. As our asset class grew from a cottage industry to a democratized commodity, venture capital firms sought out methods of differentiation. Growth led to bloat as firms hustled to differentiate with value to win over the most sought-after founders, leading to the rise of the Platform.
Before the concept of a platform existed, it kind of always was there for the best firms to support founders. I recall early in my VC career at RRE two decades ago, we had a dedicated professional who worked closely with the legendary James Robinson III. She mined his network of the highest relationships across the Fortune 500 to accelerate startups with unprecedented access to customers. This was a key differentiator back then, and it remains key today. As the industry grew and the venture ecosystem blossomed, venture capital firms institutionalized what is now known as ‘the platform’.
Over the years, I have worked closely with founders at every stage — generally as a result of backing founders at their earliest stages and traveling along their journey as they scaled from tiny little startups no one believed into massive organizations. This temporal spectrum has given me a bird's eye view into what founders truly need from their investors and board members. And yes, the truism that the best founders just need VCs to stay out of their way and give them freedom to operate stands. But founders choose their partners carefully and rightfully demand they show up during the best and worst times. They also know that good VCs can add tactical value with strategic guidance.
The Rise of Platform Teams: From Differentiator to Bottleneck
Enter the rise of the platform teams that VCs use to differentiate. Today 52.8% of firms having moderate or significant platform teams and one in eight core employees at a venture firm (13.1% of core team members) are focused on Platform, compared to one in sixteen (or 6.4%) in 2000. [Source: VC Stack]
The breakdown of functions looks like this, depending on the firm.
Pioneered by A16Z, the platform has become a valuable asset for VCs to differentiate and for founders to justify value from their investors. The platform function generally comprises core functions — talent, marketing, go-to-market, customer development, market research, fundraising, and generally best practices. Over the years, the platform function has certainly created value for startups. At the same time, it has increased the overhead of venture capital firms and like most innovations — it has become commoditized. I am not saying there is no value in it, just that it has lost its luster and its original goal of value and differentiation.
The Founder’s Perspective: A Hidden Cost of Platform Support
Importantly, the most valuable resource a founder has is time — and working with the various heads of departments at platform teams has led to a time sink for founders and their lieutenants. Here is the reality most founders do not say out loud that I have heard firsthand: they do not have time to talk to all these people.
They appreciate the resources, of course. They want to be good founder citizens and show gratitude to their investors. But when they’re running at full speed, scaling a company, and dealing with existential challenges, the last thing they need is another call with a platform team member checking in on hiring, fundraising, or customer development. At RRE, we have seen firsthand how valuable these resources can be. But we have also seen the trade-offs: platform teams add complexity, require significant headcount, and often struggle to scale efficiently — especially as venture capital firms now seek to remain lean and focused.
A New Model: AI-Driven Efficiency Without the Overhead
Now, with data and AI we see the opportunity for a new model — one that enables boutique venture firms to provide platform-level support without platform-level overhead. This is core to the vision behind Originalis: an AI-powered operating system for venture capital, designed to automate key functions so that startups and venture capital firms can move faster and make better decisions with precision and scale.
Dogfooding at Originalis: Using What We Build
We are building Originals with this promise in mind, with modules that will enhance the craft of venture capital while keeping firms lean, agile and deeply engaged with founders. And we are not just developing this for others — we are actively dogfooding our own AI capabilities at Originalis as a portfolio company. As we build out our engineering team, we have been using talent intelligence to surface thousands of top developers, mapping talent based on skill sets, experience and network proximity. The results so far are promising: identifying candidates we may not have found through traditional recruiting methods, giving us an edge in hiring before top talent even enters the market.
This shift is not just about efficiency — it is about restoring the art of venture capital. The best firms of the future will not be defined by the size of their platform teams but by how intelligently they use technology to create leverage — for GPs, for founders, and for the ecosystem as a whole.
How Platform Teams Work Today (And Where They Struggle to Scale)
Most platform teams are well-intentioned. The best firms want to give their founders every advantage possible — helping with hiring, business development, market research, and fundraising. However, at scale, these services create real inefficiencies for both the VC firm and the founders they back. Here is how VC firms typically structure their platform teams with associated costs and personnel:
That’s a huge amount of overhead. And while these teams can be helpful, they also require founders to actively engage with them to extract value. I have seen founders get stuck in platform-driven bureaucracy — where instead of getting quick answers or direct support, they are routed through an internal service model that forces them into extra calls, intake forms and follow-ups.
The reality is that most founders would prefer software tools that help them get what they need instantly rather than jumping through these hoops. I have spoken with dozens of late-stage founders who quietly admit they spend too much time engaging with VC platform teams — not because they want to, but because they feel obligated to. And the data backs this up, founders spend an equally painful amount of time engaging with these teams.
This is why AI-driven solutions like Originalis can create real efficiency gains, giving both platform teams and founders time back while still delivering high-impact support.
Platform 2.0: AI Powered, Boutique and Built for Leverage
We are building Originalis and leveraging it at RRE to automate and enhance key platform functions in venture capital, developing AI-driven modules to provide leverage where firms need it most.
- Talent & Recruiting — Predictive hiring tools surface ideal candidates before they hit the job market
- Market Research — Continuous tracking of startup trends replaces manual research efforts
- Customer Development — Data driven matching surfaces ideal enterprise customers automatically
- Fundraising — Scoring investors by thesis fit, capital availability and deal history.
The efficiency gains + the massive cost and time savings from automating the platform function will drive even more leverage and give founders and VCs time back for the art of venture capital and startup execution. The results could be staggering.
Today, venture capital firms assume more resources = more impact. The largest firms have dedicated platform teams with deep resources. But what if smaller firms could provide the same (or better) support without adding headcount? For lean firms, AI powered automation means they can deliver platform-level support without needing a platform team — allowing them to stay focused and deeply engaged with founders. For firms that already have platform teams, AI provides leverage — enabling a small, high-impact team to deliver 10x the results with data-driven precision.
Fewer Meetings, More Execution
Founders don’t want more meetings. They want better tools. The future of venture is not about hiring bigger platform teams — it is about using emergent technology to give founders what they actually need, without wasting their time. This shift is not on the horizon — it is already happening. The best firms of tomorrow will be defined by how intelligently they use technology today. At RRE Ventures and Originalis, we are building toward this future. Let us rethink what a lean, software-driven boutique venture firm looks like.
Hit me up vic@originalis.ai vic@rre.com @vicsingh on twitter if you would like to jam on this and learn more about what we are building.
