# 20VC: Mercor CPO on Revenue Concentration from Frontier Labs | Why Large Enterprise is Scared to Partner with Frontier Labs | Why Small Specialised Models is the Future with Osvald Nitski

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/twenty-minute-vc/20vc-mercor-cpo-on-revenue-concentration-from-frontier-labs-why-large-enterprise-is-scared-to-partner-with-frontier-labs-why-small-specialised-models-is-the-future-with-osvald-nitski
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Podcast: [The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch](https://stenobird.com/podcast/twenty-minute-vc)
Published: 2026-07-25T07:07:00+00:00
Episode link: https://thetwentyminutevc.libsyn.com/20vc-mercor-cpo-on-revenue-concentration-from-frontier-labs-why-large-enterprise-is-scared-to-partner-with-frontier-labs-why-small-specialised-models-is-the-future-with-osvald-nitski
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Duration seconds: 3637

## Resource

Osvald Nitski is the Chief Product Officer at Mercor, the AI-training and expert-data marketplace powering frontier-model development. Mercor last raised a $350 million Series C at a $10 billion valuation, and is reportedly in discussions for a new round at a $20 billion valuation. Mercor crossed $2BN in ARR in June; doubling from $1 billion in only four months. AGENDA: 00:04:00 Will open-source models kill the data-provider business? 00:07:00 Are enterprises still terrified of working with frontier model companies? 00:09:00 Does every company end up with its own specialised AI model? 00:10:00 Do enterprises actually have an AI ROI problem? 00:11:00 How should founders balance AI performance against exploding token bills? 00:14:00 Does AI mean product teams build 10x more—or ruthlessly simplify? 00:15:00 What does it now take to be a great product manager in an AI-native world? 00:20:00 Is the boom in AI services and forward-deployed engineers here to stay? 00:37:00 Can Mercor escape its dependence on a handful of frontier-model customers? 00:47:00 Are AI-generated code and agents creating a cybersecurity arms race? 00:56:00 When will robotics have its real "ChatGPT moment"?

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