Podcasts about Lightspeed Venture Partners

In this episode, host Kalie Moore talks with Charlie Blackstock, Co-founder & CEO of Remix.gg, the “TikTok of games” where anyone can instantly play and remix community-built titles. They discuss why instant, zero-install games resonate with Gen Z and Millennials, how AI is lowering the barrier to creation and enabling culture-speed hits, and how Web3 rails can power creator monetization at scale. The conversation gets tactical on distribution, dives into the possible future of on-chain creator earnings, and how to create a platform for both Web2 and Web3 gaming audiences. We'd like to thank Neon – a merchant of record with customizable webshops optimized for conversion – for making this episode possible! Neon is trusted by some of the biggest names in gaming and can help you sell direct without the typical overhead. To learn more, visit https://www.neonpay.com/?utm_source=naavik We'd also like to thank Lightspeed Venture Partners for making this episode possible! With its dedicated gaming & interactive media practice, the firm invests from an over $6.5 billion pool of early and growth-stage capital. If you're interested in learning more, go to https://gaming.lsvp.com/.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co.Who's On:Guest - Charlie Blackstock: https://x.com/0xChuckstock Host - Kalie Moore: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaliemoore/ Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital.In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Mercedes Bent about her fascinating journey from a tech-driven upbringing to becoming a leading venture capitalist. We discussed how her unique background informs her investment philosophy and the importance of originality and non-consensus thinking in today's VC landscape. Our conversation also covered the challenges and opportunities in consumer technology, the transformative impact of AI, and strategies for portfolio construction. One of my key takeaways was the critical role of intuition in identifying exceptional founders, as well as the value of building compounding networks and staying ahead of platform shifts. It was an insightful discussion that offered practical lessons for anyone interested in the future of venture capital. We hope you enjoy the conversation.Thanks for listening to another episode of Venture Unlocked. We hope you enjoyed our conversation with Mercedes. If you'd like to get Venture Unlocked content straight to your inbox, go to ventureunlocked.substack.com and sign up, or go to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and subscribe. Thanks again for listeningAbout Mercedes BentMercedes Bent is a Venture Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners and Co-Founder of venture firm Premise. At Lightspeed, she focused on early-stage investments in consumer, fintech, multicultural markets, and Latin America. She began her career at the Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs before moving into the education technology sector with General Assembly. At General Assembly, she helped expand one of the company's key product lines from $2M to $100M in revenue over four years. She joined Lightspeed in 2019 after developing a strong investment perspective in areas such as edtech, VR, and multicultural consumer products. At Lightspeed, she has invested in and worked with companies including Stori, Honeylove, Forage, Magic Eden, Outschool, and Flink. She has also been recognized in industry publications for her contributions to venture capital and efforts to broaden access to entrepreneurship.Lightspeed Venture Partners, founded in 2000, is a global venture capital firm managing over $25 billion in assets with offices across the U.S., Europe, Israel, India, and Southeast Asia. The firm invests from seed to growth stage across enterprise, consumer, fintech, healthcare, and emerging tech. Over the years, Lightspeed has backed more than 500 companies, including Snap, MuleSoft, Affirm, Carta, and Anthropic, and has been part of notable exits like AppDynamics and Nest. With a strong record of helping founders scale and succeed, Lightspeed is recognized as a leading partner for building category-defining companies.During the conversation, we discussed:* Mercedes's Background, Upbringing, and Early Career (1:45)* How Background Informed Firm Values/Culture (4:19)* The Gap in Consumer Technology Investing & Identifying Founders (8:40)* Non-Consensus Investing in Early Stage VC (10:01)* Startup Mentality and KPIs in Fund Management (15:06)* Sourcing vs. Winning Seed Deals – What Matters? (16:19)* Seed Manager vs. Large Fund Business Models (21:21)* Gifted TVPI vs. Earned TVPI, Portfolio Philosophy (26:22)* Consumer Sector's VC Downturn & New Tech Cycles (32:21)* The AI Consumer Technology Wave & Opportunity (35:33)* Identifying Product-Market Pull and Early Leading Indicators (37:08)* Shifts in Distribution Channels in AI (40:09)* Future-casting, Platform Shifts, and AI Companions (43:50)* Lessons from Years in VC & Trusting Intuition (44:27)* Final Thoughts and Takeaways (47:46)I'd love to know what you took away from this conversation with Mercedes. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #venture unlocked. If you'd like to be considered as a guest or have someone you'd like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on X. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com

With the games industry in constant evolution, it's important to occasionally pause and take stock of where things stand. Host Devin Becker is joined by Aaron Bush, Managing Partner and Co-Founder at Naavik, for a wide-ranging check-in on market trends, strategic moves from platform holders and investors, and how the current landscape might evolve from here. The conversation explores Epic's latest expansion of user-generated content monetization, plus Meta's recent AR updates and what it might mean for the future of digital interactivity. The episode rounds out with a look at current console strategies – including the success of the Switch 2, Xbox's identity crisis, and how PlayStation fits into the broader picture – and a discussion about the fragmentation of the gaming investment industry.We'd like to thank Lightspeed Venture Partners for making this episode possible! With its dedicated gaming & interactive media practice, the firm invests from an over $6.5 billion pool of early and growth-stage capital. If you're interested in learning more, go to https://gaming.lsvp.com/.We'd also like to thank Overwolf for making this episode possible! Whether you're a gamer, creator, or game studio, Overwolf is the ultimate destination for integrating UGC in games! You can check out all Overwolf has to offer at https://www.overwolf.com/.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Cet épisode du podcast OVNIs réunit Arnaud Laurent, Matthieu Stefani et Antoine Moyroud (Lightspeed) autour d'une discussion passionnante sur le capital-risque et l'investissement. Antoine, fort de son parcours varié dans les start-ups et la data science, partage ses expériences et sa vision. Il aborde notamment l'importance croissante de l'IA dans le monde du capital-risque et la manière dont elle peut transformer les stratégies d'investissement. Antoine parle de ses investissements (Mistral, The Mobile First Company , Orqa FPV) et met en avant la nécessité de croire en l'équipe fondatrice et en sa capacité à s'adapter et à innover, malgré les incertitudes du marché.Le podcast explore aussi les défis du capital-risque en Europe, en soulignant le besoin d'une culture du risque plus développée. Antoine discute de l'évolution du marché européen et de la nécessité pour les investisseurs de s'adapter aux nouvelles vagues technologiques. Il insiste sur le fait que le succès repose souvent sur la capacité des fondateurs à articuler une vision claire et à surmonter les obstacles. L'épisode se termine par une réflexion sur l'importance des relations humaines dans le domaine de l'investissement, malgré l'essor de la technologie et des données.[00:00:00]: Introduction[00:01:25]: Discussion sur les vagues technologiques[00:02:05]: Présentation d'Antoine Moyroud[00:07:43]: Analyse des données pour l'investissement[00:12:28]: Présentation de Lightspeed[00:16:18]: Différences entre seed et early stage[00:20:58]: Importance du storytelling[00:23:03]: Intermédiaires dans le capital risque[00:25:01]: Présence européenne de Lightspeed[00:32:35]: Différences entre startup et private equity[00:34:32]: Importance de la croissance personnelle des fondateurs[00:43:54]: Barrières à l'entrée des nouvelles technologies[00:45:02]: Organisation du temps pour les investisseurs[00:49:08]: Ambition européenne et développement de l'écosystème[00:51:07]: Culture du risque en Europe[00:53:05]: Marchés internationaux et ambition[00:56:20]: Rôle de l'humain dans le capital risque[01:01:26]: Recherche de la prochaine opportunité d'investissement[01:03:33]: Importance de partager ses réflexions[01:06:02]: ConclusionHébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Welcome back to another episode of the EUVC Podcast, where we bring together Europe's venture family to share the stories, insights, and lessons that drive our ecosystem forward.This week, we sit down with Will Wells, founder-turned-VC, and now Partner at Speedinvest, where he leads deep tech and supports the firm's growth strategy.Will's journey spans building Hummingbird Technologies, an AI-powered agtech company exited to Agreena in 2022, to leading frontier tech at Firstminute Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Now at Speedinvest, he's focused on backing European founders working on sovereign compute, defense, energy resilience, biosecurity, and the “picks and shovels” of the next decades.

