TL;DR
True Ventures co-founder Jon Callaghan predicts conventional smartphones will be used very differently within five years and may be phased out in a decade. His firm is backing alternative interfaces such as Sandbar, a voice-activated ring designed to capture thoughts, while staying disciplined on capital and focusing on behavior-changing products.
What happened
Jon Callaghan, co-founder of True Ventures, told TechCrunch he expects current smartphone usage to change dramatically within five to ten years and believes the devices are a poor interface for interacting with intelligence. True Ventures, which manages roughly $6 billion across multiple seed and select funds and claims a portfolio of about 300 companies, has a track record of early bets on devices that changed user behavior (Fitbit, Ring, Peloton) as well as enterprise successes (HashiCorp, Duo Security). The firm is investing in alternative human-computer interfaces and recently backed Sandbar, a hardware device billed as a "thought companion": a voice-activated ring worn on the index finger that captures and organizes voice notes via an app and AI. Callaghan stresses the investment thesis is about enabling new behaviors rather than selling gadgets, and that True writes seed checks in the $3 million–$6 million range targeting 15–20% ownership while avoiding the pursuit of massive fundraises.
Why it matters
- A shift away from smartphones would reshape UX design, app markets and hardware categories.
- Startups that enable new, repeatable behaviors could capture more value than infrastructure-focused firms.
- VC capital may migrate toward interface and application layers, not just compute and data-center buildouts.
- A crowded, slow-growth smartphone market opens room for faster-growing wearables and voice-enabled devices.
Key facts
- Callaghan predicts current smartphone usage will be very different in five years and possibly obsolete in ten.
- True Ventures manages about $6 billion across 12 core seed funds and four select funds.
- The firm reports roughly 63 exits with gains and seven IPOs among a portfolio of about 300 companies.
- True’s historical winners include Fitbit, Ring and Peloton on the consumer side and HashiCorp and Duo Security on the enterprise side.
- Sandbar is described as a voice-activated ring worn on the index finger that captures and organizes thoughts via an app and AI.
- Sandbar’s founders, Mina Fahmi and Kirak Hong, previously worked on neural interfaces at CTRL-Labs, which Meta acquired in 2019.
- True typically writes seed checks of $3 million to $6 million for roughly 15%–20% ownership.
- Callaghan says he’s wary of capital intensity in the AI infrastructure cycle while seeing more value in application-layer innovation.
- The smartphone market is described as effectively saturated with roughly 2% annual growth, while wearables are growing at double-digit rates.
- In Q4 2025, three of True’s four recent exits involved repeat founders returning to work with the firm.
What to watch next
- Market uptake and user behavior around Sandbar or similar voice-first, wearable thought-capture devices.
- Whether startups that prioritize new behaviors over hardware features gain disproportionate market share.
- True Ventures’ fundraising and deployment strategy for interface-focused startups versus infrastructure plays.
Quick glossary
- Human-computer interface: The means by which a person interacts with a computing system, e.g., touchscreen, voice, gesture, or wearables.
- Seed fund: An early-stage investment fund that provides initial capital to startups to develop products and achieve early traction.
- Wearables: Electronic devices worn on the body, such as smartwatches and rings, that offer sensors or computing capabilities.
- Application layer: Software and services built on top of infrastructure that deliver end-user features and experiences.
Reader FAQ
Does Callaghan think phones will disappear entirely?
He says he doesn’t expect current iPhone-style usage in five to ten years, implying a major change, not necessarily literal disappearance.
What is Sandbar?
Sandbar is a voice-activated ring worn on the index finger that captures and organizes voice notes through an app and AI.
Why is True Ventures funding these kinds of devices?
The firm’s thesis is to back products that enable new human behaviors rather than just new gadgets; past bets include Fitbit, Peloton and Ring.
Is True Ventures raising a very large new fund to back this thesis?
Callaghan says the firm will raise more to support winners but is not seeking to raise huge, multi‑billion-dollar funds.
True Ventures co-founder Jon Callaghan doesn’t think we’ll be using smartphones the way we do now in five years — and maybe not at all in 10. For a venture…
Sources
- The phone is dead. Long live . . . what exactly?
- Jon Callaghan – On my Om
- June 2025 – Cubicgarden.com…
- Optimizing for Change: Why Exuberance is Required
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