vc-ai-infra-scout
When To Use
Use this skill when the user wants to discover early-stage companies, funding rounds, founders, and investor theses across the AI-infrastructure ecosystem. Covers four sub-theses:
- AI Infrastructure — inference runtimes, GPU orchestration, training stacks, vector/data infra
- Crypto-AI / Decentralized AI — on-chain AI agents, DePIN-for-compute, distributed GPU/ML
- Robotics / Embodied AI — robotics foundation models, humanoid/embodied-AI, sim-to-real, actuation/sensor stacks
- Agentic Payments — agent commerce, x402/stablecoin agent settlement, agentic-payment rails
Workflow
- Install:
selat skill install vc-ai-infra-scout
- Run with thesis override:
selat skill run vc-ai-infra-scout --thesis "robotics foundation model" --twitterQuery "robotics foundation model" --fundraisingQuery "robotics startup raised seed" --investorQuery "robotics VC partner" --domain "modal.com"
- The skill compiles each of 9 steps into
selat-pay calls and returns a JSON response.
- Synthesize the 9 steps into a VC intelligence memo (tiered funding map, investor thesis extraction, geographic blindspots, strategic recommendations).
Pipeline Steps
| Step |
Source |
Rail |
Purpose |
| 1 |
Tavily (x402 Base) |
x402 on Base |
Broad web discovery for ${thesis} startup funding |
| 2 |
Parallel MPP |
MPP Tempo |
Product Hunt launches scoped to ${thesis} |
| 3 |
Exa |
MPP Tempo |
Deep web context on startup + funding signals |
| 4 |
Twitter/X advanced_search |
x402 Gateway |
Founder buzz, company chatter |
| 5 |
Twitter/X advanced_search |
x402 Gateway |
Recent pre-seed/seed fundraising news |
| 6 |
Tavily (LinkedIn scope) |
x402 on Base |
LinkedIn post search for funding announcements |
| 7 |
Twitter/X advanced_search |
x402 Gateway |
Investor/fund-partner thesis tweets |
| 8 |
Apollo people-search |
MPP Tempo |
Founder shortlist by keyword + title |
| 9 |
Apollo org-enrichment |
MPP Tempo |
Deep-dive enrichment on the target domain |
Inputs And Outputs
| Param |
Required |
Default |
Description |
thesis |
yes |
AI infrastructure |
Core search term. Try: robotics foundation model, humanoid robotics, decentralized AI compute, agentic payment rails |
twitterQuery |
no |
AI infra founder |
Twitter/X search for founder buzz. Override for your thesis: e.g. robotics foundation model |
fundraisingQuery |
no |
startup raised seed funding round |
Fundraising news query. Override: robotics startup raised seed funding |
investorQuery |
no |
seed fund partner thesis |
Investor/partner chatter. Override: robotics seed fund partner |
domain |
no |
modal.com |
Top company's domain for Apollo org-enrichment. Must override to the best lead. |
Output: JSON with ok, skill, user_summary, and steps[] array containing per-step API responses.
Gotchas
- Intent fidelity: Robotics foundation-model queries can display lower surface area on Hacker News / Product Hunt than infra queries. Steps 1–3 may miss early-stage robotics companies that are stealth or academic. Supplement with direct
selat-pay Twitter/X advanced_search when needed.
- Timeout leakage: Running via
selat skill run twitter-research can time out and leave background micropayments settling against session budget. Use selat-pay directly for single-calls to avoid this.
- Invalid — no SKILL.md:
selat skill validate fails if SKILL.md is missing. The scaffold creates it; keep it updated.
- Domain must be overridden: If you leave
domain as modal.com, step 9 will enrich Modal regardless of whether Modal was surfaced by your thesis. Always pick the most interesting company from steps 1–7.
- Embodied AI null on Twitter: The phrase "embodied AI" frequently returns zero tweets. Use
physical AI, foundation model for robots, or company-specific hashtags instead.
Validation
- Probe (no pay):
selat skill verify /path/to/vc-ai-infra-scout
- Full run:
selat skill run vc-ai-infra-scout --thesis "<your thesis>" --json
- A successful run prints
status=200 for each step.
