Itamar Novick launches a consumer AI program as investors bet adoption is already mainstream
Nik_Quinn · x · 2026-08-04
Longtime B2B investor Itamar Novick has publicly launched a consumer AI program, arguing that AI has changed the early-stage startup equation for consumer products.
The thread cites several data points behind the thesis:
- Menlo Ventures surveyed 5,000+ Americans and found 61% had used AI in the past 6 months, with nearly 1 in 5 using it daily.
- Goldman Sachs research says AI agents could drive a 24x increase in global token consumption by 2030, with about half of that growth coming from consumers.
- Morgan Stanley estimates agents could unlock as much as $115B in incremental U.S. ecommerce spend by 2030.
- Forerunner says consumer startups post-Series B are just as likely as enterprise peers to go public and reach 10x+ outcomes, based on 7,800+ companies.
The core argument: consumer AI is already mainstream, adoption is here, and monetization is still early because only a small slice of OpenAI’s massive user base currently pays.
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