What does it take to back a technical founder before there's a product, a customer, or a dollar of revenue?

Ashmeet Sidana has been doing exactly that — and he's been oversubscribed on every fund he's ever raised.

Ashmeet is the Founder and Managing Partner of Engineering Capital, a seed-stage venture fund he runs as a solo GP in the Bay Area. A Stanford-trained engineer and former product leader at VMware, he brings one of the sharpest technical lenses in early-stage venture.

⭐ Sponsored by Podcast10x - Podcasting agency for VCs - https://podcast10x.com

In this episode we cover:

→ Why software still holds 63,000x more opportunity than hardware

→ Data as the new asbestos — and the AI slop contamination loop

→ Data sovereignty and the rise of isolated global cloud regions

→ Big tech's structural blind spots and the Gandhi model for startups

→ Backing technical founders at day zero, before product or revenue

→ Why running a fund alone is a structural advantage, not a risk

→ The VMware lesson every AI infrastructure founder needs to hear

Links:

Engineering Capital: engineeringcapital.com

Connect with Ashmeet on X: ashmeetsidana

Connect with Prashant: https://linkedin.com/in/choubeysahab

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Timestamps:

(00:00) - Preview

(01:22) - Introduction to Guest Ashmeet Sidana & Episode Overview

(03:00) - The Interconnect Layer Bottleneck in LLM Training

(04:52) - Physical Limitations: From Silicon Availability to Megawatt Capacity

(06:01) - Powering Data Centers: Consistent vs. Intermittent Energy Sources

(08:21) - The Case for Software: Unlocking 63,000x Performance Gains

(11:12) - Data Sovereignty and the Rise of Independent Cloud Regions

(13:19) - How Engineering Architectures Must Evolve to Handle "AI Slop"

(16:57) - Can AI Be Used to Detect AI-Generated Slop?

(18:26) - What Happens When a New AI Architecture Replaces the Transformer?

(20:19) - Startup Opportunities Arising from the Legacy CPU Stack

(21:48) - How Startups Can Compete with Big Tech's Infinite CapEx

(25:34) - Identifying Big Tech's Structural Blind Spots in the AI Cycle

(28:22) - Early Signals of Commercial Instinct in Technical Founders

(29:47) - How to Pressure Test a Founder's "Technical Insight" at Day Zero

(31:45) - The Solo GP Advantage: Turning Key Man Risk into Structural Alignment

(34:51) - Transitioning from an Operator to a Venture Capitalist

(36:34) - Managing the Workload as a Solo GP

(39:30) - Why AI Startups Struggle to Find a Specific Niche like VMware's Server Consolidation

(41:17) - Rapid-Fire Round: Investment Thesis

(42:40) - Rapid-Fire Round: How Founders Can Get in Touch

(43:05) - Rapid-Fire Round: Where to Follow Ashmeet Sidana

VC10X - The AI Bottleneck Keeps Moving - Ashmeet Sidana, Founder & Managing Partner, Engineering Capital

VC10X - Investing, Venture Capital, Asset Management, Family Office, Wealth Management

VC10X - The AI Bottleneck Keeps Moving - Ashmeet Sidana, Founder & Managing Partner, Engineering Capital