Cost Estimate
| Step |
Endpoint |
Quoted Price |
| 1 |
Tavily |
$0.0105 |
| 2 |
Parallel MPP |
$0.0105 |
| 3 |
Exa |
$0.00735 |
| 4–5–7 |
Twitter/X ×3 |
$0.001 × 3 = $0.003 |
| 6 |
Tavily (LinkedIn) |
$0.0105 |
| 8 |
Apollo people |
$0.00525 |
| 9 |
Apollo org |
$0.0084 |
| Total |
|
~$0.055 |
References
1---2name: vc-ai-infra-scout3description: Use when the user wants VC-style deal-sourcing intelligence on AI infrastructure (inference, GPU, training, agent infra), crypto-AI / decentralized compute, robotics / embodied-AI (foundation models, humanoid, sim-to-real), or agentic payments. Runs a 9-step discovery pipeline across Tavily, Exa, Product Hunt, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, and Apollo. Paid per call over mixed x402 + MPP rails. No API keys.4license: Apache-2.05---67# vc-ai-infra-scout89## When To Use1011Use this skill when the user wants to discover early-stage companies, funding rounds, founders, and investor theses across the AI-infrastructure ecosystem. Covers four sub-theses:1213- **AI Infrastructure** — inference runtimes, GPU orchestration, training stacks, vector/data infra14- **Crypto-AI / Decentralized AI** — on-chain AI agents, DePIN-for-compute, distributed GPU/ML15- **Robotics / Embodied AI** — robotics foundation models, humanoid/embodied-AI, sim-to-real, actuation/sensor stacks16- **Agentic Payments** — agent commerce, x402/stablecoin agent settlement, agentic-payment rails1718## Workflow19201. Install: `selat skill install vc-ai-infra-scout`212. Run with thesis override: `selat skill run vc-ai-infra-scout --thesis "robotics foundation model" --twitterQuery "robotics foundation model" --fundraisingQuery "robotics startup raised seed" --investorQuery "robotics VC partner" --domain "modal.com"`223. The skill compiles each of 9 steps into `selat-pay` calls and returns a JSON response.234. Synthesize the 9 steps into a VC intelligence memo (tiered funding map, investor thesis extraction, geographic blindspots, strategic recommendations).2425## Pipeline Steps2627| Step | Source | Rail | Purpose |28|------|--------|------|---------|29| 1 | Tavily (x402 Base) | x402 on Base | Broad web discovery for `${thesis} startup funding` |30| 2 | Parallel MPP | MPP Tempo | Product Hunt launches scoped to `${thesis}` |31| 3 | Exa | MPP Tempo | Deep web context on startup + funding signals |32| 4 | Twitter/X advanced_search | x402 Gateway | Founder buzz, company chatter |33| 5 | Twitter/X advanced_search | x402 Gateway | Recent pre-seed/seed fundraising news |34| 6 | Tavily (LinkedIn scope) | x402 on Base | LinkedIn post search for funding announcements |35| 7 | Twitter/X advanced_search | x402 Gateway | Investor/fund-partner thesis tweets |36| 8 | Apollo people-search | MPP Tempo | Founder shortlist by keyword + title |37| 9 | Apollo org-enrichment | MPP Tempo | Deep-dive enrichment on the target domain |3839## Inputs And Outputs4041| Param | Required | Default | Description |42|---|---|---|---|43| `thesis` | yes | `AI infrastructure` | Core search term. Try: `robotics foundation model`, `humanoid robotics`, `decentralized AI compute`, `agentic payment rails` |44| `twitterQuery` | no | `AI infra founder` | Twitter/X search for founder buzz. Override for your thesis: e.g. `robotics foundation model` |45| `fundraisingQuery` | no | `startup raised seed funding round` | Fundraising news query. Override: `robotics startup raised seed funding` |46| `investorQuery` | no | `seed fund partner thesis` | Investor/partner chatter. Override: `robotics seed fund partner` |47| `domain` | no | `modal.com` | Top company's domain for Apollo org-enrichment. Must override to the best lead. |4849**Output:** JSON with `ok`, `skill`, `user_summary`, and `steps[]` array containing per-step API responses.5051## Gotchas5253- **Intent fidelity:** Robotics foundation-model queries can display lower surface area on Hacker News / Product Hunt than infra queries. Steps 1–3 may miss early-stage robotics companies that are stealth or academic. Supplement with direct `selat-pay` Twitter/X advanced_search when needed.54- **Timeout leakage:** Running via `selat skill run twitter-research` can time out and leave background micropayments settling against session budget. Use `selat-pay` directly for single-calls to avoid this.55- **Invalid — no SKILL.md:** `selat skill validate` fails if `SKILL.md` is missing. The scaffold creates it; keep it updated.56- **Domain must be overridden:** If you leave `domain` as `modal.com`, step 9 will enrich Modal regardless of whether Modal was surfaced by your thesis. Always pick the most interesting company from steps 1–7.57- **Embodied AI null on Twitter:** The phrase "embodied AI" frequently returns zero tweets. Use `physical AI`, `foundation model for robots`, or company-specific hashtags instead.5859## Validation6061- Probe (no pay): `selat skill verify /path/to/vc-ai-infra-scout`62- Full run: `selat skill run vc-ai-infra-scout --thesis "<your thesis>" --json`63- A successful run prints `status=200` for each step.6465## Cost Estimate6667| Step | Endpoint | Quoted Price |68|------|----------|-------------|69| 1 | Tavily | $0.0105 |70| 2 | Parallel MPP | $0.0105 |71| 3 | Exa | $0.00735 |72| 4–5–7 | Twitter/X ×3 | $0.001 × 3 = $0.003 |73| 6 | Tavily (LinkedIn) | $0.0105 |74| 8 | Apollo people | $0.00525 |75| 9 | Apollo org | $0.0084 |76| **Total** | | **~$0.055** |7778## References7980- `manifest.json` — the machine-readable payment recipe this skill runs.81- [`references/endpoints.md`](references/endpoints.md) — catalogue endpoints called by this skill.82- [`references/agent-skill-authoring-sop.md`](../../references/agent-skill-authoring-sop.md) — authoring standard.83- selat-pay — https://github.com/SELAT-AI/selat-pay
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