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Conversation
Highlights
Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech’s most innovative B2B founders. In today’s episode, we’re speaking with Mike Conover, CEO and Co-Founder of Brightwave, an AI-powered investment research platform that has raised $6 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- Brightwave’s Core Mission: Mike explained how Brightwave leverages AI to expand human cognitive potential. The platform enhances investment research by helping asset managers identify mispriced assets through AI that can analyze far more data than a human can.
- AI’s Role in Investment Research: Brightwave’s AI focuses on organizing relevant content like SEC filings, news, and transcripts, helping analysts to synthesize large volumes of information and make informed decisions faster.
- The Evolution of AI: Mike’s journey, from building Databricks’ first language model, to co-founding Brightwave, highlights how AI’s rapid progress has revolutionized industries, especially with large language models unlocking new capabilities in research and reasoning.
- AI in Financial Services: Mike noted that financial firms are rapidly adopting AI, with active asset managers embracing its potential despite limitations. The urgency of staying competitive is pushing firms to adopt AI early, despite its imperfections.
- Standing Out in a Crowded AI Market: To differentiate Brightwave, Mike emphasized the importance of product quality over AI hype. By building a tool that works and focusing on high-value synthesis and reasoning, Brightwave sets itself apart from competitors.
- The Future of AI Research Assistants: Brightwave’s long-term vision is to build a system that understands and reasons about the structure of the global economy, transforming the speed and accuracy of financial analysis for asset managers.
Actionable
Takeaways
Leverage AI for Synthesis, Not Just Summarization:
Brightwave focuses on AI’s ability to perform high-order synthesis and decision-making, beyond just summarizing data. For any founder, it's critical to build AI solutions that drive insights, not just collect data.
Emphasize Product Utility Over AI Hype:
In a market crowded with AI products, it's essential to prioritize delivering a high-quality tool that adds clear value. Mike stressed the importance of ensuring that AI is useful, not just impressive.
Capitalize on Timing in Tech Adoption:
Brightwave’s entry into financial services is timely, given the AI boom in investment research. Founders should assess market readiness and move early to gain an edge over slower-moving incumbents.
Focus on Experienced Teams:
Brightwave’s lean but highly experienced team enables them to build to a high standard. Mike suggests founders focus on hiring experts over larger teams, especially when operating in specialized or technical domains.
Tailor GTM Strategy to Customer Pain Points:
Brightwave identified investment research as an ideal fit due to its pain points—labor-intensive processes and high-stakes decisions. Founders should align product solutions with the most pressing industry problems to gain traction.
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