Foster sisters explain why they haven’t invested in AI | TechCrunch
Oversubscribed Ventures co-founder Sara Foster (above right) made a confession onstage on Monday at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024.
“I don’t even have ChatGPT on my phone,” she said.
It’s an unexpected comment from an investor, given that ChatGPT is arguably the most influential product to launch this decade. But what makes the Foster sisters different from career venture capitalists is also their greatest strength: they’re creatives first, and tech industry investors second.
Across their careers, the Foster sisters, Erin and Sara, have co-founded the clothing line Favorite Daughter, co-led creative for Bumble Bizz and Bumble BFF, and currently co-host a podcast together. Erin Foster even created the top Netflix show “Nobody Wants This,” starring Kristen Bell.
“Even calling it Oversubscribed Ventures was really a nod to our sense of humor because we know that this is not a space that we naturally belong in,” Erin said onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. “We aren’t trying to cosplay as fund managers, you know? We’re trying to be ourselves and take our unique point of view, and our skill sets, and bring it into this world and inject that in an authentic and honest way without pretending to be anything different than we are.”
In the spirit of being authentically themselves, the Foster sisters opened up onstage about why they’re reluctant to invest in AI.
“If we don’t understand it, we don’t invest in it,” said Sara.
For Erin, a TV writer, the rise of generative AI and its impact on creators is more personal.
“We did a strike over this last year,” she explained. Erin referenced the clever picket signs that writers made while on strike, which included comedic anti-AI messages like “ChatGPT doesn’t have childhood trauma.”
However, [Erin] Foster said that she has used ChatGPT in the writers’ room to come up with things like “The Matzo Ballers,” which is the name of a Jewish basketball team.
“ChatGPT came up with that, but [it] can’t write a script,” she said. “There are movies that are coming out that are clearly AI, and it’s like, they’re not good… I do think it can be used for good. I think it can be pointless in some areas, and I’m sure it’s evil in some areas, right?”
Sara added, “Obviously a bunch of AI companies have come across our desk, and we’ve looked at them. There was one we were gonna invest in, but so far not… I’m probably gonna have to download ChatGPT.”
Clearly, the sisters aren’t afraid to be themselves onstage — when asked what they can offer to the founders they back, Erin quipped, “They can hang out with us.”
Yes, the comedy writer that brought you “Nobody Wants This” has jokes. But if there’s a bit of truth to every joke, the truth here is that hanging out with the Fosters is actually pretty advantageous for a consumer founder.
Oversubscribed Ventures is focused on consumer tech companies, ranging from boxed wine startups to the NFT marketplace OpenSea.
“We’re of no value if we just have Oversubscribed Ventures,” Sara said. “Our value is the flywheel — it’s the ecosystem. It’s the same world that’s buying Favorite Daughter [their clothing brand], listening to the podcast, watching the TV show.”
The Fosters may not understand how ChatGPT works, but they do understand what makes consumers tick — they have the podcast and clothing brand to prove it.