China is pouring hundreds of billions into AI infrastructure, mandating AI education from grade school to college, and churning out homegrown talent -- all to position itself to dominate the AI race while the U.S. scrambles to keep its narrowing lead.Featured Guest: Connor Love, partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners

Former Nexon CEO Owen Mahoney joins Aaron Bush for a candid, wide-ranging conversation about the current and future state of the games industry. While Owen had a successful decade-long run leading one of Asia's most important gaming companies, this episode explores what he's been thinking about since stepping down – namely through his sharp (and sometimes spicy) essays critiquing industry norms and offering a vision for what comes next. We discuss the realities of managing $100M+ budget decisions, the troubling positions of many Western publishers, the benefits of simplifying publisher strategies, and Owen's bullishness on AI. Notably, despite slow industry growth at present, Owen explains why he thinks our industry could triple in size from here. Whether you're an executive, founder, or just fascinated by how games are built and funded, this episode is packed with battle-tested insights and bold predictions. We'd like to thank Lightspeed Venture Partners for making this episode possible! With its dedicated gaming & interactive media practice, the firm invests from an over $6.5 billion pool of early and growth-stage capital. If you're interested in learning more, go to https://gaming.lsvp.com/.We'd also like to thank Overwolf for making this episode possible! Whether you're a gamer, creator, or game studio, Overwolf is the ultimate destination for integrating UGC in games! You can check out all Overwolf has to offer at https://www.overwolf.com/.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co.Who's On:Guest - Owen Mahoney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/owen-mahoney-11515/ Host - Aaron Bush: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-bush-846b8185/ Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

During the recent Dublin Tech Summit, I recorded a series of podcasts. In my second podcast I caught up with Oisin Hanrahan, the Co-founder and CEO of Keychain who I had interviewed the year before at last year's Dublin Tech Summit.Oisin talked about what has happened since we last spoke, AI, Trump's tariffs, his talk at this year's Dublin Tech Summit and more.More about Oisin:Oisin Hanrahan is the Cofounder and CEO of Keychain, a manufacturing platform for the packaged goods industry that is backed by $18 million from Lightspeed Venture Partners, BoxGroup, and SV Angel. Prior to founding Keychain, he served as the CEO of NASDAQ-listed Angi Inc. Before becoming CEO, he served as Chief Product Officer of Angi, where he was responsible for all product and technology strategy.He joined Angi in 2018 when Handy, the company he co-founded and led as CEO, was acquired by the company. Mr. Hanrahan built Handy to hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue, and raised over $100 million in institutional capital. Mr. Hanrahan served the US Commerce Secretary on the Digital Economy Board of Advisors from 2016 to 2017. While working on the issue of worker classification, he addressed unions, congressmen, and senators, including the US Senate Democratic Caucus.His work has been covered extensively by major media, including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Forbes. He has appeared frequently on CNBC, MSNBC, Fox and Bloomberg and has given talks at conferences, including Milken Institute and Web Summit. He is an active angel investor and advisor, with a portfolio of over 50 companies. Mr. Hanrahan studied for his MBA at Harvard Business School, earned a Masters in Finance from the London School of Economics, and a Business and Economics degree from Trinity College Dublin.

During the recent Dublin Tech Summit, I recorded a series of podcasts. In my second podcast I caught up with Oisin Hanrahan, the Co-founder and CEO of Keychain who I had interviewed the year before at last year's Dublin Tech Summit. Oisin talked about what has happened since we last spoke, AI, Trump's tariffs, his talk at this year's Dublin Tech Summit and more. More about Oisin: Oisin Hanrahan is the Cofounder and CEO of Keychain, a manufacturing platform for the packaged goods industry that is backed by $18 million from Lightspeed Venture Partners, BoxGroup, and SV Angel. Prior to founding Keychain, he served as the CEO of NASDAQ-listed Angi Inc. Before becoming CEO, he served as Chief Product Officer of Angi, where he was responsible for all product and technology strategy. He joined Angi in 2018 when Handy, the company he co-founded and led as CEO, was acquired by the company. Mr. Hanrahan built Handy to hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue, and raised over $100 million in institutional capital. Mr. Hanrahan served the US Commerce Secretary on the Digital Economy Board of Advisors from 2016 to 2017. While working on the issue of worker classification, he addressed unions, congressmen, and senators, including the US Senate Democratic Caucus. His work has been covered extensively by major media, including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Forbes. He has appeared frequently on CNBC, MSNBC, Fox and Bloomberg and has given talks at conferences, including Milken Institute and Web Summit. He is an active angel investor and advisor, with a portfolio of over 50 companies. Mr. Hanrahan studied for his MBA at Harvard Business School, earned a Masters in Finance from the London School of Economics, and a Business and Economics degree from Trinity College Dublin. See more stories here. More about Irish Tech News Irish Tech News are Ireland's No. 1 Online Tech Publication and often Ireland's No.1 Tech Podcast too. You can find hundreds of fantastic previous episodes and subscribe using whatever platform you like via our Anchor.fm page here: https://anchor.fm/irish-tech-news If you'd like to be featured in an upcoming Podcast email us at Simon@IrishTechNews.ie now to discuss. Irish Tech News have a range of services available to help promote your business. Why not drop us a line at Info@IrishTechNews.ie now to find out more about how we can help you reach our audience. You can also find and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.

In this episode of Building the Base, Hondo Geurts and Lauren Bedula reconnect with Cameron McCord, Co-Founder and CEO of Nominal, two years after his first appearance on the show (linked here). Drawing from his unique journey from submarine officer (484 days underwater) to defense tech entrepreneur, McCord discusses building software to accelerate testing and validation of mission-critical systems. He shares insights from his time at Anduril, Applied Intuition, and Saildrone, and how these experiences shaped Nominal's approach to modernizing test and evaluation processes. The episode concludes with exciting news that Nominal recently announced a $75 million Series B led by Sequoia Capital and co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.Five key takeaways from today's episode:Entrepreneurial success, according to McCord, requires falling in love with the process itself rather than just the initial idea, as markets, technology, and competition will force constant adaptation and iteration throughout the journey.Testing and validation software in defense hasn't been meaningfully innovated in decades, McCord explains, creating massive opportunities to modernize from "2002 to 2019" standards using basic automation and data practices before advancing to AI capabilities.The most valuable customer conversations, McCord notes, evolve from incremental efficiency gains at the engineer level to strategic business impact discussions about reducing 24-month test campaigns to 18-20 months for major defense programs.Rather than leading with confidence, McCord advises asking genuine questions to allow customers to reveal what's truly valuable to them, while learning when to say "not right now" instead of forcing poor fits often leads to higher revisit rates.Cross-functional experience across military service, government, startups, and venture capital has provided McCord with invaluable perspective for navigating complex stakeholder environments and understanding what success looks like from multiple viewpoints.

What is the future of AI in the workplace? What kinds of jobs would you trust an AI to do? In this episode of Generative Now, host and Lightspeed Partner Michael Mignano explores how AI is transforming the workforce, with insights from four sharp thinkers: Semil Shah, founding general partner at Haystack and Lightspeed Venture Partners, on the risks of replacing junior talent with agents, Suno Co-founder Mikey Schulman on AI's power to unlock creativity, Anu Atluru, founder, physician and angel investor, on how AI is reshaping medicine, and Marissa Mayer, former CEO of Yahoo and current CEO of Sunshine, on what companies must do now to adapt—or risk being left behind.Episode Chapters00:00 Introduction: AI and the Future of Work00:20 Exploring AI's Impact on the Workforce01:14 The Co-Pilot Phase of AI02:47 AI in Investment Banking and Consulting06:00 Artificial Super Intelligence: The Next Frontier09:33 Mikey Shulman on AI's Role in Creativity11:59 Anu Atluru on AI Transforming Medicine20:18 Marissa Mayer on AI's Organizational Impact26:56 Conclusion: Embracing AI's PotentialStay in touch:www.lsvp.comX: https://twitter.com/lightspeedvpLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightspeed-venture-partners/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightspeedventurepartners/Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: generativenow.coEmail: generativenow@lsvp.comThe content here does not constitute tax, legal, business or investment advice or an offer to provide such advice, should not be construed as advocating the purchase or sale of any security or investment or a recommendation of any company, and is not an offer, or solicitation of an offer, for the purchase or sale of any security or investment product. For more details please see lsvp.com/legal.

Moritz joins Google to talk about the intersection of gaming and AI. A lifelong gamer, Moritz spent his teenage years competitively playing Blizzard's Diablo 2, culminating in a #1 global ranking among over 12 million players in 2003. The first in his family to graduate high school, he traded the digital swords and armor that he earned in-game to afford his college tuition – two decades before digital asset trading entered the mainstream. Now, Moritz is a Senior Partner and the Head of Gaming and Interactive Media at Lightspeed Venture Partners. Lightspeed is a global venture capital firm with more than $29 billion in assets under management and over 200 exists across the US, Europe, and Asia. In both 2023 and 2024, founders selected Lightspeed as the #1 lead investor in the gaming industry. Moritz has been recognized in Forbes 30 Under 30, Capital's 40 Under 40, and the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders. In his personal time, he's an avid Ironman and Ultramarathon athlete. He's completed the World Marathon Challenge, running 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days, and the 257km Marathon des Sables. With his races, he has raised over $250,000 for research to cure depression. Watch this episode at youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle.

