AI, Risk, and Why Most Startups Don’t Make It

On this episode of Startup Success, Kate sits down with Itamar Novick, Founder and General Partner of Recursive Ventures, who has been named one of Business Insider’s Top 100 Global Seed Investors for five years running. Unlike many VCs, Itamar brings a unique operator’s perspective, having helped scale Life360 from pre-seed to IPO and been part of multiple major exits. He reflects on what he’s learned from 25 years in the startup ecosystem, from the failures of his first company to his early bet on AI way back in 2012. And while Recursive Ventures is “all in” on AI, Itamar candidly shares his concerns about its potential risks to society. We discuss: What he looks for when investing in a startup His use of “anti-patterns” to teach founders how to avoid failure What it takes to build an AI company that will survive the long haul Itamar’s top advice for founders: jump on the wave first, embrace disruption, pivot quickly, and keep adapting. Founders who last aren’t the ones who play it safe. ---- Stay connected with our host, Kate Adams, here on LinkedIn ! Learn more about Recursive Ventures here , Itamar’s Blog here , and Itamar’s LinkedIn here.

You can listen to AI, Risk, and Why Most Startups Don’t Make It online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

AI, Risk, and Why Most Startups Don’t Make It is an episode from Startup Success: A Podcast for Founders & Investors by Burkland.

This episode is 32:00 long.

This episode was published on Nov 4, 2025.

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