Guide
Building Vertical AI: An early stage playbook for founders
Bessemer Venture Partners · bvp.com
A VC's operating manual for going from wedge to platform in a vertical.
The question it answers
Read with it
- The episode that defined the category thesis; 300 potential billion-dollar companies. ycombinator.com Video Vertical AI Agents Could Be 10X Bigger Than SaaS Y Combinator Lightcone (Garry Tan, Jared Friedman, Harj Taggar, Diana Hu)
- The earlier YC talk with the playbook for picking your vertical. ycombinator.com Video Why Vertical LLM Agents Are The New $1 Billion SaaS Opportunities Y Combinator
- Market sizing: services are 10x the software market, and agents tap them. bvp.com Article The State of AI 2025 Bessemer Venture Partners
- The macro argument for why agents expand rather than shrink the market. a16z.com Article Good news: AI Will Eat Application Software a16z
- Where a16z partners saw agent openings across industries. a16z.com Article Big Ideas in Tech for 2025 a16z
- Sierra's founder on agents as the new front door for every brand. sierra.ai Podcast No Priors Ep. 82: Bret Taylor on company-branded agents No Priors (Bret Taylor)
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