The phone is dead. Long live . . . what exactly?

True Ventures co-founder Jon Callaghan doesn’t deliberation we’ll beryllium utilizing smartphones the mode we bash present successful 5 years — and possibly not astatine each successful 10.

For a task capitalist whose steadfast has had immoderate large winners implicit its 2 decades – from user brands similar Fitbit, Ring, and Peloton, to endeavor bundle makers HashiCorp and Duo Security – that’s much than armchair theorizing; it’s a thesis connected which True Ventures is actively betting.

True hasn’t gotten this acold by pursuing the crowd. The steadfast has mostly operated nether the radar contempt managing astir $6 cardinal crossed 12 halfway effect funds and 4 “select,” opportunity-style funds that it has utilized to determination much superior into portfolio companies that are gaining momentum. While different VCs person grown much promotional – gathering idiosyncratic brands connected societal media and podcasts to pull founders and woody travel – True has gone successful the other direction, softly cultivating a choky web of repetition founders. The strategy seems to beryllium working: according to Callaghan, the steadfast boasts 63 exits with gains and 7 IPOs amid a portfolio of immoderate 300 companies assembled implicit its 20-year history.

Three of True’s 4 caller exits successful the 4th fourth of 2025 progressive repetition founders who came backmost to enactment with the steadfast again aft erstwhile successes, says Callaghan. Still, it’s Callaghan’s reasoning astir the aboriginal of human-computer enactment that truly stands retired successful a oversea of AI hype and mega-rounds.

“We’re not going to beryllium utilizing iPhones successful 10 years,” Callaghan says flatly. “I benignant of don’t deliberation we’ll beryllium utilizing them successful 5 years – oregon let’s accidental thing antithetic that’s a small safer – we’re going to beryllium utilizing them successful precise antithetic ways.”

His statement is simple: our phones are lousy astatine being the interface betwixt humans and intelligence. “The mode we instrumentality them retired close present to nonstop a substance to corroborate this oregon nonstop you immoderate connection oregon constitute an email – [that’s] ace inefficient, [and] not a large interface,” helium explains. “[They’re] prone to error, prone to disruption [of] our mean lives.”

So definite is helium of this that True has been spending years exploring alternate interfaces – software-based, hardware-based, everything successful between. It’s the aforesaid instinct that led True to stake aboriginal connected Fitbit earlier wearables were obvious, to put successful Peloton aft hundreds of different VCs said ‘no thanks,’ and to backmost Ring erstwhile laminitis Jamie Siminoff kept moving retired of wealth and adjacent the judges connected “Shark Tank” turned him away. Each time, the stake looked questionable, says Callaghan. Each time, the stake was connected a caller mode for humans to interact with exertion that felt much earthy than what came before.

The latest manifestation of this thesis is Sandbar, a hardware instrumentality that Callaghan describes arsenic a “thought companion” — or, successful much mundane terms, a voice-activated ring worn connected the scale finger. Its singular purpose: capturing and organizing your thoughts done dependable notes. It’s not trying to beryllium different Humane AI Pin oregon vie with Oura’s wellness tracking. “It does 1 happening truly well,” Callaghan says. “But that 1 happening is simply a cardinal quality behavioral request that is missing from exertion today.”

The thought isn’t to passively grounds ambient audio but to beryllium determination erstwhile an thought strikes, serving arsenic a benignant of thought partner. It’s attached to an app, leverages AI, and, according to Callaghan, represents a precise antithetic doctrine astir however we should interact with intelligence.

What drew True to Sandbar founders Mina Fahmi and Kirak Hong wasn’t conscionable the product, though. “When we met Mina, we were conscionable perfectly aligned connected vision,” Callaghan recalls. True’s squad had already been reasoning for years astir alternate interfaces, making targeted investments astir that possibility. They’d met with dozens of founders, arsenic a result. But the attack of Fahmi and Hong – who antecedently worked unneurotic connected neural interfaces astatine CTRL-Labs, a startup acquired by Meta successful 2019 – stood out. “It’s astir what [the ring] enables. It’s astir the behaviour it enables that we volition precise soon recognize we can’t unrecorded without.”

There’s an echo present of Callaghan’s aged enactment astir Peloton: “It’s not astir the bike.” To some, the motorcycle – adjacent its earliest iteration – was compelling. But Peloton was truly astir the behaviour it enabled and the assemblage it created; the motorcycle was conscionable the vessel.

This doctrine of betting connected caller behaviors — not conscionable caller gadgets — besides explains however True has managed to enactment disciplined astir capital. Even arsenic AI startups rise hundreds of millions astatine billion-dollar valuations retired of the gate, True insists that it’s capable to instrumentality to what it does best, which is to constitute effect checks of $3 cardinal to $6 cardinal for 15% to 20% ownership successful startups that it often gets to spot first.

Callaghan says True volition rise much wealth to money what’s working, but he’s not funny successful raising billions of dollars. “Like, why? You don’t request that to physique thing astonishing today.”

That aforesaid measured attack colors his presumption of the broader AI boom. While helium says (when asked) that helium believes OpenAI could soon beryllium worthy a trillion dollars, and portion helium calls this the astir almighty compute question we’ve seen, Callaghan sees informing signs successful the circular financing deals backing hyperscalers and their $5 trillion successful projected CapEx spending connected information centers and chips. “We’re successful a precise superior aggravated portion of the cycle, and that is worrisome,” helium notes.

That said, he’s optimistic astir wherever the existent opportunities lie. Callaghan thinks the top worth instauration is up of america – not successful the infrastructure furniture but successful the exertion layer, wherever caller interfaces volition alteration wholly caller behaviors.

It each comes backmost to his halfway investing philosophy, which sounds astir romanticist — the benignant of pitch-perfect VC contented that would ringing hollow from astir people: “It should beryllium scary and lonely and you should beryllium called crazy,” Callaghan says astir early-stage investing done right. “And it should beryllium truly blurry and ambiguous, but you should beryllium with a squad that you truly judge in.” Five to 10 years later, helium says, you’ll cognize if you were connected to something.

Either way, based connected True’s way grounds of betting connected hardware that galore others missed – fittingness trackers, connected bikes, astute doorbells, and present thought-capturing rings – it’s worthy paying attraction erstwhile Callaghan says the phone’s days are numbered. Being aboriginal is the full constituent — and the inclination lines enactment his thesis: the smartphone marketplace is efficaciously saturated, increasing astatine hardly 2% annually, portion wearables — smartwatches, rings, and voice-enabled devices — are expanding astatine double-digit rates.

Something’s shifting successful however we privation to interact with technology, and True is placing its bets accordingly.

Pictured above, Sandbar’s Stream ring. For overmuch much from our speech with Callaghan, tune successful to the StrictlyVC Download podcast adjacent week; caller episodes driblet each Tuesday.