A founder who bet on 350 startups says passing on a hot AI company taught him a hard lesson

Immad Akhund, an progressive angel capitalist since 2016, passed connected an aboriginal stake successful Scale AI — worthy astir $14 cardinal successful past year's backing circular — and it taught him an important lesson.

"I saw Scale AI. And I was like, 'good idea, but these radical are truthful young,'" helium said connected an occurrence of the "Twenty Minute VC" podcast published Monday.

"I deliberation they were similar 19 and 20 astatine the clip oregon something. I deliberation I could tally this institution amended if I was doing it and I didn't spot however they were going to fig it out," helium added.

Looking back, the serial entrepreneur said helium was "just truthful wrong."

"There's immoderate powerfulness to that younker that's hard to judge, to beryllium honest. You benignant of person to suspend content and say, okay, this person's going to fig retired however to tally a immense company," helium said.

The misstep was a formative 1 for Akhund, who has backed much than 350 startups astatine their earliest stages, including Rappi, Airtable, Rippling, Decagon, and Etched.

Akhund angel invests successful "things that volition look inevitable 10 years from present and tin beryllium $10 cardinal companies," he told Business Insider successful a May communicative astir the astir palmy seed-stage investors.

Akhund is besides the laminitis and CEO of Mercury, a banking startup that precocious raised a $300 cardinal Series C circular astatine a $3.5 cardinal valuation led by Sequoia.

Leaving his ego astatine the door

Akhund said 1 of the biggest lessons successful his investing travel was learning to cheque his ego.

As an entrepreneur, helium was utilized to suggesting his ideas erstwhile speaking with startups, helium said.

The founders, particularly if they were young, would often concur. But "that's not their idea, and it's not adjacent just to propulsion an thought connected different people," helium said.

He learned that it was important to backmost founders for their ideas, not for his.

"You truly person to really region your ego and your ideas and truly listen," helium said. "You're overmuch much on for their travel alternatively than a large portion of it," helium added.

Akhund said that helium prefers serial founders to first-timers, particularly those with "a spot connected their shoulder."

"I person specified a bias toward them," helium said. "A serial entrepreneur knows however hard it's going to be, but they're consenting to bash it again."

That's "so unusual" and signals that "they indispensable truly privation to bash this," helium added.

For investors, Akhund advises making diversified bets.

"Do astatine slightest 20 oregon 30 investments — that's erstwhile you commencement entering the game," helium said.

"You larn a batch by doing consequent ones," helium said, adding that investors "need a diversified portfolio to person immoderate instrumentality successful this space."

A typical for Akhund declined further comment.