Instead of our usual Friday news rundown, we're bringing you a conversation from this week's TC Sessions: AI event out in San Francisco. Our friend and co-host Max Zeff sat down with Jared Kaplan, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer at Anthropic. If you've been following Anthropic, you'll know it's been a busy year for the AI startup. Back in March, the company announced it raised $3.5 billion at a $61.5 billion valuation in a round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Since then, it's launched a blog for its Claude models and, according to Bloomberg reporting, partnered with Apple to power a new “vibe-coding” software platform. Listen to the full conversation to hear more about: ⁠Who has direct access to Claude's AI models⁠, Windsurf's response, and how it all ties into Anthropic's broader goals around openness, safety, and sustainability. The company's pivot away from chatbots and toward agentic AI systems that can perform real tasks. How internal tools like Claude Code are shaping the future of AI-powered development. What it means to build AI that enterprises can actually trust, and how that affects the way humans interact with software, work, and each other. Equity is TechCrunch's flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. Subscribe to us on⁠ Apple Podcasts⁠,⁠ Overcast⁠,⁠ Spotify⁠ and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on⁠ X⁠ and⁠ Threads⁠, at @EquityPod. Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. We'd also like to thank TechCrunch's audience development team. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll talk to you next time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple's forced policy shift following the outcome of its legal battle with Epic Games has opened the door for more flexible Direct to Consumer (DTC) strategies, and game studios are taking notice. Host Devin Becker welcomes Chris Faught, CEO of Neon, to break down what this decision means for developers. Chris clarifies the broader implications of the ruling, the mechanics of implementing DTC models, and how this update impacts developers operating across different genres and regions.The conversation explores how studios should be thinking about DTC integration internally, what practical steps to take next, and how these changes might alter monetization strategies moving forward. Chris also offers insight into how webshops can be used to their full potential, what teams are best suited to act quickly, and where the market is headed over the next 12–24 months. Whether you're already experimenting with DTC or still figuring out how this ruling affects your business, this episode offers a grounded look at what's changing and what to do about it.We'd like to thank Overwolf for making this episode possible! Whether you're a gamer, creator, or game studio, Overwolf is the ultimate destination for integrating UGC in games! You can check out all Overwolf has to offer at https://www.overwolf.com/.We'd also like to thank Lightspeed Venture Partners for making this episode possible! With its dedicated gaming & interactive media practice, the firm invests from an over $6.5 billion pool of early and growth-stage capital. If you're interested in learning more, go to https://gaming.lsvp.com/.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co.Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

In this episode, host, Alexandra Takei, Director at Ruckus Games, dives into the intersection of brand marketing, live streaming, and culturally relevant branded experiences. Joined by Wiktoria Wójcik, co-founder of InStreamly, the conversation explores how brands can integrate into live streaming platforms like Twitch, YouTube, and Kick. InStreamly connects brands with thousands of streamers, facilitating authentic collaborations through technology that allows for large-scale, interactive campaigns. Wójcik shares insights on bridging the gap between brand safety and engaging streamers, as well as the power of parasocial relationships in gaming. They discuss case studies with big brands like Cheetos and Danone, showcasing how live streaming is reshaping marketing strategies, from contextual gameplay to driving brand affinity. It's a must-listen for anyone interested in the evolving world of influencer marketing or those interested in partnering with a contextual marketing agency in the United States. We'd like to thank Lightspeed Venture Partners for making this episode possible! With its dedicated gaming practice, "Lightspeed Gaming," the firm is investing from over $7B in early- and growth-stage capital — the by far largest fund focused on gaming and interactive technology. If you're interested in learning more, go to https://gaming.lsvp.com/.We'd also like to thank nSure.ai! As a proven industry leader, nSure.ai provides scalable payment fraud prevention that's not just effective but tailored specifically to your needs. To learn more, visit https://www.nsure.ai/contactIf you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Before Zscaler was a $32B cloud security giant, it was just 10 engineers—half in Bangalore, half in a borrowed U.S. office.As founder and CEO of Zscaler, Jay Chaudhry bet $50M of his own money on one radical idea: secure the internet in the cloud.Born in a Himalayan village with no electricity, he built Zscaler into one of the world's top cybersecurity giants.In this episode, Jay breaks down why 50% of the Fortune 500 trusts Zscaler, why he still interviews candidates, and how he's incubating the company's next big AI bet.Chapters:00:00 Trailer00:42 Introduction01:21 His fifth company04:26 Entrepreneurs' existential fear10:53 Customer engagement and new innovations12:46 No private jets, no business class19:34 “I never used money”23:38 Born and raised in India26:17 Hiring legends30:35 Walking on water35:09 “Dolphining”39:55 Areas of weakness42:11 Passionate even on the weekends44:56 Work during roller coasters47:35 The weight of the world is on your shoulders49:21 Leveraging AI56:20 OutroMentioned in this episode: Elon Musk, Microsoft, Bill Gates, BlackBerry, Steve Ballmer, Satya Nadella, Hewlett-Packard (HP), IBM, John Fellows Akers, Steve Jobs, NeXT, Inc., Linux, Cisco, United Airlines, San Francisco International Airport, Sundar Pichai, Ravi Mhatre, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Six Flags, AI (artificial intelligence), securityLinks:Connect with JayLinkedInConnect with JoubinXLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner Perkins

Butian Li is CEO of Bless, pioneering the world's first shared computer—a decentralized network where everyday consumer devices power the internet. Under his leadership, Bless is reshaping internet infrastructure by enabling laptops, smartphones, and tablets to contribute their compute power collectively.Bless' first-generation product, Tap Compute, allows users to seamlessly share their device's computing resources through a web browser, supporting AI inference, data processing, and web hosting. By decentralizing these essential services, Bless is shifting control away from large corporations with massive data centers and back into the hands of everyday people.A seasoned entrepreneur and investor, Butian's expertise spans technology, finance, and strategic growth. He was previously COO of Wabi (Binance ‘17), an Investor at Lightspeed Venture Partners and NGC Ventures, and Founding Partner of Access Crypto hedge fund. His early career includes management consulting at Deloitte Consulting, where he advised Fortune 500 companies on IPOs and M&A transactions.Butian holds an undergraduate degree in Engineering from UC Berkeley and an MBA in Quantitative Finance from Wharton.Previous media features:Universal Basic Compute can Combat the Future AI Divide 

Butian Li is CEO of Bless, pioneering the world's first shared computer—a decentralized network where everyday consumer devices power the internet. Under his leadership, Bless is reshaping internet infrastructure by enabling laptops, smartphones, and tablets to contribute their compute power collectively.Bless' first-generation product, Tap Compute, allows users to seamlessly share their device's computing resources through a web browser, supporting AI inference, data processing, and web hosting. By decentralizing these essential services, Bless is shifting control away from large corporations with massive data centers and back into the hands of everyday people.A seasoned entrepreneur and investor, Butian's expertise spans technology, finance, and strategic growth. He was previously COO of Wabi (Binance ‘17), an Investor at Lightspeed Venture Partners and NGC Ventures, and Founding Partner of Access Crypto hedge fund. His early career includes management consulting at Deloitte Consulting, where he advised Fortune 500 companies on IPOs and M&A transactions.Butian holds an undergraduate degree in Engineering from UC Berkeley and an MBA in Quantitative Finance from Wharton.Previous media features:Universal Basic Compute can Combat the Future AI Divide 

Rami Tamir is no stranger to the startup world. A seasoned entrepreneur with multiple successful exits, he has honed his ability to build, scale, and navigate acquisitions like a veteran baseball player hitting home runs with each venture. Rami's latest venture, Salto, has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Bessemer Venture Partners, Accel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Salesforce Ventures.

After building his career as an engineer at Facebook and as a venture capitalist at Lightspeed Venture Partners, Jay Madheswaran and his cofounders spotted an opportunity to deploy cutting-edge AI to transform what they saw as an underserved segment of the legal market, launching Eve, an AI platform purpose-built for plaintiffs' law firms. Eve has quickly gained traction, recently securing a $47 million Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz, and boasting 800% year-over-year growth.  But what makes Eve's story particularly interesting is its mission to transform traditional plaintiffs' firms into what Madheswaran calls "AI-native law firms" – where technology does not just automate tasks but fundamentally changes how legal services are delivered, in part by encoding firms' unique knowledge and processes into intelligent systems. In today's episode, Madheswaran joins host Bob Ambrogi to explain his concept of AI-native law firms and describe how Eve's technology can help firms double or triple their caseloads by automating everything from case-intake analysis to document drafting, all while learning to work in each firm's unique voice and style.  He also discusses the challenges of building trust with lawyers around AI and his vision for increasingly specialized legal services in an AI-powered future.   Thank You To Our Sponsors This episode of LawNext is generously made possible by our sponsors. We appreciate their support and hope you will check them out.   Paradigm, home to the practice management platforms PracticePanther, Bill4Time, MerusCase and LollyLaw; the e-payments platform Headnote; and the legal accounting software TrustBooks. Briefpoint, eliminating routine discovery response and request drafting tasks so you can focus on drafting what matters (or just make it home for dinner). LEX Reception, Never miss a call, with expert answering service for Lawyers. Legalweek, March 24-27, New York Hilton Midtown. Register today at legalweekshow.com.    If you enjoy listening to LawNext, please leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts.  

