When everyone has access to the same technology, what gives an entrepreneur an advantage?

That question shaped the August session of Georgetown Entrepreneurship’s Entrepreneurship and AI Salon Series, featuring AI investor and advisor John J. Villa. With nearly eight years of experience working with machine learning companies, Villa offered participants an investor’s perspective on a startup landscape being reshaped by AI. 

Villa described a market in which the possibilities for entrepreneurs are expanding in opposite directions. Some AI companies are raising hundreds of millions of dollars within their first few years and pursuing ambitions on a global scale. At the same time, AI tools are making it possible for individual founders to launch smaller businesses with little outside capital and lean teams. 

For Villa, neither path is inherently better. “There is no right decision, it’s only relative to what you want to accomplish,” he said. A founder hoping to build a billion-dollar venture-backed company will make very different decisions from someone looking to create a profitable small business that provides greater flexibility and independence. 

Villa argues, however, that both founders need an advantage. “Distribution is the moat for most of those, because if anyone can build it, the question is, what do you do if anyone can build it?” Villa asked. His answer was to identify what he called an “unfair advantage,” an existing relationship, area of expertise or access to a market that gives one entrepreneur a better chance of succeeding than another. 

This advantage becomes increasingly important as AI makes technical capabilities more widely available. Villa pointed to deep industry knowledge as an example. Someone who has spent years working within an industry can recognize problems and develop solutions that an outsider using the same AI tools might overlook. This expertise can allow companies to create better experiences and avoid competing only with price. “Get in the game right now, in a space that you have an unfair advantage,” Villa said. “And just start shipping your product, and get out there.”

Villa argued that another increasingly valuable advantage has little to do with technology at all. “What differentiates you when everyone has everything?” he asked. “My view on that is your legitimacy of what you do, and if people pick up your phone call or not.” 

As AI makes it possible to generate content, automate outreach and contact hundreds of people instantly, Villa believes genuine relationships and reputation will become more valuable. He described investing heavily in maintaining his own network because trust can determine whether someone answers an email, takes a meeting or gives a young company its first opportunity. 

For Georgetown founders, Villa’s message was one of action. AI may give people the tools to participate in entrepreneurship, but access to these tools alone will not determine who succeeds. The greater opportunity may lie in recognizing the experiences, relationships and knowledge that uniquely position someone to solve a problem.