Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Joon Sung Park is the Founder and CEO of Simile, the AI simulation company building foundation models of human behaviour; allowing companies to test how real people may think, decide and act before making a decision in the real world. Simile has now raised $300 million in total, including a $200 million Series B announced last week at a $2 billion valuation, led by Greenoaks and Index Ventures.
-----------------------------------------------
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:26 The Valentine's Day Simulation That Put Joon on the Map
03:56 How Agents Got Memory, Planning & Reflection — The Origin Story
07:07 Simile vs. Frontier Models
07:59 Say vs Do: Why Behaviour Data Beats Survey Data
09:33 Prediction Is Overrated
12:31 Is Simile Just a Fancy Qualtrics? The TAM Question
15:48 How Many People Do You Need for Accurate Simulations?
16:56 The Data Flywheel: How the World Becomes the Ground Truth
19:59 Can Simile Simulate Elections, Democracies & Wicked Problems?
21:43 Who Should and Shouldn't Have Access to Simulation Technology?
33:07 How to Build a World-Class Research Team That Doesn't Quit
35:59 The Two Contradictory Superpowers That Make Great Founders
39:10 Competing for Research Talent in the Tens of Millions
43:28 From Researcher to CEO: What Joon Looks for in Academic Founders
44:33 Raising $300M in Six Months: How the Round Came Together
58:01 Is Simile the Future of Love and Matchmaking?
1:00:45 Quick Fire Round
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe on Spotify:
open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465
Follow Harry Stebbings on X:
twitter.com/HarryStebbings
Follow Joon Sung Park on X:
twitter.com/joon_s_pk
Follow 20VC on Instagram:
instagram.com/20vchq
Follow 20VC on TikTok:
tiktok.com/@20vc_tok
Visit our Website:
20vc.com
Subscribe to our Newsletter:
thetwentyminutevc.com/contact
-----------------------------------------------
#20vc #harrystebbings #simulation #ai #ceo #founder
Joon Sung Park is the Founder and CEO of Simile, the AI simulation company building foundation models of human behaviour; allowing companies to test how real people may think, decide and act before making a decision in the real world. Simile has now raised $300 million in total, including a $200 million Series B announced last week at a $2 billion valuation, led by Greenoaks and Index Ventures.
-----------------------------------------------
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:26 The Valentine's Day Simulation That Put Joon on the Map
03:56 How Agents Got Memory, Planning & Reflection — The Origin Story
07:07 Simile vs. Frontier Models
07:59 Say vs Do: Why Behaviour Data Beats Survey Data
09:33 Prediction Is Overrated
12:31 Is Simile Just a Fancy Qualtrics? The TAM Question
15:48 How Many People Do You Need for Accurate Simulations?
16:56 The Data Flywheel: How the World Becomes the Ground Truth
19:59 Can Simile Simulate Elections, Democracies & Wicked Problems?
21:43 Who Should and Shouldn't Have Access to Simulation Technology?
33:07 How to Build a World-Class Research Team That Doesn't Quit
35:59 The Two Contradictory Superpowers That Make Great Founders
39:10 Competing for Research Talent in the Tens of Millions
43:28 From Researcher to CEO: What Joon Looks for in Academic Founders
44:33 Raising $300M in Six Months: How the Round Came Together
58:01 Is Simile the Future of Love and Matchmaking?
1:00:45 Quick Fire Round
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe on Spotify:
open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465
Follow Harry Stebbings on X:
twitter.com/HarryStebbings
Follow Joon Sung Park on X:
twitter.com/joon_s_pk
Follow 20VC on Instagram:
instagram.com/20vchq
Follow 20VC on TikTok:
tiktok.com/@20vc_tok
Visit our Website:
20vc.com
Subscribe to our Newsletter:
thetwentyminutevc.com/contact
-----------------------------------------------
#20vc #harrystebbings #simulation #ai #ceo #founder