In this episode, host, Alexandra Takei, Director at Ruckus Games, is joined by Jacob Rapoport (CEO and Co-Founder) and Nico Vereecke from Evil Plan to discuss their groundbreaking project in AI-powered, unscripted fantasy entertainment. The conversation explores the future of interactive storytelling, where community influence and fully AI-driven narratives combine to create an entirely new genre of entertainment. Jacob and Nico express their belief in AI's potential to address the “cost problem” of new IP (i.e., significant upstart capital for uncertain returns) and the “manpower problem” (limited hours available each day) that contributes to content shortages. They explain how their company is developing a platform for dynamic, emergent storytelling. With AI at its core, Evil Plan seeks to transform how stories are created, allowing audience participation to play a crucial role in shaping the outcomes of plots and sub-plots, resulting in both unpredictable drama and interactive experiences. If you're a fan of community-driven entertainment phenomena like Twitch Plays Pokémon, Bandersnatch, Genvid's MILEs, or Blaseball, this is a conversation worth exploring. You can also check out our content coverage on Genvid and Blaseball on our website.We'd also like to thank Lightspeed Venture Partners for making this episode possible! With its dedicated gaming practice, "Lightspeed Gaming," the firm is investing from over $7B in early- and growth-stage capital — the by far largest fund focused on gaming and interactive technology. If you're interested in learning more, go to https://gaming.lsvp.com/.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Eric and Madeline unpack the biggest “deal that wasn't” story of Elon Musk's unsolicited offer to purchase OpenAI for $97.4 billion. WIth Sam Altman flat-out rejecting the offer on X, this feels less like an offer and more of a statement about Musk's frustration with OpenAI's continued conversion to a for-profit company that competes with him. Pressures have been mounting on engineers to look for greener pastures, though, if Thrive Capital's Joshua Kushner's urging speech for talent to stay put is any indication. Then, they turn to Eric's reporting on Lightspeed Venture Partners' new fundraising documents, where the megafirm showed stronger returns on earlier funds ahead of its next big capital raise. They also unpack the AI Action Summit's 180-degree swing from an AI safety forum to a conference dominated by CEOs and accelerationist world leaders. They close with a breakdown with a who's who on the cap table of legal-tech Harvey's latest Series D, and Mercury's rumored new Sequoia-backed fundraise.Produced by Christopher GatesMusic by Suno

Keychain, the AI-powered manufacturing platform transforming the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry, has announced an additional $5 million investment led by Bright Pixel Capital, the VC arm of the European retail conglomerate Sonae. This latest funding comes as Keychain takes its core search and discovery product out of beta and introduces new platform capabilities. Since November 2023, Keychain has raised $38 million with support from leading venture firms BoxGroup, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and SV Angel as well as other CPG giants General Mills, The Hershey Company, and Schreiber Foods. This latest investment from Bright Pixel not only reinforces Keychain's position as a key player in the CPG manufacturing ecosystem but also signals its readiness to enter the European market. Keychain's AI-powered platform, which enables brands, retailers, and manufacturers to quickly connect with manufacturing partners, is streamlining what has traditionally been a fragmented and time-intensive search and discovery process. The platform boasts a network of 30,000+ manufacturers and 20,000+ brands and retailers and, as of today, is now facilitating over $1 billion in projects each month. Now, with its search and discovery platform officially exiting the beta phase, Keychain is expanding its capabilities with the launch of two new beta products: Keychain packaging and ingredients. These products will allow brands to streamline the process of sourcing packaging materials and ingredient suppliers for their products, empowering them to quickly meet consumer demand for more sustainable and efficient production methods. "Since Keychain launched last year, we've been focused on bringing much-needed transparency to the United States' CPG manufacturing ecosystem," said Oisin Hanrahan, Co-founder and CEO of Keychain. "At the same time, we've been looking into how we can bring our capabilities to other geographies, and the support of Bright Pixel is a huge step in that direction. We're also excited to continue building our depth with new tools that will streamline the ways brands source packaging and ingredients." "We're proud to invest in Keychain at such an exciting moment in their journey," said Manuel Queiroz, Director at Bright Pixel Capital. "Our team is confident in Keychain's ability to modernize the global CPG supply chain and is exactly what the European CPG supply chain needs. We look forward to supporting Keychain as they expand their offerings and into more geographies." Bright Pixel's strategic investment marks a pivotal step in Keychain's evolution and underscores the platform's potential to bring meaningful change to the global manufacturing industry. Keychain is bringing a new era of transparency to the CPG manufacturing ecosystem by cutting out brokers who have historically profited by creating information asymmetry that drives up the costs of goods. In response, Keychain is using AI to eliminate these fees and other unnecessary costs, ultimately lowering the prices consumers see on store shelves. See more stories here.

Wie kommst du von Software Idee zu ersten Nutzern und Kunden ohne dich zu verzetteln?Marc Klingen baut mit seinem Team Langfuse. Langfuse ist eine Open-Source Software für die Entwicklung von Tools basierend auf Large Language Models (LLMs).Mehr als 4 Millionen Dollar haben unter anderem Y Combinator, La Famiglia und Lightspeed Venture Partners in das Berliner Startup investiert.Aus Berlin heraus bedient das Langfuse Team Kunden in der ganzen Welt und unser Gast Host Mike Mahlkow (2-facher Y Combinator Gründer) spricht mit Marc über den Aufbau der Firma.Du erfährst alles über die Herausforderungen der frühen Produktentwicklung, wie man erste Kunden gewinnt, warum Geschwindigkeit wichtiger ist als Perfektion und wie man aus Feedback iteriert, um echten Mehrwert zu schaffen. Was du lernst:Wie Langfuse Unternehmen wie Khan Academy, Twilio und Merck hilft, ihre LLM-Anwendungen effizienter zu entwickeln und zu testen.Warum der Fokus auf Geschwindigkeit und ein kleiner Scope in der frühen Phase entscheidend sind.Wie man Champions und Economic Buyer in großen Unternehmen identifiziert und mit ihnen arbeitet.Warum es wichtig ist, Kundenfeedback strukturiert zu nutzen und iterativ zu arbeiten.Wie Open-Source-Ansätze und Partnerschaften helfen können, Nutzer zu gewinnen und zu skalieren.Welche Unterschiede es gibt, wenn man an Startups vs. Enterprise-Kunden verkauft und wie man sich darauf vorbereitet.ALLES ZU UNICORN BAKERY:https://zez.am/unicornbakery Mehr zu Marc:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcklingen Website: https://langfuse.com/ Mehr zu Co-Host Mike:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemahlkow/ Website: https://fastgen.com/ Join our Founder Tactics Newsletter:2x die Woche bekommst du die Taktiken der besten Gründer der Welt direkt ins Postfach:https://www.tactics.unicornbakery.de/ Kapitel:(00:00:00) Welches Problem löst Langfuse(00:11:17) Von Idee zu ersten Kunden(00:21:54) Kunden von der Nutzung überzeugen(00:25:18) Der AHA-Moment bei Langfuse: Hallo, User 1!(00:37:56) How to: An größere Unternehmen verkaufen (B2B & Enterprise Sales)(00:48:06) Die Relevanz von Mehrwert & Nutzen: Beispiel Figma(00:51:35) How to: von 1 auf 10 Nutzer skalieren(00:58:42) Unterschied zwischen B2B und B2C-Produkten(01:00:39) Wann sollte man aufhören?(01:08:36) How to: von 10 auf 100 Nutzer skalieren(01:18:25) ... doch was, wenn ich viel länger bauen muss? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The intersection of anime, games, and technology takes center stage in this episode. Host Aaron Bush is joined by Kun Gao, a serial entrepreneur known for co-founding Crunchyroll, the world's leading anime streaming platform, and now charting new paths in the games industry with GGWP, an AI-driven moderation platform, and Forge, which is enabling direct-to-consumer loyalty programs for games teams. In this conversation, we explore the many lessons Kun learned from scaling Crunchyroll and navigating high-profile dealmaking with IP companies and stakeholders like The Chernin Group and Sony. We then dive into the founding stories of GGWP and Forge, unpack the big ideas behind both companies, and dig into how more interconnected loyalty programs can empower game developers to create deeper, more valuable connections with their players. This episode is packed with insights into Kun's entrepreneurial process, so make sure to tune in!We'd also like to thank Lightspeed Venture Partners for making this episode possible! With its dedicated gaming practice, "Lightspeed Gaming," the firm is investing from over $7B in early- and growth-stage capital — the by far largest fund focused on gaming and interactive technology. If you're interested in learning more, go to https://gaming.lsvp.com/If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co.Who's On:Guest - Kun Gao: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kungao/ Host - Aaron Bush: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-bush-846b8185/ Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Think marketing to developers is all about hoodies and hackathons? Think again. As the developer-led economy is poised to grow to a TRILLION dollars, companies that offer products for developers must refocus to a business-to-developer (B2D) model as developers become not only users of products, but key purchase influencers. In this episode, Nnamdi Iregbulem, Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, Joyce Lin, Head of Developer Relations at Viam, and Caroline Lewko, CEO of Revere Communications, reveal actionable insights for building and scaling developer relations programs that drive adoption, loyalty, and growth in a developer-led economy. Specifically, you'll learn:How to get developers to adopt and build on your platform – from APIs and SDKs to advanced ML and DevOps tools.What it takes to deliver an exceptional Developer Experience (DX) – aligning marketing and product teams to meet the unique needs of developers.Key ingredients of a winning Developer Relations program – from onboarding to advocacy and retention.How to stand out through community engagement – turning developers into loyal evangelists for your platform.Resources Mentioned:Nnamdi Iregbulem -https://www.linkedin.com/in/nnamdiiregbulem/Joyce Lin -https://www.linkedin.com/in/joyce-lin/Caroline Lewko -https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinelewko/Lightspeed Venture Partners | LinkedIn -https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightspeed-venture-partners/Lightspeed Venture Partners | Website -https://lsvp.com/Viam | LinkedIn -https://www.linkedin.com/company/viaminc/Viam | Website -https://www.viam.com/Revere Communications - https://www.reverecommunications.com/Tyler Jewell's research on developer-led markets -https://tylerjewell.substack.com/p/the-developer-led-landscape-20-08-28Stack Overflow Developer Survey -https://survey.stackoverflow.com/2024/GitLab's “Everyone Can Contribute” philosophy -https://gitlab.com/“Developer Relations: How to Build and Grow a Successful DevRel Program” by Caroline Lewko and James Parton - https://www.devrel.agency/bookThis episode is brought to you by:Leverage community-led growth to skyrocket your business. “From Grassroots to Greatness” by author Lloyed Lobo will help you master 13 game-changing rules from some of the most iconic brands in the world — like Apple, Atlassian, CrossFit, Harley-Davidson, HubSpot, Red Bull and many more — to attract superfans of your own that will propel you to new heights. Grab your copy today at FromGrassrootsToGreatness.com.Each year the US and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don't get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI.Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca.Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com.#DeveloperRelations #BusinessToDeveloper #B2D #Product #Marketing #Innovation #Startup #GenerativeAI #AI

