7 Artificial Intelligence Startups to Watch in 2017 With over a billion in AI exits last year, 2017 is poised for pop. By Lisa Calhoun Lisa Calhoun is general partner at Valor Ventures . She is the author of How You Rule the World and runs the online magazine FemaleEntrepreneurs as well as Female Founder meetups through the Southeast. She founded Write2Market, a tech public relations firm that ranks in the Top 10 agencies for startups in the country. Hobbies include golf, running, and Dutch.