"We have sold more software than anyone in our sector. We are the absolute leaders in it, and yet I can say with ultimate confidence that in our space, SaaS is dead." - Sandeep Ahuja

Those aren't our words. They're from our portfolio company founder, Sandeep Ahuja at Cove, which transformed her startup from a SaaS architecture company into an AI-powered architecture services firm delivering better margins than most SaaS businesses. We call it “Do-it-for-me as a Service” or DaaS.

The insight driving DaaS? When you truly listen to customers, you’ll hear: "Please don't make me use new software. I really don't want to."

For example, instead of forcing customers to adopt their platform, Cove became their own customers by using their AI to deliver architecture services directly. The result? Instead of $15,000 ACVs, they're now seeing $7M deals.

This pattern is emerging across our portfolio. Nevoya isn't just building electric trucks - they're using the AI workflows to make the challenges of EV adoption an advantage, and completely reimagine trucking logistics.

Conventional wisdom says electric trucks are too expensive. A legacy player's TCO model shows $165,000/year ($13,000/month) for an EV truck. Meanwhile, Nevoya has brought their holding and operating costs for trucks down to $4,000/month.

This isn't just good math, it's a perfect example of strategic use of AI to rethink company building and operations. Incumbent players aren't just slow to adapt; they're actively avoiding the transition due to old inflated numbers and an aversion to tech.

This pattern repeats across climate tech: insiders claim technologies are too expensive, too limited, or too risky, while innovative companies quietly prove them wrong by leveraging AI to lower costs and capture market share.

"Our ideal customer profile should be climate change deniers and AI luddites," says Nevoya's founder, Sami Khan, “because when your solution is better and cheaper, politics and the underlying tech architecture becomes irrelevant.”

The climate tech opportunity is better than ever because it isn’t waiting for policy shifts or subsidies. It's hiding in plain sight behind deliberately inflated cost models and outdated assumptions that incumbents have incentive to maintain.