Writing and directing for transmedia is an often overlooked part of world building in video games, but as consumers it is one of the most memorable elements of any game we play. Our host, David Taylor sat down with Neel Upadhye, a creative powerhouse who has left his mark on some of the most iconic franchises in gaming. From shaping the lore of Star Wars: The Old Republic and Battlefield 2042 to crafting Stories from the Outlands for Apex Legends, Neel's work has been viewed tens of millions of times, defining what it means to merge storytelling with gameplay. In this episode, we explore Neel's journey through the gaming industry, dive into his creative process, and what the future holds for transmedia storytelling.We'd also like to thank Lightspeed Venture Partners for making this episode possible! With its dedicated gaming practice, "Lightspeed Gaming," the firm is investing from over $7B in early- and growth-stage capital — the by far largest fund focused on gaming and interactive technology. If you're interested in learning more, go to https://gaming.lsvp.com/.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co.Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

If a team hasn't built a minimum viable product, secured paying customers, or demonstrated strong unit economics, what exactly are seed-stage investors betting on? To get some answers, I sat down with Nnamdi Iregbulem, a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, to discuss what drives seed valuations, the traits of successful founders, and his perspective on AI startups. “A lot of the pitches that I get are basically two people, a PowerPoint deck, and their dog,” Nnamdi told me during our conversation in October 2024. Nnamdi shared his journey from coding as a kid to investment banking at JP Morgan, growth-stage investing at Iconiq Capital, and now helping early-stage founders at Lightspeed. He explains why seed valuations often reflect the opportunity cost of the founding team more than traditional factors like interest rates or public market comps, and highlights the rising costs of GPUs and AI talent as critical considerations. We also explored the traits that set exceptional founders apart — like strong domain expertise, adaptability, and demonstrated excellence — and why inference-based AI startups may have an edge over those focused on training new models. For aspiring VCs, Nnamdi offers practical advice on developing domain expertise, building a network, and honing the skills needed to evaluate companies effectively. Whether you're a founder, investor, or simply curious about the startup ecosystem, this episode is packed with actionable insights.   RUNTIME 33:24 EPISODE BREAKDOWN (2:24) “ I was the first-born son of two Nigerian immigrants who really badly wanted me to be a doctor.” (6:17) “ I was sort of like, ‘what do I know about early-stage companies?' I never worked in a startup.” (8:50) The day-to-day work Nnamdi does with the founders in Lightspeed's portfolio. (11:13) He explains why seed valuations aren't valuations. (13:31) “ The only characteristic… that had any real predictive value was the opportunity cost of the founder.” (16:43) “ Coming from a large and stable big tech company is not the positive signal that it used to be.” (17:32) The weights and measures he uses to assess seed-stage founders. (19:33) When domain expertise is (and is not) useful. (20:53) How he evaluates technical vs. non-technical founders. (24:16) “A lot of the pitches that I get are basically two people, a PowerPoint deck, and their dog.” (25:18) How to pitch Nnamdi directly. (26:21) Setting valuations is “ more driven by the founders than it is by us.” (29:33) His advice for anyone who wants to break into venture capital. LINKS Nnamdi Iregbulem Seed Valuations Aren't Valuations, whoisnnamdi.com email Nnamdi Lightspeed Venture Partners SUBSCRIBE

A new frontier is emerging with the advent of "web shops," also known as direct-to-consumer distribution methods. Alexandra Takei, Director at Ruckus Games, sits down with Chris Faught, the CEO and founder of Neon, a direct-to-consumer payments service currently working with Space Ape, Metcore, and Theorycraft to build customizable web shops and geography-specific payment systems, challenging the traditional distribution models of Apple and Google. We explore the evolving landscape of mobile regulations, contextualize the current payment stack in gaming, and break down what it means to be “the merchant of record.” The discussion highlights what major publishers and game studios have done since the iOS and Android distribution shake-up that began with Epic's lawsuit against Apple in 2021. Additionally, we dig into the nuances of why a direct-to-consumer webshop is about more than just increasing profitability. For any studio, investor, or revenue strategist interested in optimizing margins and considering a shift to a direct-to-consumer webshop, this episode is a must-listen.We'd also like to thank Lightspeed Venture Partners for making this episode possible! With its dedicated gaming practice, "Lightspeed Gaming," the firm is investing from over $7B in early- and growth-stage capital — the by far largest fund focused on gaming and interactive technology. If you're interested in learning more, go to https://gaming.lsvp.com/.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

What is culture, and why does it matter? Seth Sivak, the founder and ex-CEO of Proletariat, a studio most known for its title Spellbreak, joins our host, Alexandra Takei, Director at Ruckus Games, to discuss the importance of organizational culture in the gaming industry. Proletariat was founded in 2012 by Seth and four other co-founders and went through various era of growth: scaling up to 80 people in person, 130 people remote during the pandemic, everyone brought back in person again, and then a sale to Blizzard Entertainment in the summer of 2022 with subsequent culture merging afterward. We discuss the definition of culture, who is responsible for setting it, who is responsible for maintaining it, as well as tactics to create a shared vision and shared set of norms, habits, and standards. If you are curious about what supercharges a successful game and business, this is a conversation that illuminates the balance between transparency and employee focus, how to build an effective communication decorum that scales, and why spending time on your company culture does not detract from building your product and business, but if done right, enhances and augments success.   We'd also like to thank Lightspeed Venture Partners for making this episode possible! With its dedicated gaming practice, "Lightspeed Gaming," the firm is investing from over $7B in early- and growth-stage capital — the by far largest fund focused on gaming and interactive technology. If you're interested in learning more, go to https://gaming.lsvp.com/.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

If you are into fantasy sports, Dream 11 is a household name. Boasting over 220M active users, it is one of the most popular fantasy sports platforms in the world. But what you might not know is that Dream 11 is just one part of the Dream Sports Group, which aspires to be a full 360 sports experience beyond fantasy (including merchandise, travel, streaming, live experiences, and, of course, video games).Rohit Gupta, Founder and CEO of Dream Games Studios, joins our host, Alexandra Takei, Director at Ruckus Games, for a discussion about innovation and growth in the sports video game industry with a specific eye towards Cricket and India. Their most recent game, Dream Cricket, aims to be the most authentic and realistic cricket game in the market. But what makes a good cricket game, and can you create a blockbuster cricket video game akin to Madden for the Indian market? What advantages are there to building in public, and what are the challenges in the licensing (name, image, and likeness) across the pro cricket space? What is the macro positioning for the sports video game market, and how has Dream Sports Group organized itself to capitalize on the opportunity? That and more!We'd also like to thank Lightspeed Venture Partners for making this episode possible! With its dedicated gaming practice, "Lightspeed Gaming," the firm is investing from over $7B in early- and growth-stage capital — the by far largest fund focused on gaming and interactive technology. If you're interested in learning more, go to https://gaming.lsvp.com/.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

In the latest episode of FNO: InsureTech, we sit down with Sivan Iram, Founder & CEO of Flow, to explore Flow's role in the wholesale insurance brokerage industry. Sivan shares his unique insights into blending advanced technology with human expertise to provide unmatched service. Discover the significance behind Flow's recent rebranding from Capitola, and gain valuable perspectives on AI's role in enhancing broker workflows. Key Highlights: The inspiration and reasoning behind rebranding Capitola to Flow Specialty. How Flow combines human expertise with cutting-edge technology for superior brokerage services. The significance of AI in optimizing broker workflows and decision-making. Insights into Flow's focus on customer-centric service using a balanced approach between technology and human touch. The impact of strong investor partnerships, including Munich Re Ventures, on Flow's growth and credibility. Quotes: "To me, the vision of developing an internal culture and service that puts our stakeholders in a state of flow is paramount." —Sivan Iram "AI is not what you do; it's how you do it. It's a different way to think about digitizing knowledge and making it accessible to brokers." —Sivan Iram "The magic in life, as in business, is balance—combining human expertise with technology to outperform and better serve our clients." —Sivan Iram "We are a wholesale broker, but we operate in a very technological manner under the hood to deliver better service for our clients." —Sivan Iram References: Flow Specialty: flowinsurance.co Munich Re Ventures: munichre.com Lightspeed Venture Partners: lsvp.com  

For many of us, meetings take up a disproportionate amount of our time at work. But with the advent of AI-powered tools, meetings may become more manageable and even productive, all without the sacrifice of control.  This week on Generative Now, Lightspeed Partner and host Michael Mignano speaks with Chris Pedregal, CEO and co-founder of Granola, an AI-powered notepad and meeting assistant. Chris discusses the unique features that set Granola apart from other AI meeting bots, as well as the challenges of building AI-driven products. Michael also talks with Chris about Granola's development, user feedback, and the importance of AI-human collaboration. Chris shares his insights about the nuances of effective note-taking, and the future potential of augmented thinking tools. Chris Pedregal is the co-founder and CEO of Granola, an AI-powered meetings tool designed to to change the way we work, with tools that understand us, anticipate our actions, and augment our abilities. In May 2023 they raised a $4.25m Seed round from Lightspeed Venture Partners, betaworks and FirstMinute. He is based in London. Prior to Granola, Chris studied Computer Science at Stanford before joining Google as a Product Manager, where he worked on Gmail, Search and Maps. In 2013 he quit to launch Socratic, an AI-powered tutor for high school students, which was acquired by Google in 2018. Episode Chapters (00:00) Introduction (00:39) Life in London - from Shoreditch to Street Art (02:10) Building Startups in London vs. New York (03:53) The AI Talent Pool in London (05:03) Deep Dive into Granola's Product Design (11:33) Granola's Unique Approach to AI Meeting Bots (18:38) Avoiding the Feature Trap (20:14) User-Centric Design in Granola (21:07) Ensuring Accuracy in AI-Generated Notes (23:43) Collaborative AI Interfaces (26:23) Future Directions for Granola (31:43) Insights from User Behavior (37:20) Conclusion and Final Thoughts Stay in touch: www.lsvp.com X: https://twitter.com/lightspeedvp LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightspeed-venture-partners/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightspeedventurepartners/ Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: generativenow.co Email: generativenow@lsvp.com The content here does not constitute tax, legal, business or investment advice or an offer to provide such advice, should not be construed as advocating the purchase or sale of any security or investment or a recommendation of any company, and is not an offer, or solicitation of an offer, for the purchase or sale of any security or investment product. For more details please see lsvp.com/legal.

