In an era where artificial intelligence is transforming industries, Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas is reimagining even the way startups raise money. Instead of relying on the traditional pitch deck, Srinivas used his own AI product to secure funding—proving that innovation isn’t limited to what a company builds, but how it operates.

Speaking at the Dean’s Speaker Series at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, Srinivas shared that he has never used a conventional pitch deck beyond his company’s Series A funding round.

“After that, I just wrote a memo and invited investors to ask anything they wanted. If they needed deeper data, they could ask Perplexity—it already knows everything,” he explained.

His approach underscores how AI is reshaping startup culture, making processes faster,

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