Company Stats

Guest: Austin Sun, Co-founder of Clausey

Industry: Legal Tech / AI

Company: Clausey (clausey.ai)

Focus: AI-powered contract intelligence

Tech Stack: AI agents, NLP, legal automation, early-stage SaaS

Episode Highlights:

✅ Austin shares how 10+ years in AI, tech, and energy led him to launch Clausey—an AI tool built to transform contract management.

✅ Hear why his failed 2016 startup taught him that code alone can’t win—and how business acumen changed his trajectory.

✅ Learn about the “four generations” of contract handling, and how Clausey is ushering in the fourth: AI-native contracts.

✅ Discover the three key criteria Austin uses to choose co-founders—and why trust and mindset alignment matter more than money.

✅ Austin offers a grounded take on AI’s future: it’s not here to replace everyone—but it will reward those who learn to wield it.

Episode Summary

In this episode of The Innovators Impact, host Darnell Perkins sits down with Bo(Austin) Sun, co-founder of Clausey an AI startup aimed at simplifying contract intelligence for businesses of all sizes. With a background spanning computer science, deep tech, law, and entrepreneurship, Austin has worn many hats—but found his stride at the intersection of automation, legal tech, and practical business use cases.

Austin breaks down how Clausey isn’t just about “reading contracts”—it’s about shifting how we interact with them altogether. From saving time on post-signature obligations to closing the gap between legalese and business decisions, Clausey is designed to empower teams, not replace them.

Austin also dives deep into his personal founder journey—why his first startup failed, how he spent years finding the right co-founders, and what it means to launch with vision before chasing venture capital. If you’re a founder navigating AI, or a professional looking to adapt to this tech wave, this episode is a roadmap you’ll want to follow.

Notable Questions We Asked

Q: What does Clausey actually do for contracts?

A: We extract key data from signed contracts—terms, parties, deadlines—and present it in a clean, intuitive UI. It’s like Notion meets Excel for contract ops.

Q: Why didn’t you raise VC early?

A: Because we didn’t need to. We wanted to build proof first—then scale. Rushing into VC too soon can hurt more than help.

Q: How do you pick a good co-founder?

A: Trust, mindset, and unique expertise. You’re basically choosing a marriage partner—only you'll spend more time with them than your spouse.

Q: Is AI going “too far”? Will it take jobs?

A: AI is a tool. Whether it replaces jobs depends more on a company’s financial health than the tech itself. But if you know how to use AI, you’ll stay relevant longer.

Q: What advice would you give to someone nervous about AI?

A: Learn the tool. Learn it now. Not knowing AI in the coming years will be like not knowing how to open a laptop.

Chapters

00:00 – Meet Austin Sun & His Journey

01:00 – Academic Roots: CS, MBA, and Law

02:30 – What Clausey Actually Does

03:30 – The 4 Generations of Contracts

06:00 – Learning From a Failed Startup

08:00 – Choosing the Right Time to Launch

11:00 – Clausey's Product Timeline & Pilots

14:00 – Why They Delayed VC Funding

15:30 – The 3 Rules for Picking Co-Founders

21:00 – Sweat Equity vs. Financial Buy-In

26:00 – Can AI Go Too Far? Austin’s Take

31:00 – A Call to Learn AI Now

34:00 – Where to Learn More About Clausey

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