There are 3B gamers in the world, and many of those players have disabilities. Often called “accessibility” or “adaptive gaming”, this is one of the most important topics (and markets) in the gaming industry. From mobility, visual, and hearing impairments to cognitive and speech impairments, the industry has begun making strides in addressing how we can enable as many people as possible to access gaming experiences, plus interpret and perceive the content as intended. Alexander Dunn, Founder and CEO of Cephable, joins our host, Alexandra Takei, Director at Ruckus Games, for a discussion on who is doing what in the hardware space, which games are masterclasses in pushing the frontiers of accessibility, and how AI is impacting studios' abilities to do these things in a cost efficient manner. We also discuss how Cephable is playing a role as a mediator between different types of inputs (gesture control, voice activation, and facial recognition) and is building a marketplace of games that support adaptive controls.  We'd also like to thank Lightspeed Venture Partners for making this episode possible! With its dedicated gaming practice, "Lightspeed Gaming," the firm is investing from over $7B in early- and growth-stage capital — the by far largest fund focused on gaming and interactive technology. If you're interested in learning more, go to https://gaming.lsvp.com/.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Between Apple's policy changes and growing government regulations, privacy concerns have sparked a significant shift in AdTech strategies. This episode investigates the potential for privacy-focused ads, exploring how companies are adapting to new regulations while still striving for effective targeting. Host Devin Becker is joined by Geeshan Willink, CEO of Nefta, to dig into the complexities of maintaining anonymity and its implications for the gaming industry.Geeshan shares insights on Nefta's journey from its web3 roots through the struggles with building ad technology that meets growing privacy standards. We explore the balancing act between precision targeting and user privacy, comparing anonymous user profiling with traditional fingerprinting methods. Willink offers examples of how behavioral-based identification can lead to effective ad targeting without compromising user data and discusses the potential impact on player retention and ad inventory pricing. The discussion also touches on the challenges of implementing these new approaches in an entrenched industry, recent trends in AdTech, and predictions for the future of ad-supported gaming.We'd also like to thank Lightspeed Venture Partners for making this episode possible! With its dedicated gaming practice, "Lightspeed Gaming," the firm is investing from over $7B in early- and growth-stage capital — the by far largest fund focused on gaming and interactive technology. If you're interested in learning more, go to https://gaming.lsvp.com/.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Major toy companies like Spin Master, Mattel, and Hasbro have all been expanding their influence beyond traditional toys for many years. Spin Master, in particualr, is known for launching popular entertainment properties like PAW Patrol and Bakugan, which have seamlessly transitioned into digital formats in the form of TV series, movies, and video games. Spin Master has also been unafraid to acquire properties when it sees a strategic opportunity, such as its 2016 acquisition of Toca Boca, the children's mobile app developer. Today, host David Taylor sits down with Yves Saada, the Head of Strategic Partnerships at Spin Master, to better understand its place at the intersection of toys, video games, and entertainment more broadly. We cover Spin Master's success in mobile games, as well as Roblox, and how that fits into Spin Master's broader strategy as a toy company. We'd also like to thank Lightspeed Venture Partners for making this episode possible! With its dedicated gaming practice, "Lightspeed Gaming," the firm is investing from over $7B in early- and growth-stage capital — the by far largest fund focused on gaming and interactive technology. If you're interested in learning more, go to https://gaming.lsvp.com/.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Semil Shah sits down with Lightspeed Partner and host Michael Mignano for a quarterly conversation about AI and its evolving impact on startups, VCs, and incumbents. They also discuss Chris Paik's essay “The End of Software,” tech cleanses, Apple's WWDC, and the difference in thinking between LCs, GPs, and VCs in the landscape of AI.  Semil Shah is the Founding General Partner of Haystack and a General Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. Episode Chapters (00:00) Intro to Episode  (4:42) “The End of Software” (7:30) Computer Science and Philosophy (11:19) Where Technology Won't Go (19:33) Tech Cleanse  (24:07) WWDC24 - Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference  (26:40) ChatGPT & Apple Intelligence (33:13) Tim Cook (45:20) Ben Thompson  (48:10) Google (52:09) VC and AI (59:11) How LPs think about AI (01:06:57) How GPs think about AI (01:12:56) Vinod Khosla, OpenAI, and Square (01:14:49) Opposite George (01:25:40) Jerry Seinfeld, Neal Brennan, Rick Rubin, Lex Friedman (01:28:53) “The Greatest Show on Earth” Stay in touch: ⁠www.lsvp.com⁠ X: ⁠https://twitter.com/lightspeedvp⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightspeed-venture-partners/⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/lightspeedventurepartners/⁠ Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: ⁠generativenow.co⁠ Email: ⁠generativenow@lsvp.com⁠ The content here does not constitute tax, legal, business or investment advice or an offer to provide such advice, should not be construed as advocating the purchase or sale of any security or investment or a recommendation of any company, and is not an offer, or solicitation of an offer, for the purchase or sale of any security or investment product. For more details please see ⁠lsvp.com/legal⁠.

Welcome back to Friday Equity!In today's episode Equity podcast, Mary Ann, Haje and Becca dug into three very different but all super interesting deals of the week. Haje wanted to discuss Raspberry Pi's debut on the public market, and we all agreed that what this profitable company has managed to build – a tiny affordable computer that fits into the palm of your hand – is very neat. Mary Ann then wanted to talk about InScope, a fintech which just raised a $4.3 million seed round of funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners to automate financial reporting. Becca got to riff on Meowtel, a niche – and also profitable – startup focused on cat-sitting that has raised just $1 million in venture capital over its nine-year life.The trio then talked about all the Apple news (largely AI-focused) that came out of WWDC and its potential impact on the startup world. They then turned their attention to Elon Musk's reaction to Apple's announcement that it would be integrating ChatGPT into its iOS. While he clearly wasn't happy about it, we discussed what his true motives for threatening to pull Apple devices from his companies might be. That's it for this week, but we'll be back bright and early Monday with more tech and startup news. Talk soon!Equity is TechCrunch's flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes over at Simplecast. Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

