Why Academics Make the Best Venture Builders
There is a stereotype in the startup world: "Move fast and break things." It implies that speed is the only metric that matters. As someone who has transitioned from the slow, deliberate world of academic research to the fast-paced world of venture building with Core Ventures, I disagree. You don't need to break things to move fast. You need to experiment intelligently.
The Scientific Method in Business
During my PhD and my time researching at CISUC, I lived by the scientific method: 1. Observe a phenomenon. 2. Form a hypothesis. 3. Test rigorously. 4. Analyze data. 5. Refine. This is exactly how I run First AI Movers and how I built technology at Experdata. - The Hypothesis: A Dutch SME has an inefficiency in its customer service workflow. - The Experiment: We deploy a specific AI Agent to handle 10% of the load. - The Analysis: We measure accuracy, sentiment, and speed.
Governance is Peer Review
In academia, you cannot publish without peer review. In AI, you should not deploy without Governance. This is why I am so passionate about AI ethics and transparency. It is simply the "peer review" process applied to business automation.
The Scholar-Executive
My background as Dr. Hernani Costa, the researcher, ensures that Hernani Costa, the CEO, doesn't chase vaporware. We build ventures that are grounded in data, tested in reality, and designed to last.
About the Author: Dr. Hernani Costa is an AI Executive and Venture Builder based in the Netherlands. He leverages his background in Computer Science research (University of Malaga Universidade de Vigo Universidade de Coimbra) to lead First AI Movers and Core Ventures.
Author: Dr. Hernani Costa — Founder of First AI Movers and Core Ventures. AI Architect, Strategic Advisor, and Fractional CTO helping Top Worldwide Innovation Companies navigate AI Innovations. PhD in Computational Linguistics, 25+ years in technology.
Originally published at First AI Movers under CC BY 4.0.