## Alternative interfaces: the death of the phone era; where is venture capital heading

In the next five to ten years, the way we interact with mobile technology will be radically different. This is not the speculation of a futurist, but the conviction of Jon Callaghan, co-founder of True Ventures, who supports this thesis with two decades of successful investment decisions that have resulted in 63 profitable exits and seven IPOs.

### Why smartphones are in decline

Callaghan argues that the iPhone and similar devices are fundamentally inefficient interfaces between humans and artificial intelligence. The act of taking out the phone, sending messages, checking emails — all of this consumes time and fragments attention unnecessarily. It is error-prone technology, designed for tasks that require multiple steps when they could be simplified.

The numbers support this intuition. The smartphone market grows by just 2% annually, practically saturated. Meanwhile, wearables — smart rings, watches, voice devices — are expanding at double-digit rates. Something is changing in technological consumption patterns, and True Ventures has already noticed.

### The philosophy of betting on behaviors, not gadgets

True does not seek investors who follow trends. For two decades, the firm has navigated against the flow of the rest of venture capital, betting on Fitbit when wearables seemed secondary, backing Ring when even "Shark Tank" judges rejected it, and investing in Peloton while dozens of VCs said "no, thank you."

In each case, the bet was not on the object itself, but on the behavior it enabled. In Callaghan’s words: "It’s not about the bicycle." Peloton succeeded because it created a community and transformed how people relate to fitness. The device was secondary; the behavioral change was fundamental.

This approach sets True apart from other funds that succumb to the pressure of massive capital. While AI startups raise hundreds of millions from the start, True maintains its discipline, making seed investments of $3 to $6 million for a 15% to 20% stake.

### Sandbar: the ring that captures thoughts

The latest manifestation of this philosophy is Sandbar, a voice-activated ring that acts as a "thought companion." Its unique function: capture and organize ideas through audio notes. It does not compete with health wearables nor tries to be another failed multifunctional device.

"Does one thing really well," explains Callaghan. "That thing is a fundamental need that technology today does not adequately cover."

The founders, Mina Fahmi and Kirak Hong (who previously worked on neural interfaces at CTRL-Labs, acquired by Meta in 2019), understood something crucial: success is not about packing more features, but about enabling new behaviors with minimalist elegance.

### The real opportunity lies in applications, not infrastructure

Callaghan recognizes that AI is the most powerful computing wave we have witnessed. OpenAI could soon be worth a trillion dollars. However, he also sees warning signs: the circular funding deals supporting hyperscalers project $5 trillions in CapEx for data centers.

"We are in an intensive capital phase, and that is concerning," he warns. True value creation will not be in the infrastructure layer, but in the application layer, where new interfaces will enable completely unexplored behaviors.

### The right investment should scare you

True’s core philosophy sounds almost romantic in an ecosystem of mega-rounds: "It should scare you. It should feel lonely. They will call you crazy. It should be blurry and ambiguous. But you must be with a team you truly believe in."

Five or ten years later, you will know if you were right. Considering that True bet on Fitbit, Ring, and Peloton when others passed — technologies that are obvious today — its intuition about the end of the smartphone deserves attention. Market trends are already confirming its thesis: the absolute dependence on pocket screens has died. What’s coming is more fragmented, more natural, more focused on how we truly want to interact with intelligence.