# What Top 1% Investors Look For in AI Startups | Umesh Padval, Seligman Ventures, Ex- Bessemer

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-neon-show-862453/what-top-1-investors-look-for-in-ai-startups-umesh-padval-seligman-ventures-ex-bessemer
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-neon-show-862453/what-top-1-investors-look-for-in-ai-startups-umesh-padval-seligman-ventures-ex-bessemer.md
Podcast: [The Neon Show](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-neon-show-862453)
Published: 2026-02-13T11:30:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1601695/episodes/18673968-what-top-1-investors-look-for-in-ai-startups-umesh-padval-seligman-ventures-ex-bessemer.mp3
Audio file: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1601695/episodes/18673968-what-top-1-investors-look-for-in-ai-startups-umesh-padval-seligman-ventures-ex-bessemer.mp3
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Duration seconds: 3117

## Resource

Do startup valuations today make sense? Umesh Padval, an early investor in Cohere, now valued at about $7 billion shares why Cohere stood out at the time of his investment. He shares what he saw early that made him believe this was not just another AI model company. Umesh is the Founding Managing Partner, Seligman Ventures and previously at Thomvest and Bessemer Venture Partners. He brings experience from investing across multiple tech cycles, from chips to cloud to AI. Umesh talks about how ...

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