Benchmark’s Chetan Puttagunta on the Past, Present & Future of Software

The conversation centers on the evolution of software investing, particularly the shift from on-premise to cloud and now to AI-native applications. Chetan Puttagunta from Benchmark discusses the firm's investment in Manus, highlighting its rapid growth to $100 million ARR and subsequent acquisition by Meta, driven by its ability to blend AI models for deep research, coding, and slide creation. Puttagunta argues that AI applications represent a fundamental shift comparable to the move to the cloud, creating new opportunities for startups to disrupt established SaaS vendors. He advises SaaS companies to consider acquiring AI startups, despite valuation and margin differences, to avoid being outpaced by AI-native solutions. He emphasizes Benchmark's investment strategy focuses on backing founders with deep insights and a passion for solving problems, even in emerging areas like consumer crypto.