According to TechCrunch, former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has shut down her six-year-old startup Sunshine to launch a new company called Dazzle, focused on AI personal assistants. Dazzle has raised an $8 million seed round at a $35 million valuation, led by Forerunner Ventures’ Kirsten Green. Other investors include Kleiner Perkins, Greycroft, and Offline Ventures. Mayer admitted Sunshine, which raised $20 million, was a flop, calling its problems too “mundane.” Investors in Sunshine received 10% equity in Dazzle as part of the wind-down. The new startup is expected to come out of stealth mode early in 2025.
The Green stamp of approval
Here’s the thing: the most interesting part of this announcement isn’t the pivot—founders do that all the time. It’s the lead investor. Landing Kirsten Green is a massive credibility boost for Mayer, especially after Sunshine’s performance. Green has a legendary nose for consumer hits like Warby Parker and Dollar Shave Club. Her bet signals she thinks consumer AI is finally ready for its moment, which she’s called a “late bloomer.” So this isn’t just about Mayer’s name recognition; it’s a top-tier VC putting her reputation behind the *idea* that Dazzle can be a mainstream, iconic brand. That’s a way bigger deal than the $8 million.
Learning from the Sunshine mistake
Mayer is being surprisingly candid about why Sunshine failed. She says the problems were too small and “mundane,” and the product never reached the polish it needed. That’s a pretty stark admission. Basically, contact management and photo-sharing weren’t ambitious enough to build a giant company, and the execution wasn’t flawless. Now, she’s swinging for the fences with an AI assistant, a category that’s arguably one of the biggest prizes in tech right now. The question is, can she translate those hard lessons into a product that’s not just clever, but actually indispensable and easy for everyone to use? That’s the billion-dollar challenge.
The AI personal assistant race
So Dazzle is entering a crowded, hyped field. Everyone from OpenAI to Google to a dozen startups is racing to build the ultimate AI companion. Mayer’s angle seems to be a deep focus on the consumer experience, which is where Green’s expertise lies. But is there room? The space is getting noisy fast. Mayer’s bet is that her team’s prototyping last summer revealed a unique approach or a killer use case we haven’t seen yet. With a password-protected site and vague promises, we’re left to wonder. She talks about wanting to build something with the impact of Google Search or Yahoo’s early internet—that’s the level of ambition. Now she just has to prove it.
What success looks like now
Mayer doesn’t need another niche app. After Sunshine, Dazzle has to be a home run. The investor lineup suggests they’re funding that potential, not just a modest product. The clock starts ticking early next year when they launch. They’ll need to show something that feels fundamentally new and useful, not just another chatbot wrapper. Mayer’s legacy at Google and Yahoo gives her a unique perspective on platform-defining products, but that was a different era. Building in today’s AI gold rush is a whole new game. I think the pressure is on, but with Green’s backing and a clean slate, Dazzle at least has a fighting chance to, well, dazzle.
