Investor Connect 871: Data Moats, Not Demos: Sue Xu on Building Durable AI Investments at Amino Capital

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Sue Xu, Managing Partner at Amino Capital. Located in Palo Alto, California, Amino Capital is a global venture capital firm investing from seed through growth stage, with over $1 billion in assets under management and a track record that includes backing companies such as Chime, Webflow, Rippling, and Grail. Sue shares how the firm's name—drawn from "amino acids," the building blocks of life—reflects its mission to invest early, often at the pre-seed and seed stage, in founders within their trusted ecosystem. With a background as a Stanford-trained scientist, she brings a deeply technical lens to venture investing, focusing on AI, data infrastructure, and frontier technologies where long-term defensibility matters more than short-term hype. As Hall likes to say, it's not just about seeing deals—it's about knowing how to underwrite them. Amino Capital differentiates itself by emphasizing data moats, network effects, and true workflow ownership in an era where many AI startups are simply "wrappers" around large language models. Sue breaks down how to distinguish sustainable businesses from impressive demos, noting that the real winners are those that integrate deeply into user workflows and replace meaningful labor. The conversation also explores the evolution of AI investing—from infrastructure to copilots to today's agentic systems—and why durability comes from strong first principles rather than broad diversification. Along the way, Hall and Sue touch on global innovation ecosystems, the importance of resilience in founders, and why small, disciplined teams with high agency continue to outperform. Sue also shares how Amino Capital is leveraging AI internally, building its own data-driven investment systems to evaluate deals, support portfolio companies, and provide real-time insights to LPs. She emphasizes the importance of developing a clear investment thesis, staying humble yet decisive, and building systems that improve decision-making over time. Visit Amino Capital at www.aminocapital.com/ Reach out to at [email protected] , and on www.linkedin.com/in/suexu/ _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/ For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/ For eGuides check out: https:/_/tencapital.group/education/ For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/ For Feedback please contact [email protected] Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.