My Take on What Founders Miss About AI Regulation

Published 2024-07-20 · Updated 2026-05-23 · 7 min read · AI Ethics and Regulation · By Sahin Boydas

Everyone’s worried about EU AI rules, but it’s not what they think. Having dealt with multiple regulation changes, I know where the real danger lies. Here’s my candid advice on what really matters for your startup.

During the MovieLaLa days, we learned something about my take on what founders miss about ai regulation that I still apply to every investment I make.

Everyone’s worried about EU AI rules, but it’s not what they think. Having dealt with multiple regulation changes, I know where the real danger lies. Here’s my candid advice on what really matters for your startup.

The Framework That Actually Works

I'm going to share the exact framework I use when evaluating my take on what founders miss about ai regulation. It's not complicated, but it requires discipline.

Step 1: your team matters more than your technology This is where most people go wrong. They skip this step entirely and jump straight to execution. Don't do that.

Step 2: the market doesn't care about your roadmap Once you have the foundation right, this becomes much easier. I've watched founders struggle with this for months when the answer was staring them in the face.

Step 3: Iterate relentlessly Nothing works perfectly the first time. The companies in my portfolio that nail my take on what founders miss about ai regulation are the ones that treat it as an ongoing process, not a one-time project.

Why Most Approaches Fail

Let me be direct: about 70% of the approaches I see to my take on what founders miss about ai regulation are fundamentally flawed. Not slightly off. Fundamentally flawed.

The root cause is usually one of three things:

  • Copying what big companies do without understanding why they do it. What works for Google doesn't work for a 10-person startup.
  • Over-engineering the solution when a simple approach would work better. I've seen teams spend six months building something that could have been done in two weeks.
  • Ignoring the human element. Technology is the easy part. Getting people to actually use it is where the real challenge lives.

What I've Learned From 150 Companies

After investing in 200+ startups and running two companies to successful exits, I've developed a pretty clear picture of what works with my take on what founders miss about ai regulation.

The biggest misconception is that you need to customer feedback is the only metric that matters. That's backwards. The companies that win are the ones that the data tells a different story than your gut.

I remember sitting with the Anthropic team early on and discussing how they thought about my take on what founders miss about ai regulation. Their approach was counterintuitive but brilliant.

Lessons From the Trenches

I want to share a few specific lessons I've picked up over the years. These aren't theoretical. They come from real companies, real failures, and real successes.

Lesson 1: The best time to start thinking about my take on what founders miss about ai regulation was yesterday. The second best time is now. Don't wait until you have the perfect plan.

Lesson 2: Hire for attitude, train for skill. The best my take on what founders miss about ai regulation practitioners I've met weren't the most technically gifted. They were the most curious and persistent.

Lesson 3: Your competitors are probably getting this wrong too. That's your opportunity. While everyone else is following the same playbook, you can zig when they zag.

This connects to broader themes around ai-ethics|AI bias, deepfakes, AI governance, EU AI Act that I've been thinking about a lot lately.

The Bottom Line

Look, my take on what founders miss about ai regulation isn't rocket science. But it does require intentionality, consistency, and a willingness to learn from mistakes.

If you take one thing from this article, let it be this: start now, start small, and iterate. The founders who win at my take on what founders miss about ai regulation aren't the ones with the best strategy on paper. They're the ones who execute, learn, and adapt faster than everyone else.

I've been doing this for over a decade. The patterns are clear. The companies that take my take on what founders miss about ai regulation seriously outperform the ones that don't. Every single time.

If you're working on something interesting in this space, I'd love to hear about it. Drop me a line.

Frequently Asked Questions

What experience informs this perspective?

This perspective comes from over a decade of building companies in Silicon Valley, two successful exits (RemoteTeam to Gusto, MovieLaLa to Gfycat), and investing in 200+ startups including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Scale AI. I write about what I've lived.

How has this view evolved over time?

My thinking on most topics has changed significantly over the years. Early in my career, I held many conventional views that experience proved wrong. I try to update my beliefs when the evidence changes.

How can I apply this thinking to my own situation?

Start by identifying the core principle behind the opinion, not the specific example. Then ask yourself: does this principle apply to my context? If yes, test it in a small, low-risk way before going all in.

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