The Next 3 Years Will Deliver 30 Years of Innovation | John Lin - E725

The Next 3 Years Will Deliver 30 Years of Innovation | John Lin - E725

Author: Jeremy Au August 27, 2026 Duration: 39:10

The next three years should deliver what the last thirty did. That is John Lin's argument, and it is why he thinks the ground under founders has shifted.


John Lin is the Founding Partner of Linea Ventures. Previously, he helped start F-Prime Capital's west coast tech practice and was also a Principal at Trinity Ventures. He has invested in 50+ companies, including Numeral, Squire, Branch, Side, Weights & Biases, Triumph and You.com. Prior to that he led Product and Engineering at Roomi and worked at McKinsey and Yelp. John graduated with degrees in Business and Computer Science from UC Berkeley.


He joined Jeremy Au on why AI coding has made good engineers five to ten times more effective, why everything in AI is both overhyped and undervalued at once, and where value still accrues now that a model costing billions to train can be built for tens of millions.


Then the part most founders have not priced in. A Series A used to mean $800K in revenue and a $40M round. Today it is closer to $3M and $70M, and by John's reading only 1 in 5 to 1 in 7 companies make the jump. Round to round survival has fallen from about half to somewhere between a third and a sixth.


Plus how he picks: a $1B market, a path to 25x, companies between $1M and $10M in revenue, and the one question every founder has to answer.


John’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-lin-39a18921/

Linea Ventures: https://lineavc.com/ 


Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/john-lin-ai-investing 


BRAVE is Southeast Asia's leading tech podcast, hosted by Jeremy Au. Honest conversations with the region's top founders, investors, and operators on building startups in Southeast Asia.

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#Singapore #TechPodcast #AIInvesting #SeriesA #SeedFunding #Startups #Founders #Fundraising #AIInfrastructure #VerticalAI #SiliconValley #EmergingManagers #SEAstartups #Malaysia #Indonesia #Philippines #Vietnam #Berkeley #Entrepreneurship 


00:00 Introduction

00:43 From Berkeley to Trinity, F-Prime, and Linea Ventures

02:59 Is AI huge, or overhyped?

04:34 AI coding, and 30 years of innovation in 3

07:44 Where the economic value of AI will accrue

11:26 Overhyped, undervalued, and no longer defensible

13:10 How John picks: market, founder, inflection point

15:12 Case study: Numeral and US sales tax filing

18:08 Red flags, and how to validate an AI idea fast

20:26 Are billion dollar seed rounds the new normal?

24:41 A tale of two cities in startup funding

26:50 Only 1 in 5 to 1 in 7 reach Series A

30:04 Personal investing versus investing out of a fund

35:56 What a decade of reps teaches you




There’s a unique energy building across Southeast Asia, a sense of possibility that’s palpable from Singapore’s skyscrapers to the bustling streets of Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City, Manila, Bangkok, and Kuala Lumpur. BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech captures that momentum by going beyond the headlines and funding announcements. Host Jeremy Au, a venture capitalist and serial founder with a background from Harvard and Berkeley, steers these conversations with a distinct perspective-one that balances the hard metrics of growth with the very human elements of leadership and personal development. Each episode feels like a candid, in-depth dialogue, whether he’s speaking with a first-time founder navigating early traction or a seasoned investor mapping regional trends. You’ll hear genuine stories about building companies, the tough lessons learned from failures, and the often-overlooked journey of staying grounded while scaling rapidly. This isn’t about presenting a polished facade of success; it’s about the real work of creating something meaningful. With over eighty thousand regular listeners, this podcast has become a key resource for anyone invested in the region’s tech ecosystem. Jeremy brings his own experiences as a sci-fi enthusiast and a father into the mix, often exploring how broader perspectives on the future and empathy shape better leaders. Tune in for practical insights on venture capital, entrepreneurship, and management, all framed within the vibrant and complex tapestry of Southeast Asia. New conversations arrive every Monday, offering a thoughtful pause to reflect on how we build what’s next.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech: Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand & Malaysia Startups, Founders & Venture Capital VC (English)
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