4 ms·

I'm puzzled. Did Noam get $500mm+ from this? Character.ai could've been at $100mm+ ARR if they did a bit more of a monetization push based on my very rough est

by tikkun 2y ago

I'm puzzled. Did Noam get $500mm+ from this? Character.ai could've been at $100mm+ ARR if they did a bit more of a monetization push based on my very rough estimates. If it was an acquisition I would've been imagining $3b+ price range. Huge get by Google! (Side note, Gemini 1.5's new alpha release from this week is now at the top of the lmsys leaderboard and sentiment on twitter for it is that it's strong, maybe as strong as sonnet 3.5, so it'll continue to be an interesting race between meta, openai, anthropic, gdm.) Edit: Okay perhaps it's - Noam keeps his C.ai stock, gets a big pay package from Google ($5mm-$15mm/year kinda range? not sure). Most of the value in C.ai remains, and he keeps his stock.

riku_iki 2y ago
> I'm puzzled. Did Noam get $500mm+ from this? where did you get $500mm number?..
- tikkun 2y ago
  I imagine he still had 15%+ of the company, so if there was a big payout, he would've gotten a big slice. Treat all my estimates with a grain of salt, though, please. I'm imagining he didn't get a huge payout and he actually kept most of his equity?
  - riku_iki 2y ago
    I think he just steps down as CEO, there is no company acquisition happening, so no one gets paid. I think company essentially failed to generate revenue and/or get new investment round.
    - tikkun 2y ago
      Yes that seems right. Though I think they could've gotten a new investment round if they wanted one, I'd be surprised if that was the cause.
    - BoorishBears 2y ago
      https://www.theinformation.com/articles/google-hires-character-ai-cofounders-and-licenses-its-models https://www.theinformation.com/articles/google-hires-charact... Investors are being bought at 2.5B valuation
      - riku_iki 2y ago
        I don't trust that site. They spread unconfirmable rumors behind paywall. Base on those numbers, $150M of series A with 1B valuation would be bought now for 375M(which is high for failed startup), my understanding is that such transaction has to be disclosed.
        kkakkx 2y ago
        This is public info. 2.5b and $88 per share for all
        riku_iki 2y ago
        info becomes public when it is officially announced by some of the transaction participants or disclosed in some fillings. I may be too skeptical, but it is just hard to believe someone (who?) throws 400M (to seed + A investors) plus significant amount to founders into essentially failed startup.
jsemrau 2y ago
I suppose a lot of the current batch don't have a business model that is sustainable. Another candidate is stability ai.
dekhn 2y ago
Noam is pre-IPO google with extensive work done on the most important infrastructure in the company's history; likely he has large monetary reserves as well as a pool of investors more than happy to give him money simply to continue doing his research, regardless of future revenue. You can assume that in returning to google, he will get some base pay which will be prodigious, but also extensive pay in the form of bonuses and stock. From what I know of him, the real motivation is to get more access to large TPUs.
- metadat 2y ago
  Having personally met him, this was my impression. He has zero concerns about finance. Actually a nice and polite guy, too.

by tikkun 2y ago

riku_iki 2y ago

> I'm puzzled. Did Noam get $500mm+ from this? where did you get $500mm number?..

tikkun 2y ago
I imagine he still had 15%+ of the company, so if there was a big payout, he would've gotten a big slice. Treat all my estimates with a grain of salt, though, please. I'm imagining he didn't get a huge payout and he actually kept most of his equity?
- riku_iki 2y ago
  I think he just steps down as CEO, there is no company acquisition happening, so no one gets paid. I think company essentially failed to generate revenue and/or get new investment round.
  - tikkun 2y ago
    Yes that seems right. Though I think they could've gotten a new investment round if they wanted one, I'd be surprised if that was the cause.
  - BoorishBears 2y ago
    https://www.theinformation.com/articles/google-hires-character-ai-cofounders-and-licenses-its-models https://www.theinformation.com/articles/google-hires-charact... Investors are being bought at 2.5B valuation
    - riku_iki 2y ago
      I don't trust that site. They spread unconfirmable rumors behind paywall. Base on those numbers, $150M of series A with 1B valuation would be bought now for 375M(which is high for failed startup), my understanding is that such transaction has to be disclosed.
      - kkakkx 2y ago
        This is public info. 2.5b and $88 per share for all
        riku_iki 2y ago
        info becomes public when it is officially announced by some of the transaction participants or disclosed in some fillings. I may be too skeptical, but it is just hard to believe someone (who?) throws 400M (to seed + A investors) plus significant amount to founders into essentially failed startup.

jsemrau 2y ago

I suppose a lot of the current batch don't have a business model that is sustainable. Another candidate is stability ai.

dekhn 2y ago

Noam is pre-IPO google with extensive work done on the most important infrastructure in the company's history; likely he has large monetary reserves as well as a pool of investors more than happy to give him money simply to continue doing his research, regardless of future revenue. You can assume that in returning to google, he will get some base pay which will be prodigious, but also extensive pay in the form of bonuses and stock. From what I know of him, the real motivation is to get more access to large TPUs.

metadat 2y ago
Having personally met him, this was my impression. He has zero concerns about finance. Actually a nice and polite guy, too.