S3E01: Monique Woodard, Cake Ventures, Trust Was Always the Moat

What could you do with a free weekend and a few subscriptions to some AI tools? Probably start a billion dollar company. 

This is the reality for so many startups and tech companies that can suddenly ship projects that previously would’ve taken a couple of months (and a couple of developers) to deploy. So in a world where everyone can build, what’s the differentiator? 

Monique Woodard has a few ideas. She’s the founding partner of Cake Ventures, a fund writing checks into pre-seed and seed-stage companies at the intersection of technology and demographic shifts. 

She’s interested in how companies can stand out in a crowded, AI-driven environment, the way soft skills have transformed, and what AI means for the humans still in the loop. 

Check size: $250k – $750k

Highlights:
 • Trust is key for any company, and it’s not something that’s going to be replaced by technology any time soon. 
 • Monique is thinking more about the desk-less future of work and what AI means for the white collar workforce. 
 • The skills once labeled as “soft” are now getting rebranded into the “hard” skills that everyone needs to survive and thrive. 

  • (00:00) - Monique x Shaherose
  • (05:08) - AI at the Application Layer
  • (08:44) - Distribution and defensibility are key
  • (12:22) - Trust at the center
  • (15:15) - Investing in post-domain name companies
  • (23:44) - The state of revenue today

Creators and Guests

Shaherose Charania
Host
Shaherose Charania
Partner at Unshackled Ventures | Always helping founders | Raised on Atari, MS-DOS, Bollywood & Hip Hop. 🇨🇦in 🇺🇸
S3E01: Monique Woodard, Cake Ventures, Trust Was Always the Moat
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