Agentic AI is pushing companies to rethink cost efficiency, performance, and the path to production. In this conversation, Alfredo Ramos (Clarifai) shares how the Clarifai Reasoning Engine helps teams build AI systems twice as fast at half the cost by combining model optimization, fast inference, and deep infrastructure expertise.

With over a decade of large scale AI deployment, Clarifai has been benchmarking open weight models, refining token economics, and partnering closely with GPU providers to help AI native teams ship faster and operate more efficiently.

Highlights:

• How the Clarifai Reasoning Engine accelerates agentic AI development
  

• Why open weight models cover nearly half of today’s use cases
  

• How Clarifai delivers 96 percent cost efficiency compared to GPT5
  

• Why model optimization, hardware choice, and orchestration drive real speed gains
  

• The advantage AI native teams have over large enterprises in adopting agentic systems
  

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#AntiFragile Music - Founder/CEO & Growth Catalyst | Grammy-winning entertainment consultant | Startup Builder - Music/FinTech/Entertainment

Tom Sarig is the President of #AntiFragileMusic, a curator label and distributor for select, culturally distinguished independent music artists. With over two decades of experience in the music business, Tom has nurtured and helped several acclaimed artists achieve breakthrough success and sell millions of records, either as their manager or in a label/A&R capacity, and in genres ranging from electronic to rock, pop to hip hop.

Tom is also the founder of Esther Creative Group, a talent management and entertainment consulting firm that has managed the careers of icons such as Lou Reed, Bryan Ferry, Violent Femmes, CAKE, and Bebel Gilberto. Tom has produced feature films, served as a Grammy-winning senior A&R executive at major labels working closely with artists including Erykah Badu, The Roots, Nine Inch Nails, and Blink-182; and founded SarigSongs, a music publishing company. Tom's mission is to champion and evangelize for great cultural brands, and to collaborate and empower independent music artists in today's music landscape.

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Great convo - give a listen and share!

Exclusive insights from one of tech journalism’s leading voices Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more in-depth interviews and industry insights!

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Im joined with Bobby Napiltonia, the Managing Partner @TheGTMFirm and former head of the AppExchange at @Salesforce and @Twilio’s first CRO.

For Founders and Funders and those supporting the startup ecosystem, this episode was a kool convo around all things fundraising, founder journey, cap tables, dilution and more.

See

https://www.thegtmfirm.com/

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I see it all the time—founders and CEOs posting about their company’s latest milestone, funding round, or award. And while that’s great (seriously, congrats!), if 80% of your posts are about you instead of your market’s pain points, you’re missing a huge opportunity.

Want to drive real engagement? Flip the script.

🚨 Start with the Problem: What’s the burning challenge your customers face? What’s keeping them up at night? Speak to that pain directly—because that’s what they care about.

🔑 Evangelize the Need: Your market may not even realize how costly or inefficient their current approach is. Show them what’s broken. Quantify the impact. Make them feel the urgency.

💡 Position the Solution (Not Just Your Product): You don’t need to sell—just show how you’re solving this problem in a new, …

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Note: Founders and Startup CEO's: If you're a paid subscriber to my Substack - you've qualified to book a meeting at NO charge. Given there are dozens of questions you face a week, if not daily, its ok to realize you don't have all of the answers and rather than allowing yourself to be frustrated just know you can ask for help.

Improving the Startup Ecosystem

A startup veteran shares stories intended to help YOU accelerate growth and avoid pitfalls on your way to unicorn status (and we like to share)! Got questions - feel free to share!

By keith newman

Hint: If you're attempting to set up a Zoom meeting here are a few suggestions;

1. Have an Agenda. For our first call, here’s what I recommend;

- Quick Intro + Overview of your business: Stage of Product and Fund

- USP/ICP: What problem do you solve, how are you different?

- Business model: How are you going to make money?

- How can I help? Have questions for me/don't be afraid to ask!

- Ask what you can do for me! (relationships need to be reciprocal - promise i wont ask for $$).

Give a PAID Subscription as a gift - link

Also, In an effort to get to know each other as true connections here are my latest passion projects:

1. Podcast:

1. >

2. Spotify:

1. New YouTube Channel for Startups: https://www.youtube.com/@TechStartupNetwork/featured

If this is helpful or you have any questions feel free to hit me up too - > https://www.linkedin.com/in/kanewman/

Keith Newman

https://www.thegtmfirm.com/

After an epic run with Apple, Guy ran and mentored several startup companies, wrote many books that supported his perspective at the intersection of Entrepreneurship X Evangelism.

Oh, and wait til he shares his ideas on the future of AI. This was one of my favorite discussions. Happy New Year!

Paid Subscriber Offer: Founders and Startup CEO's: If you're a paid subscriber to my Substack you've qualified to book a meeting at NO charge. Given there are dozens of questions you face a week, if not daily, its ok to realize you don't have all of the answers and rather than allowing yourself to be frustrated just know you can ask for help. So reach out to an Advisor (Your investor or successful peers know some) and schedule a Zoom, most will happily agree to an intro call but I suggest you have an Agenda, something like this: "I'm looking for some feedback on......X (Investor and Sales Pitch or whatever). If this is helpful or you have any questions feel free to hit me up too - > https://www.linkedin.com/in/kanewman/

Keith

On YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/@TechStartupNetwork/featured

https://guykawasaki.com/books/think-remarkable/
The Macintosh Way (1990) ISBN 0-06-097338-2.

Selling the Dream (1992) ISBN 0-88730-600-4.

The startup journey is exhilarating, daunting, and deeply personal. One of the earliest—and perhaps most critical—questions every founder faces is: Do I need a co-founder?