A reminder for new readers. That Was The Week includes a collection of my selected readings on critical issues in tech, startups, and venture capital. I selected the articles because they are of interest to me. The selections often include things I entirely disagree with. But they express common opinions, or they provoke me to think. The articles are snippets sized to convey why they are of interest. Click on the headline, contents link, or the ‘More' link at the bottom of each piece to go to the original. I express my point of view in the editorial and the weekly video below.Hat Tip to this week's creators: @reidhoffman, @dougleone, , @credistick, @rex_woodbury, @NathanLands, @ItsUrBoyEvan, @berber_jin1, @cityofthetown, @keachhagey, @pmarca, @bhorowitz, , @signalrank, @steph_palazzolo, @julipuli, @MTemkin, @geneteare, @lorakolodny, @jasminewsun, @JBFlint, @asharma, @thesimonetti, @lessinContents* Editorial: * Essays of the Week* Crossing The Series A Chasm* The Consumer Renaissance* The Creator Economy on AI Steroids* AI Is Transforming the Nature of the Firm* The Opaque Investment Empire Making OpenAI's Sam Altman Rich* Video of the Week* The American Dream - Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz* AI of the Week* SignalRank Version 3 Improves Performance Again* How Long Can OpenAI's First-Mover Advantage Last?* OpenAI Employees Warn of Advanced AI Dangers* A Right to Warn about Advanced Artificial Intelligence* Nvidia hits $3tn and surpasses Apple as world's second-most valuable company* VCs are selling shares of hot AI companies like Anthropic and xAI to small investors in a wild SPV market* News Of the Week* Crunchbase Monthly Recap May 2024: AI Leads Alongside An Uptick In Billion-Dollar Rounds* Elon Musk ordered Nvidia to ship thousands of AI chips reserved for Tesla to X and xAI* Introducing video to Substack Chat* Instagram's Testing Video Ads That Stop You From Scrolling Further* Startup of the Week* NBA Nears $76 Billion TV Deal, a Defining Moment for Media and Sports* X of the Week* Doug Leone - I am supporting Trump. * Reid Hoffman - I am supporting BidenEditorialI woke on Tuesday to Doug Leone of Sequoia Capital on X saying:I have become increasingly concerned about the general direction of our country, the state of our broken immigration system, the ballooning deficit, and the foreign policy missteps, among other issues. Therefore, I am supporting former President Trump in this coming election.Doug has the right to support Trump. It is also clear that the immigration system is broken, the deficit is ballooning, many things are wrong with foreign policy, and there are “other issues.” Trump as the solution is less obvious. But there it is—hot on the tails of Chamath Palihipitaya and David Sacks announcing a fund-raiser for Trump on the All-In podcast (they said they would do the same for Biden).Reid Hoffman followed up a day later with:On one level, this is a straightforward choice, but any literate attempt to analyze Leone's issues might arrive at the following conclusions:* Like many Western nations, the USA is aging rapidly and has a shrinking working-age population across all skill sets. Immigrants are needed, and pro-immigration leadership is needed, creating a path to entry for large numbers of skilled and unskilled workers to fill empty jobs as we get close to full employment.* The deficit is large, and there are many palliatives available. Selling more to China would help, but both party leaders are protectionist. Taxes to reduce the divide between the 1% and the rest would help a bit. However, what would help the most is economic growth, which requires investment in technology and productivity. Neither leader seems too focused on innovation and investment.* Foreign Policy - well, sheesh, it's a big issue. However, saber-rattling about Taiwan and provoking China seems to be a hobby shared by both parties and does not seem smart. Ukraine and the future of Europe are better in Biden's hands, but not by a lot. Europe looks very shaky. The US is increasingly isolationist. The appetite for world leadership is on the decline. Again, the solution would focus on economic growth, which seems absent.Voting for Trump is a big no-no for me. But voting for Biden is, at best, a lesser evil instinct, not a belief system. The election will not be where the future is built, but it is important. Politicians are collectively disappointing.This week's video of the week from Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz is called “The American Dream” and champions their view about American Dynamism. And I must confess that this comes closer to a vision of the future than either political outfit. Their vision requires political support, massive government financial commitment, and private capital investment. I see no evidence of those happening.The real winning effort seems to be happening on the ground. This week, Nvidia hit $3 trillion, eclipsing Apple as the world's second-most valuable company. This is even though Apple has 7 times the revenue of Nvidia.This week's first essays also focus on prospects for boom time. Rex Woodbury's ‘The Consumer Renaissance' examines the impact of consumer spending on our lives. In ‘The Creator Economy on AI Steroids, ' Nathan Lands focuses on how emerging tools will transform creativity. But in ‘AI Is Transforming the Nature of the Firm, ' Evan Armstrong gets closest to a future vision.”AI is the first universally flexible technology. It can interact with our digital environments in similar ways to humans, so it can have all the flexibility that we do. In that way, it may be the last technology we ever need.This seems to be the crux of hope in a world where dreams and nightmares are strangely devoid of detail. What the world needs (not only America) is hope. And hope is born from optimism. Optimism is born from success. The most likely success of the next decades will result from specific uses of AI that improve human life.I know and like Doug Leone. I know and like Reid Hoffman. Doug's bar for success needs to be higher. Voting for Trump is not right, and even if it were, it would not be sufficient.Reid also needs a higher bar. Voting for Biden will not be sufficient even if it is right.Let's focus on where success can be found, grow optimism, and breed hope. There is a need for a broad technical revolution and the social rebirth it enables. Silicon Valley and its friends globally need to invent the next version of human existence to the benefit of all. The social rebirth requires a conscious effort; technology will not magically bring it about. More in this week's video.Essays of the WeekCrossing The Series A ChasmDan GrayDan Gray, a frequent guest author for Crunchbase News, is the head of insights at Equidam, a startup valuation platform, and a venture partner at Social Impact Capital.June 5, 2024As we get deeper into 2024, there is increasing concern about the state of Series A fundraising. The bar for investment appears much higher, and fewer startups are reaching it.This is a problem for founders, and investors like Jenny Fielding, managing partner of Everywhere Ventures, who said, “Every Seed investor's dilemma: All my Series A buddies want to meet my companies early! All my companies are too early for my Series A buddies.”To attach some data to this, we can see that the median step-up in valuation from seed to Series A has gone from $19.5 million in Q1 2022 to $28.7 million in Q1 2024. Series A firms seem to be looking for much stronger revenue performance, with targets of $2 million to $3 million in ARR, compared to $1 million to $2 million just a few years ago.The outcome is that while 31.8% of Q1 2020 seed startups closed their Series A within two years, that fell to just 12% for Q1 2022 — which should worry everyone.Why are Series A investors so much more demanding?Today's Series A investors are looking at startups that raised their seed between 2021 and 2023, which identifies the root of the problem: it spans the Q2 2022 high-tide mark for venture capital.For example, there were 1,695 seed rounds of more than $5 million in 2021, rising to 2,248 in 2022, then falling to 1,521 in 2023. As a comparison, there have been just 137 so far in 2024.The result is two categories of startups that are looking to raise their Series A today:* Pre-crunch startups that raised generous seed rounds and stretched the capital out as far as they could, to grow into inflated valuations.* Post-crunch startups that raised modest seed rounds on more reasonable terms, with shorter runways and less demonstrable growth.Strictly speaking, neither is more appealing than the other; the first group has less risk, the second offers more upside, and both are adapted to current market realities. It shouldn't cause a problem for investors, provided they can distinguish between the two.The cost of market inefficiencyVenture investors have a market-based lens on investment decisions, which means looking fairly broadly at trends in revenue performance and round pricing to determine terms, e.g. a typical Series A is within certain bounds of revenue performance and valuation. While that approach may be serviceable and efficient under ideal conditions, the past few years have been far from ideal.Without distinguishing between the two cohorts, investors are now looking at the performance of Series A candidates that spent more than $5 million on a war chest for two to three years of growth alongside the valuations of candidates that raised around $2 million to prove scalability. It just doesn't work as an average, and thus the unreasonable expectations...MoreThe Consumer RenaissanceFrom Predicting Consumer AI Applications to Analyzing Consumer SpendREX WOODBURY, JUN 05, 2024“Consumer” has become something of a bad word in venture capital circles.We see this reflected in the early-stage markets: recent data from Carta showed that just 7.1% of Seed capital raised last year went to consumer startups. That's less than half the share from 2019 (14.3%).But I think consumer is actually a great place to be building and investing. Whenever something is out of favor, that's a sign it's probably a good place to spend time: this is an industry built on being contrarian, not built on following the herd. We're entering a compelling few years for consumer entrepreneurship.First, I'd argue that consumer is too narrowly defined. When people think consumer, they often think consumer social (a tough category) or consumer brands (a tough fit for venture compared to internet and software businesses, with typically lower return profiles). But consumer is broader. Consumer encompasses businesses that sell to consumers and those that rely on consumer spending. This means the obvious names—apps on our phones like Uber, Instacart, Spotify—and the enablers: Shopify, for instance, powers online retail; Faire powers offline retail; Unity powers game development. Each of the latter three is B2B2C, in its own way, but I would categorize each is also a consumer technology business.The wins in consumer can be massive. The biggest technology businesses in history began as consumer businesses—Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon. The original companies comprising FAANG—with Microsoft conspicuously absent—were allconsumer.And some of the best returns of the last five years have stemmed from consumer tech IPOs. At Daybreak, we invest ~$1M at Pre-Seed and Seed. Here's how much a $1M investment in the Seed round of five recent consumer IPOs would yield:Big consumer wins compare favorably to big enterprise wins—relative to Snowflake's market cap, Uber is ~3x in size, Airbnb is ~2x in size, and DoorDash is roughly equal. (Snowflake is the biggest enterprise IPO of the last decade.) The last few years produced a windfall of consumer outcomes, yet investors today almost write off the category.At Daybreak, we don't focus exclusively on consumer; my view is that you need to balance more binary consumer outcomes with B2B SaaS and B2B marketplaces. But we do approach investing through the lens of the consumer—how people make decisions. The buyers of products like Figma and Ramp, after all, are people, and software companies are increasingly selling bottom-up into organizations. The line between consumer and enterprise has been blurring for years.This week's Digital Native makes the argument that consumer tech is a compelling place to build and invest. We'll look at the data to back up this argument, then delve into three categories of consumer that I'm particularly interested in right now:* Checking in on Consumer Spend* Consumer Tech: The Data Doesn't Lie* What to Watch: AI Applications* What to Watch: Shopping* What to Watch: Consumer Health* Rule of Thumb: Follow the SpendThis week we'll cover #1-3, and next week in Part II we'll tackle #4-6.Let's dive in

