Welcome to Deep Dives, where we explore interesting companies.
Today’s deep dive is on GenAI Works: “LinkedIn for AI”
Earlier in my career, I worked at lynda.com — an online education company that was acquired by LinkedIn.
GenAI is following a similar playbook. The same thing could happen here.
They are accepting investments from both accredited and non-accredited investors. Get bonus shares if you invest before Oct 20.
We blinked, and suddenly everyone was talking about AI.
And while the tech itself is a big deal (enormous, even) it's incredible how many people feel lost in this new world.
According to a 2024 study, 84% of employees are fundamentally confused about what AI is — despite using it.
An astonishing 180 million people use ChatGPT every month, and the vast majority of them have no clue how it all works.
When the automobile was first invented, some people had a grasp of how the machine worked & the implications, but most people saw it as a novelty. They didn't understand how it would reshape the world.
AI seems to be on the same path. One could argue that never before in history has a technology been so rapidly & widely used, yet so poorly understood.
On one hand, this isn’t a huge problem. Practically the entire point of AI is that it “just works”. You don’t have to think about it.
But those willing to put in the effort to educate themselves will be at an advantage. And that’s where GenAI Works comes in.
It's world's largest AI education community, with a vision of becoming “LinkedIn for AI.”
Started in 2023, the company has bootstrapped to date — gaining a massive following of 7 million followers. Now, they are raising capital for the very first time..
Both accredited and non-accredited investors can participate in their $5m fundraising. If you invest before Oct 20 you'll earn up to 25% bonus shares.
This team is off to a great start and has a compelling vision.
Let's explore 👇
NOTE: Community building is hugely important to us here at Alts. But that's not the only reason I'm interested in this company. Earlier in my career, I worked at lynda.com, which in 2015 was acquired by LinkedIn and became known as LinkedIn Learning. I love the online education space, and have a special understanding of it. This issue was sponsored by GenAi Works. As always, we think you’ll find it informative and fair.
Business model
Let’s say you’re a fintech startup.
You have a decent following, but you’re struggling to attract new paying users. You want to use AI to create video ads, social posts and analyze your efforts.
You don't just want to read a few articles, you want to really up your game. You want to hack together an app that streamlines your marketing. You want to build something custom. You want true professional development.
Where do you begin? So many apps. So many companies. So much information. So much misinformation.
The AI landscape is getting crowded. But hey — at least it's not as bad as the martech landscape!
Instead of spending hours scouring for answers, you can go to GenAI.Works, find the highest-rated tools, take a course to learn them, and engage with the massive community.
GenAi.Works’s traction is centered around its social presence. The team has done an outstanding job growing their followers — especially on LinkedIn, where they boast 4.8m followers.
GenAI works is really touting their followers as strength. They claim their engagement and new monthly follower numbers dwarf those from Google and AWS.
It’s ironic that they're building a massive following on top of a platform that they want to steal market share from. But it makes perfect sense.
I fundamentally believe much of the tech world is sleeping on LinkedIn. I’m not just saying this because I briefly worked there — I’m saying this because it’s a terrific social growth engine.
We’re finding our LinkedIn posts get a good amount of engagement, and interestingly, the engagement seems to have a long shelf life.
When you post on Twitter, err, X, the post has a short shelf life. It may feel good in the moment, but a day or two later nearly every post disappears forever.
Even when posts go viral, the hearts & comments stop flowing in after a few days. There isn’t as much lasting value.
On LinkedIn, however, it’s not uncommon to get likes, comments, and re-shares weeks or even months after posting.
Sure, LinkedIn has some cringe qualities. But the compounding nature of LinkedIn activity is extremely valuable — especially for education companies like GenAi.Works.
Sometimes people ask me, “How are you and Wyatt able to be experts in all these random asset classes?!”
The answer is simple: We’re not experts in every alt asset. Not even close!
But we partner with experts.
In a similar vein, GenAi Works understands that partnerships are the key to growth.
GenAI.Works is actively building on its existing foundation of over 300+ affiliate partnerships, including working with big names like Nvidia, Google, and Amazon. The company also supports AI startups like Copy.ai and Mindgrasp.
Acquisitions are another area of growing startups that I love. Since 2021 we’ve made numerous strategic acquisitions, including the famous Inverse Cramer and Stocks & Income newsletters.
GenAi Works has been busy in this area as well. Just last month the team successfully acquired an organization called Hackmackers — the world’s leading hackathon specialists.
