Encord’s CEO Says Physical AI Is the Next Platform Shift After Years of PMF Pain
Y Combinator · youtube · 2026-07-25
In a Startup School Paris talk, Encord co-CEO Eric Landau argues that Physical AI is the next major platform shift. The talk covers his decision to leave a lucrative quant job, the slow grind of finding product-market fit, and how the company gradually moved from a vision-led startup to one focused on physical AI.
Landau says founders should expect a long emotional rollercoaster: Encord took years to find PMF, went through three sales teams, and only later realized the size of the opportunity. He frames the bet as massive because much of the economy is still physical, and says the company now watches for the next wedge by focusing on real use cases and large-scale search problems.
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