On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on a TechTO stage in 2025. Every TechTO talk is searchable — ask the archive about Saam ↗
In their words
I said, 'Can I write your demand package for you?' And he said, 'Absolutely not. A self-respecting lawyer would never let someone write their demand package for them.' I emailed him two weeks later, asked the same question, and he said yes. It turns out they're super busy — and that was literally the start of our flagship product.
If you're building a vertical AI B2B business, it's really important to think about how you're going to maintain your market share and continue to grow if the process of creating software is commoditizing — if the thing that you're really good at now is going to be less valuable in the future.
If you just generate output that is somewhat okay and you give it to an expert and ask them to just review it, it actually does not help them move faster or generate materially better quality output.
Around the web ×5
Quick answers
What does EvenUp do?
EvenUp builds workflow insights and automation for personal injury attorneys in the United States, helping firms reach higher settlement amounts faster. Its flagship product is the demand package — the letter sent to an insurance company to claim an amount — generated with AI and reviewed for quality, now joined by a self-serve AI docs product suite.
How did Saam Mashhad go from practicing law to founding EvenUp?
After passing the Ontario and Quebec bars he articled and practiced litigation at Norton Rose Fulbright. A paper on US litigation funders extending capital to injury victims and demanding 133% back convinced him the market was inefficient. He pitched the idea to co-founder Rami (now CEO) for four years, ran the first funding deals manually with Ray (now COO), and left practice before EvenUp raised its seed round.
How does he think vertical AI startups stay defensible?
Two pillars: workflow defensibility — building a succession of contiguous, industry-specific workflows that work well together — and proprietary data used within those workflows to deliver value that is hard to replace. That thesis is why EvenUp expanded from demand packages into a wider product suite, including its internal completion bot Rosie that cut review time by about 30%.