Amir Kabir, Founder and Managing Partner at Overlook Ventures, discusses his journey from entrepreneur to venture capitalist and explains why he founded Overlook Ventures to invest at the earliest stages of company building. He shares his investment philosophy around founder quality, intellectual honesty, unique market insight, and the emerging opportunity around AI, autonomy, and risk infrastructure. Throughout the conversation, Amir offers practical advice for founders on validating problems, building venture-scale businesses, and standing out in an increasingly crowded AI landscape.

In this episode, you'll learn:

[02:15] How Amir's journey from entrepreneur to venture capitalist shaped the investment philosophy behind Overlook Ventures.

[07:10] AI, autonomy, and the "infrastructure of risk" represent the next frontier for startup innovation.

[14:50] Why founders should focus on solving real problems and developing unique insights instead of building products in search of a market.

[20:50] How Amir evaluates founders by uncovering the unique knowledge and conviction that drive them to solve a particular problem.

[27:55] The most common reasons Amir says "no" to startups, and why intellectual honesty often beats polished answers.

[30:45] Venture capital is shifting toward specialized funds. What does that mean for founders raising capital today?

The nonprofit organization Amir is passionate about: Presidential Leadership Scholars

About Amir Kabir

Amir Kabir is the Founder and Managing Partner of Overlook Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm investing at the inception, pre-seed, and seed stages. Previously, he helped build Munich Re Ventures and has spent years investing across insurance technology, financial services, AI, and risk infrastructure. Today, he focuses on companies building the next generation of AI safety, governance, autonomy, and regulated-market infrastructure.

About Overlook Ventures

Overlook Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded by Amir Kabir that invests at the inception, pre-seed, and seed stages. The firm focuses on what Amir describes as the "infrastructure of risk"—backing founders building across AI, autonomy, cybersecurity, insurance, financial services, and regulated markets. Overlook partners with entrepreneurs developing the technologies that make AI systems more trustworthy, secure, and accountable, while helping modernize how risk is measured, managed, and transferred. The firm typically invests early and supports founders with strategic guidance, customer introductions, and deep industry expertise.

Portfolio companies include: Strala, Crabi, Soteris, Soma, Prediction Guard, Mesh, Pax Markets, Asymmetric Security, Eloquent AI, Seedless, Flyra, and IronGrid.

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