Why "Looking for a Co-Founder" Is a Red Flag

One of my pet peeves is seeing posts from founders proclaiming, “Looking for a Co-Founder!” Here’s why it rubs me the wrong way: your focus shouldn't be on filling a job title, but on finding a leader who shares your vision and complements your skill set. A co-founder isn’t someone you pick up like office supplies; they’re a partner in building your dream into a reality.

Did you know: 65% of startups fail due to co-founder conflict (Harvard Business Review).

Your co-founder should be someone who fills your gaps, whether those are in technology, sales, marketing, fundraising, or team management. If you’re simply looking for someone to validate your idea or shoulder the workload, you’re likely setting yourself up for failure. Instead, you need someone with whom collaboration is natural and whose strengths and values align with yours.

Have You Run a Company Before?

Before even deciding if you need a co-founder, ask yourself some hard questions:

Are you skilled in both technology and business?

Can you recruit and inspire a team?

Have you raised money before?

Do you know how to find product-market fit (PMF)?

Have you managed a team before, and if so, what size?

If you can confidently answer “yes” to these, you might not need a co-founder. But if there are glaring gaps in your abilities or experience, a co-founder with complementary expertise could make all the difference.

This post is sponsored by The GTM Firm. Want to learn about real GTM.

https://www.thegtmfirm.com/ > Click here and elevate your path

Why VC’s Love Co-Founders

Venture capitalists (VCs) often prefer to invest in companies with co-founders. Why? Because co-founders bring diversity of thought, shared accountability, and the ability to scale faster. For example, many VCs want to see a "technical" co-founder who understands how to turn great technology into a viral product. Ideally, this person has been part of a team that’s successfully done it before.

But here’s the catch: being a technical genius doesn’t always align with being a great storyteller—and storytelling is a non-negotiable skill for entrepreneurs. Founders must inspire, pitch, and sell their vision to investors, customers, and employees alike. In essence, an entrepreneur is a storyteller first and foremost.

The Solo Founder Path

If you’re a solo founder, know that success is still achievable, but it comes with unique challenges. You need to:

Build a team that complements your weaknesses.

Be brutally honest about your strengths and gaps.

Resist the urge to label someone as a co-founder unless they truly feel like one.

It’s okay to bring in someone under an executive title and evaluate their fit over time. If they prove to be the right person to share the helm, you can revisit the co-founder title down the road.

Bottom Line: This Is Not the Place to Compromise

Whether or not you take on a co-founder, don’t settle. This isn’t the decision to make out of convenience or fear. Your co-founder should excite you, challenge you, and push you to be better. They should share your vision for building not just a product, but a lasting company.

The right co-founder relationship feels obvious—like two puzzle pieces clicking into place. And if you don’t find that? It’s better to go it alone and surround yourself with a team of all-stars than to compromise on the person you share the title with.

Knowing what to look for is the first step toward building a strong foundation for your startup and choose wisely, because this decision will shape your startup’s future.

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I'm the kind of angel investor who bets on the jockey more than the horse and frankly, I feel good about my bets because ALL of my horses are still in the race, ok almost all and I have had a few small exits.

I used to focus on media and marketing ideas but that has expanded to e-commerce, fintech, SaaS, clean tech, green tech, and more. I want to believe I’m supporting the next generation of great Founders, who are building companies that will do great things. Things are tracking nicely here but its not definitive.

Domain expertise is really helpful and recommended but if you believe in the jockey and want to support them from the other non-domain skills then that’s an option. But the odds of going from Seed to Exit is frankly a longshot, and not 10-1 but more like 100-1 that you get any kind of return on your investment.

So why invest if its such a longshot? Great question. Its probably a bit similar to why i buy the ocassional lottery ticket or take a seat at the blackjack table. The chance to make a lot of money (greed), sure, but balanced with wanting to support, give back and participate in something exciting.

Angel Investing in 2025:

1. Really know the Jockey, and the Horse.

2. Agree to the type of relationship you want with the Co as it grows

3. Agree on how you give and receive update information

I take my time and dont rush the startup journey or pressure founders to do this or that. Im available to help but rarely push. I feel good about supporting great entrepreneurs!

HERE FOR IT ALL - Humbly - looking forward to a chat. #AngelInvesting #Startups > Have you checked out my FREE podcast?

Yes “paid” subscribers can book time and share their Fundraising or GTM plans for some feedback, possible next steps. All funds are re-invested into the Startup ecosystem. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kanewman/

Hear an amazing entrepreneur share his journey and string of “happy accidents” and how he views the opportunities in gaming and AI today and the skills required to become a truly successful entrepreneur. 

Check out our video if you prefer - and please Like and Share!

Want to learn about Outdoor RPG’s? then join the Landing Party! We share some insights along with thoughts on his new category creating business plan that he’s just revving up for launch now! 

Also some unique tips on fundraising, team building and more. Listen, Subscribe and Share!!! s'il vous plaît"

I hope you're able to subscribe and share. 

For more videos check out my new You Tube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUvvqr6CBiqMOUbWfe7vWzQ

https://monsarrat.com/team

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Cuban was involved at a young age in ventures ranging from selling garbage bags to running newspapers during a strike. He graduated from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and embarked on a diverse business career that included founding MicroSolutions and Broadcast.com, both of which he sold at substantial profits. Cuban's investments span various industries, from technology and media to sports and entertainment. He has been a prominent figure in the NBA, known for his active involvement with the Mavericks (with which he won the 2011 NBA Championship as owner), and disputes with the league's management. In his side ventures, Cuban has been involved in philanthropy, political commentary, and reality television.

#Ecommerce #Retail #Miami #OuraRing #OuraReading #Asheville and growing!

By Keith Newman