How to Make Investors Actually Use Data & AI Products
Insights from Accel CPO Rahul Nath on Driving Tech Adoption in VC
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Hi there!
Today I’d like to share some unique learnings from Rahul Nath’s recent DDVC Summit keynote. He joined Accel in 2024 as Chief Product Office and is tasked to drive the adoption of modern tools and data-driven approaches in their firm.
With a product background across digital finance company Drip Capital, McKinsey, Google, and Citibank, and now VC, Rahul offered a behind-the-scenes perspective on how to get investors to actually use modern tools and data platforms.
🚨 Why This Is Harder Than It Looks
Let’s start with the obvious: product adoption is hard. Now make your user base a group of hyper-busy investors, and it gets even harder. According to Rahul, there are three headwinds to adoption:
Tool & Data Overload: There are now more data sources than ever, but each comes with its own UI, workflows, and AI agents. Chaos.
Investor Attention Is Scarce: Everyone is busier. AI is accelerating the pace of everything. Time to onboard new tools? Basically zero.
Skepticism Around Data Quality: Investors remember the misses. If your data once led them astray, rebuilding trust takes time.
So how do you make data and AI products actually stick?