Roadmap
So far, the company's strategy has centered on building its community through social networking and partnerships. But now it’s time to monetize and scale — with the help of investors.
GenAI Academy
A key monetization mechanism will be the launch of GenAI Academy, a paid platform offering educational programs led by experts in the AI industry.
This is basically the model we had at lynda.com. We paid experts from around the world to create courses. How to Learn Photoshop. Javascript Essential Training. How to Learn SEO. Etc.
We’d fly them to our HQ in beautiful Carpinteria, California, film the course, put them on the platform, and gave creators a cut of the revenue.
The formula worked: In 2015, LinkedIn acquired Lynda.com for ~$1.5 billion.
Lynda was integrated into LinkedIn to boost professional development offerings, eventually becoming part of LinkedIn Learning.
In this respect, GenAi Works is following the same path as lynda.
Yes, LinkedIn Learning has AI content today, but it quickly goes out of date. GenAi Works shouldn’t have this problem. Their vast community ensures they’ll have an endless stream of supply of fresh thinking.
Schools are increasingly integrating AI education into their curriculums, and GenAi Works wants to take advantage of this as well.
Future plans include the development of an AI-powered Learning Management System (also known as an LMS, like Blackboard or Google Classroom)
They also want to build an AI-powered creator marketplace, connecting businesses with creators around the world.
Interestingly, they also want to include a GenAI Job Hunt service for AI experts on the prowl for new gigs.
lynda.com never went down either path. As far as I can recall, they never had any plans to. That’s not to say it’s a bad idea — in fact I rather like this creator marketplace idea.
But the company needs to be careful of spreading themselves too thin.
Accelerator
Building on current relationships, GenAI.Works wants to eventually transition into an accelerator, helping exciting new startups raise funds and find their audience.
There are a few AI accelerators out there right now, including A12 Incubator, and the AI accelerator from Techstars.
Again, their community will be an advantage here. They’ll be able to see which AI companies are growing the fastest, are the highest rated.
They can pinpoint these companies and invest in them before anyone else.
GenAI Works uses a live catalog that’s constantly updated with the latest news, courses and customer reviews.
But the real difference is the community.
We know firsthand the power of community here at Alts. We connect with our community in true, authentic ways. This is why I personally call every new Altea member. It's why we're gathering 20+ community members in Nashville next week.
Community is literally what separate us from both milquetoast startup competitors, and legacy funds with longer histories (neither of whom shall be named here, sorry.)
No other AI hub boasts a bigger following, which should position them among their competition nicely.
Scaling content production
As Lynda.com expanded, the demand for high-quality educational content increased. Consistently producing a large volume of courses was a logistical challenge.
Everyone thought Lynda was a tech company, but they were really more like Hollywood-level production studio.
Technology infrastructure
Scaling lynda's platform to handle a growing number of users, courses, and video content required a robust infrastructure. Managing server loads, video streaming quality, and platform stability, etc.
Lynda.com needed to continuously invest in their platform to stay reliable and user-friendly.
Investment details
This is the first time GenAI.Works has raised money.
If you want to get in on the ground floor — considering their LinkedIn following, maybe it’s more like the middle floor — you can.
GenAI Works is raising up to $5m to scale its product and bring a swathe of new features to market.
The future for AI is so bright, you gotta wear shades. 😎
But without context, using AI is like trying to assemble IKEA furniture without any instructions and the mandatory missing screw.
GenAI Works wants to fix this and become the friendly face of the AI revolution – a one-stop-shop for learning, building and engaging with generative AI.
I haven't dug deep into the numbers, but I like the community angle, and I like the fact that they're following the lynda.com playbook.
Lynda bootsrapped, raised funds, then got acquired by LinkedIn. The same thing could happen here.
That's it for today. Reply with comments, we read everything.
See you next time, Stefan
Disclosures
This issue was sponsored by GenAI Works, and written and researched by Stefan von Imhof and Ben Knight.
GenAI works has not been fully due diligenced by anyone at Alts. Invest at your own risk.
Neither the author, nor Altea holds any interest in GenAI Works
This issue is a sponsored deep dive, meaning Alts has been paid to write an independent analysis of GenAi Works. GenAI Works has agreed to offer an unconstrained look at its business, offerings, and operations. GenAI Works is also a sponsor of Alts, but our research is neutral and unbiased. This should not be considered financial, legal, tax, or investment advice, but rather an independent analysis to help readers make their own investment decisions. All opinions expressed here are ours, and ours alone. We hope you find it informative and fair.
