Dan Teran and James Gettinger sit down for a deep dive on vertical AI and what it takes to win at the earliest stage of building a business. They share the frameworks they use to evaluate founders, why they back scrappy, "de-risked-on-paper" industry outsiders that most VCs overlook, and how narrative command and customer obsession separate great founders from the pack. Dan and James also share Gutter's origin story, their concentrated first-check strategy, and how their new NYC-based accelerator Elbow Grease helps early stage founders build their business into one of consequence in the AI era.