Write checks, take board seats, dispense wisdom, wait for returns. The 1970s VC model worked brilliantly - until it didn't.
At Wakai Corporation, we are building something different. Because the math no longer adds up on the traditional model.
A Future that Refuses to Rhyme
"Uber for X." "Airbnb for Y." Pattern matching is a powerful framework when tomorrow looks like yesterday.
But AI isn't Mobile 2.0. It is not SaaS eating the world. It is intelligence itself becoming substrate-independent, creativity becoming computational, and value creation following rules we're only beginning to glimpse.
Wakai, our name, embodies a youthful energy, symbolizing fresh thinking, innovative spirit, and a beginner's mind that is open, curious, and full of love! It is our operating philosophy.
When Capital Is Everywhere and Talent Is Nowhere
VC interactions can have an aspect of performative theater. Theater where everyone genuinely wants to help.
We could afford this when capital was scarce. Founders needed money above all else, so they performed for it. But today? Every talented founder has multiple term sheets. What they need is to move faster. We help with that by building alongside them.
When forming Wakai we asked ourselves, what if instead of quarterly reviews, we are in the day to day? What if instead of advice, we offered execution?
What emerged is our co-creation model. We don't wait for board meetings. We sit in war rooms.
Amplified Intelligence - AI - is our Not-So-Secret Weapon
While many debate how to invest in AI, we are using AI to revolutionize investing itself.
Every founder we back gets paired with our custom AI systems. Not ChatGPT with a fancy wrapper. Not some "AI-powered" dashboard that's really just automated emails. Wakai builds sophisticated AI partners that actually do the work:
This is Wakai IP. It is our moat. It compounds.
Every bug fixed teaches the system. Every successful hire improves the model. Every customer won adds to the pattern library. The AI helping Company #20 has learned from Companies #1-19 in ways that human memory never could.
Traditional firms brag about their "platform." We're building an actual platform—one that gets smarter with every investment.
Why This Matters for Returns
Traditional VC returns are surprisingly independent across funds. Fund III doesn't systematically outperform Fund I because the model doesn't compound—it just repeats.
Our model is fundamentally different:
Knowledge Actually Accumulates: When our AI learns that a specific architecture pattern leads to scaling problems, every future company benefits. When it identifies an interviewing technique that predicts success, the entire portfolio levels up.
Scale Without Dilution: Traditional hands-on investors hit walls at 10-15 companies. Our AI-augmented model scales without sacrificing depth. That's not just more shots on goal - it's more data making every shot more accurate.
Continuous Evolution: Human processes crystallize. Best practices become dogma. Our AI systems evolve daily, incorporating new patterns, adjusting to market changes, improving without meetings or memos.
This isn't sci-fi speculation. It is happening now, in our portfolio, creating advantages that compound with each investment.
Our investment thesis
Investing with Wakai means betting on three beliefs about the future:
1. Fresh Eyes Beat Old Pattern Matching
In stable times, pattern macthing works. In discontinuous change, it becomes a mixed blessing at best. We are betting that approaching each investment with genuine curiosity matters more than pattern matching against a world that no longer exists.
2. Building Beats Advising
The traditional VC model optimizes for leverage: minimal time per company, maximum portfolio coverage. We are betting the opposite: that deep operational involvement, with AI, Amplified Intelligence, creates more value than human strategic advice. In a world where capital is commoditized, we are competing on execution.
3. Amplified Intelligence is the Lever
Everyone's investing in AI. We are investing with AI. The firms that dominate the future won't just fund companies - they will have to learn to use AI to fund more intelligently, support more effectively, and compound learning across their entire operation.
A Revolution? Maybe.
The traditional VC model was brilliant for 1970, its time, and many firms execute it exceptionally well. But we believe the ground has shifted beneath the industry's feet.
When capital was scarce, gatekeeping made sense. When patterns were stable, experience dominated. When human bandwidth was the only bandwidth, leverage required staying distant.
In this Cambrian explosion of technology, all those constraints have evaporated. What remains is the question: what is the optimal model for creating value in an AI-native world?
Our answer: fresh eyes, hands-on building, and AI systems that learn from everything we do.
The Choice Facing LPs
As an LP, you are not choosing between good and bad options. Traditional VC may continue generating returns for firms that execute it well. The question is whether you believe the changing landscape creates room for a fundamentally different approach.
We're betting it does. We're betting that:
The future will surprise us all, making fresh eyes more valuable than old playbooks
Operational excellence matters more than capital access in an age of abundance
AI can transform not just portfolio companies but the practice of venture capital itself
Most importantly, we're betting that these advantages compound. Each investment makes our AI smarter. Each success teaches our systems. Each failure improves our models. Our AI learns to build companies with and for humans.
While traditional firms reset with each fund, we're building something that appreciates over time. Not through financial engineering or fee structures, but through genuine platform effects that create lasting advantages.
The Bottom Line
At Wakai Corporation we are building for a future that will move faster and stranger than any of us expect. We're doing it with deep experience, fresh eyes, care, and AI systems that learn from everything we touch.
The new world rewards new approaches. We are building the infrastructure to prove it.