Nabeel Hyatt is a former gaming entrepreneur turned venture investor at Spark Capital who looks for "weird" products that users already love deeply, rather than focusing on founder credentials or market size projections. He's known for spotting category-defining companies like Oculus, Discord, and Anthropic before they became obvious wins, and brings a games mindset to evaluating AI products—hunting for "Japanese toilets" of AI that quietly delight users in unexpected ways rather than just raw technical performance.

• Deep experimentation with AI agents for daily workflows and knowledge work. Actively uses tools like Claude Code and Granola to automate tasks such as competitive analysis, board deck preparation, and email drafting, favoring practical application over theoretical hype.
• A passion for game design and the intrinsic joy of "making." Spent over a decade playing competitive Pokemon TCG with his sons and recently launched a deck-building game, Race to Kepler, which they built together over three years.
• Focus on "Open World AI" interfaces that offer deep, agentic control without feeling technical. Frequently praises products like Notion, Descript, and Airtable for this approach while criticizing unintuitive designs like node-based editors.
• Valuation of obsession and "force of nature" founders over traditional resumes. Recalled backing a founder named Aviad who sent a vague cold email but impressed him immediately with his drive, eventually selling his company to Apple.
• Interest in the intersection of software and playfulness. Believes that great software often feels like a toy or a hobby, citing the "low floor, high ceiling" mechanic of games as a model for tools like Claude Code.
• Appreciation for product craft and iterative features. Highlights specific, clever integrations like Snipd’s podcast features or Todoist’s "Ramble" mode that solve real user friction points rather than just adding AI for the sake of it.