OpenAI and Meta may dominate the AI headlines, but some investors still see wide‑open lanes for startups.
One of them is Vanessa Larco, partner at Premise and former partner at NEA. On a new 29‑minute episode of TechCrunch’s Equity, she lays out why she thinks 2026 “will finally be the year of consumer AI” — and where founders can still win.
From apps to “concierge-like” AI
Larco has been investing in consumer and prosumer products for years. Now, she argues that we’re about to see a shift in how people spend time online as AI starts to power more “concierge-like” services.
Instead of users bouncing between dozens of apps and tabs, she sees AI systems acting more like a front door — handling planning, recommendations and research on a user’s behalf.
That raises a blunt question for the current web: do legacy consumer products like WebMD and TripAdvisor survive as standalone destinations, or do they get pulled inside assistants like ChatGPT or Meta AI?
Can incumbents stay independent of the big models?
If health, travel and shopping queries increasingly start inside general-purpose AI assistants, the distribution advantage may tilt toward the model providers. That’s where OpenAI’s scale becomes a real threat to both incumbents and startups.
On Equity, TechCrunch’s Rebecca Bellan presses on what OpenAI won’t kill — and where there’s still room for new companies to matter.
The conversation digs into how:
- Consumer and prosumer products can differentiate on experience, trust and specialization, even when they’re built on top of the same foundation models.
- Startups might plug into assistants like ChatGPT or compete with them through tighter, vertical workflows.
- Regulation, data ownership and user loyalty could shape who actually captures value in the consumer AI boom.
Physical AI, smart glasses and wearables
The episode doesn’t stay confined to software. Larco and Bellan also explore “physical AI” — from smart glasses to other wearables — and how new hardware could change the way people interact with consumer AI.
If AI systems really do become concierge‑style companions, form factor will matter. Glasses, earbuds and other always‑on devices could become the default interface for many of these services.
For founders, that opens questions around distribution, partnerships and brand: do you try to be the AI layer, the hardware, or the tightly focused app that users actually trust with a specific part of their lives?
Why this matters for founders and operators
For early-stage teams deciding whether it’s “too late” to build in AI, Larco’s answer is clear: consumer is back on the table. The opportunity isn’t just in training new models, but in rethinking how people discover information, make decisions and move through their day.
The full Equity episode walks through where Larco thinks the white space is, which kinds of consumer products can endure alongside OpenAI, and how founders should think about building in an ecosystem dominated by a few massive model providers.
You can watch the conversation on TechCrunch or catch the Equity podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and other players. Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo, TechCrunch’s New Jersey–based audio producer.
Equity is also on X and Threads at @EquityPod.
