As an early-stage startup, making the decision to manage your customer service team in-house or to outsource really depends on a variety of factors including where you are as a company in terms of your lifecycle, size and complexity, what your strategic customer service vision & goals are, and finally, what your financial resources and priorities are.

In a rapid-growth startup, demands can be high, budgets can be low, and processes can be lacking. There’s also strong competition for top talent in the startup environment and it can be challenging to keep talent as other companies also look to acquire people with specific skills, many of which can afford higher salaries.

In today's interconnected world, data has become a powerful driving force behind innovation and growth. Companies that harness the potential of data hold a competitive edge, and one such company at the forefront is BlaBlaCar. As a pioneer in the carpooling industry, BlaBlaCar has revolutionized the way people travel and the way it leverages data plays a critical role in its business strategy. In this article, we delve into the fascinating world of BlaBlaCar's data team strategy, exploring how we restructured our teams in order to scale.

We’ve all heard about Generative AI in recent months and it’s for good reason - the incredibly buzzy topic seemingly hit Hype Beast mode mid October following a slew of (suspiciously co-ordinated) news that brought it into the open with a big bang.

While considerable venture capital investments have already flowed into the software sector, the intensifying climate crisis is pushing the need for radical action to the forefront. Software is currently receiving negative publicity as seen as involving too “shy” of an effort. On the other hand, hardware and infrastructure investments, which were traditionally overlooked by asset-light venture capitalists, are gaining momentum.

As we move closer to 2030 “net zero” goals, the private sector is increasingly being held accountable for its environmental impact. It is expected to be instrumental in achieving emissions reduction targets, as well as meet other environmental goals including water & biodiversity preservation, or waste reduction & recycling. Yet, before one can envision improving their environmental footprint, it all begins with accurate measurement.

The idea of human users fostering relationships with AI may seem like a distant future concept in sci-fi movies. However, we are much closer than we think - recent developments in the UX and sophistication of AI have made it so much more realistic and persuasive… making it possible to build relationships with it.

This quarter at Samaipata we dive into Generative AI and the downfall of FTX, we highlight snippets from our portfolio, current market conditions and writings from the Samaipata team.