
Software Winners & Losers in the Age of AI (w/Alex Rubalcava & Paul Bricault) | #626
From The Meb Faber Show - Better Investing by The Idea Farm
April 10, 2026 · 1h 13m
About this episode
Alex Rubalcava and Paul Bricault discuss the impact of AI on startups and investment strategies.
Today’s guests are Alex Rubalcava and Paul Bricault of Amplify.LA, a pre-seed venture capital firm. In today’s episode, Alex and Paul break down the opportunities and challenges AI is creating for both startups and investors. They discuss the changing economics of software, what makes an AI company defensible, where investors are finding opportunity in frontier sectors, and why speed matters more than ever in early-stage investing. To close, they explore startup pivots and the tax advantages of QSBS. (0:00) Starts (1:27) Introducing Alex and Paul (2:02) Public software companies & AI (5:13) Amplify LA background and partnership formation (7:34) AI use cases in portfolio companies (15:08) AI's impact on the job market (30:31) AI's impact on investment opportunities at the pre-seed stage (41:02) Aerospace sector opportunities (44:32) Successful startup pivots (50:18) Liquidity in VC (55:28) QSBS impact ----- Sponsor: Want to learn more about 351 Exchanges? Visit the Alpha Architect 351 Education Center for use cases, tools, FAQs, upcoming launches, and more. Investments in securities entail risks, including possible loss of principal and are not suitable for all investors…
People in this episode
Host: Meb Faber
Guests: Alex Rubalcava, Paul Bricault
Topics covered
- AI in startups
- venture capital
- software economics
- investment opportunities
- startup pivots
- QSBS
Keywords
- AI
- venture capital
- software companies
- investment
- startup pivots
- QSBS
- pre-seed
Sponsors
Alpha Architect
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Amplify.LA, Cambrian Investments
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