The New York Times is one of the world's most recognized newspapers and has been in circulation since 1851. With 10 million subscribers, the Times has a huge audience and an even larger cultural impact. But the Gray Lady isn't content to just rest on her laurels and focus on news - other verticals in which the Times operates are product reviews (The Wirecutter), sports (through their 2022 acquisition of The Athletic), cooking, and, of course, games. In addition to their home-grown casual titles, the Times famously acquired viral sensation Wordle in early 2022 and since then has launched hit games Connections and most recently Strands (in beta).To learn more about the Times' games strategy, your host Niko Vuori talks with Jonathan Knight, Head of Games at The New York Times. New York Times Games: https://www.nytimes.com/subscription/games. You can find Jonathan Knight on LinkedIn.We'd also like to thank Lightspeed Venture Partners for making this episode possible! With its dedicated gaming practice, "Lightspeed Gaming," the firm is investing from over $7B in early- and growth-stage capital — the by far largest fund focused on gaming and interactive technology. If you're interested in learning more, go to https://gaming.lsvp.com/.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Sam Altman is the CEO @ OpenAI, the company on a mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. OpenAI is one of the fastest-scaling companies in history with a valuation of $90BN and $2BN+ in revenue. Brad Lightcap is the COO @ OpenAI and the man responsible for the incredible scaling of sales, GTM, partnerships and business to today being over $2BN in revenue. Arthur Mensch is the Co-Founder and CEO of Mistral AI. Since its inception in May 2023, Mistral has raised over $520M in funding from investors like Andreeseen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Microsoft with a current valuation of $2 billion.  Des Traynor is a Co-Founder of Intercom, and has built and led many teams within the company, including Product, Marketing, and Customer Support. Today Des leads all of Intercom's R&D efforts, and parts of Intercom's marketing. Tom Hulme is a Managing Partner of GV (Google Ventures), and leads the European team. Today, GV has over $10BN in AUM and Tom has led investments in Lemonade.com (IPO), Snyk, Secret Escapes, Blockchain.com, GoCardless, and Currency Cloud (exited to Visa). Tomasz Tunguz is the Founder and General Partner @ Theory Ventures, just announced last week, Theory is a $230M fund that invests $1-25m in early-stage companies that leverage technology discontinuities into go-to-market advantages. Sarah Tavel is a General Partner @ Benchmark, one of the most successful and renowned venture firms in the world. At Benchmark, Sarah has led rounds in Chainalysis, Hipcamp, Medely, Rekki, Glide, Cambly and more. In Today's Episode We Discuss: Will foundation models be commoditised? What is the end state for the foundation model landscape in 10 years? How will large cloud provider incumbents approach M&A with smaller foundation model providers? When will we see marginal revenue exceed marginal cost in the foundation model business model? Where is the value: the application layer or the infrastructure layer? How can startups know whether they will be threatened by OpenAI? What are good tests/questions to know if you are in the path of one of the large foundation models? How does the business model of SaaS fundamentally change in a world of AI? Will we see the end of per-seat pricing in a new world of AI? What is the right way to approach pricing in a world of AI? Consumption? Tokens?  

In the dynamic landscape of gaming, the fusion of cutting-edge financial technology and innovative incentives is shaping a new era of player acquisition and engagement. Host Devin Becker leads an insightful discussion with Ben Cousens, Chief Strategy Officer of ZBD, and Paul West, Founder of Fumb Games, on the transformative power of Bitcoin rewards in gaming.  Delving into Fumb's utilization of ZBD technology, they both unveil how this synergy propels gaming retention and LTV through examples of successful games harnessing ZBD's Bitcoin Lightning Network service.Exploring the intersection of financial incentives and traditional user acquisition (UA), the conversation navigates how rewarding players financially complements conventional marketing strategies. Addressing pressing issues in mobile UA and retention, Ben and Paul dissect the system's efficacy in mitigating challenges and fostering sustainable growth. Strategic considerations, such as player segmentation and reward frequency, illuminate the nuanced approach required for optimal results. We explore how this approach manages to be cost effective for game developers by rewarding amounts that are a fraction of LTV while still strongly motivating players.Navigating the complexities of fluctuating Bitcoin prices and the potential for alternative reward forms, including NFTs, tokens and other networks, the discussion forecasts the evolving landscape of gaming incentives for games and potentially gamified apps. As the prospect of moving from free to play to rewarded play becomes potentially more prevalent, the episode raises thought-provoking questions about its trajectory and the ensuing competitive landscape. Join Devin, Ben, and Paul for a compelling exploration of the future where gaming and incentives converge to redefine player engagement.We'd also like to thank Lightspeed Venture Partners for making this episode possible! With its dedicated gaming practice, "Lightspeed Gaming," the firm is investing from over $7B in early- and growth-stage capital — the by far largest fund focused on gaming and interactive technology. If you're interested in learning more, go to https://gaming.lsvp.com/.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Larsen Jensen, the Founder and General Partner of Harpoon Ventures, is a pioneer in the world of venture capital, having co-founded one of Silicon Valley's first dual-use VC firms, now boasting over $300 million in assets under management. With a keen eye for innovation, Larsen has led numerous investments in defense tech, cybersecurity, AI, enterprise infrastructure, and frontier technology. But Larsen's journey to success is as remarkable as it is multifaceted. Before venturing into the realm of venture capital, he carved out a legacy in the world of athletics, earning two Olympic medals in swimming (2004 and 2008) and setting the American record in the 400m event. Following his Olympic triumphs, Larsen transitioned to serve as a Navy SEAL, further demonstrating his unwavering dedication to excellence and service. With a diverse background spanning investment and asset management roles at prestigious firms including UBS, Goldman Sachs, Andreessen Horowitz, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, Larsen brings a wealth of experience and insight to every conversation. A graduate of USC with a Bachelor's degree and Stanford with an MBA, Larsen's journey embodies the intersection of athleticism, entrepreneurship, and investment acumen. Join us as we uncover the extraordinary stories and invaluable lessons that have shaped Larsen's path to success. Follow Harpoon Ventures on LinkedIn. Follow My Fame, Explained on: ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ ⁠⁠YouTube

Arthur Mensch is the Co-Founder and CEO of Mistral AI. Since its inception in May 2023, Mistral has raised over $520M in funding from investors like Andreeseen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Microsoft with a current valuation of $2 billion. Before founding Mistral, Arthur was a research scientist at DeepMind, one of the leading AI institutions in the world. In Today's Episode with Arthur Mensch We Discuss: From Models to Team Building: Arthur's Greatest Lessons at DeepMind What were Arthur's biggest lessons from his time at DeepMind? How did DeepMind shape how Arthur built Mistral? Why does Arthur believe smaller teams are better for AI? Why did Arthur decide to leave DeepMind and start Mistral? Scaling Mistral to $2 Billion Valuation Within a Year What made Mistral 7B so successful? What did Arthur learn from the model release? What are the biggest barriers at Mistral today? How does Arthur balance the sales and research teams at Mistral? What does Arthur know now that he wishes he had known when he started Mistral? How to Win in AI: Open Source, Cost, & Adoption Why did Arthur open-source some models? Why did he close some? How quickly will the cost of compute go down? Why does Arthur believe marginal costs will not go to zero? How will open-sourcing LLMs affect the marginal cost? Does Arthur think open source is ready for enterprise adoption? What questions should enterprises be asking about AI adoption today? What are the biggest challenges to AI adoption today? The Future of LLMs What does Arthur think are the largest bottlenecks of model quality today? Does Arthur think future models will be more generalized or vertical-focused? What does Arthur think about the future of commoditization in models? Why is Arthur optimistic about the profitability of the application layer of AI? How should models differentiate themselves today?  

This episode is a compilation of 6 of the most powerful women featured on the So This Is My Why podcast, discussing the milestones that led them on their journey to successEp 124: Jacqueline Novogratz Jacqueline is the founder & CEO of Acumen - a non-profit global venture capital fund that aims to use entrepreneurial approaches to address global poverty. As the OG of impact investing, she shares her experience in Rwanda and learning that the most important thing is to build something where you leave no footprint behind.And how there is no such thing as black & white. Everyone has an angel and demon within them that comes out at different times.

DoF Newsletter: https://www.deconstructoroffun.com/subscribe Hemal Thaker https://www.linkedin.com/in/thakerhemal/ Moritz Baier-Lentz https://www.linkedin.com/in/moritzbaierlentz/ In this eye-opening podcast, industry insiders Hemal and Moritz provide candid insights into the current state of the gaming industry, discussing market challenges, the impact of layoffs, the dynamics of venture capital and publisher models, the potential of Web 3, the role of AI, and predictions for the future. From navigating downturns to seizing emerging opportunities, this conversation offers valuable advice for founders and executives alike, shedding light on the realities of the gaming landscape while inspiring optimism for the road ahead. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/deconstructoroffun/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/deconstructoroffun/support

In this week's Roundtable, the squad unpacks the seismic impact of Nintendo's legal victory, securing a $2.4M settlement against the Switch emulator Yuzu, a move that has dramatically reshaped the emulation landscape. We then pivot to Netflix's strategic foray into gaming, spotlighting its latest coup in bringing the critically acclaimed indie darling Hades to mobile platforms, signaling a deeper commitment to integrating premium gaming into its ecosystem. The conversation shifts to the ever-evolving acquisitions landscape, including the recent sales of Saber Interactive's and Jagex, which hints at private equity's growing role in the gaming industry's future. Amid the flurry of industry upheavals, we also take a moment to shine a light on the positive trends and standout successes that have emerged early in 2024, offering a counter-narrative to the often gloomy industry headlines. Join us for all the latest games business news with Aaron Bush, Anil Das-Gupta, and host Devin Becker.If you'd like to speak with Naavik at GDC, please use this form to let us know! https://9r0y051mvrx.typeform.com/to/hRCVP7VNWe'd also like to thank Lightspeed Venture Partners for making this episode possible! With its dedicated gaming practice, "Lightspeed Gaming," the firm is investing from over $7B in early- and growth-stage capital — the by far largest fund focused on gaming and interactive technology. If you're interested in learning more, go to https://gaming.lsvp.com/.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback, shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Jake Seid is the Co-Founder and General Partner at Ballistic Ventures, a VC firm focused on early-stage cybersecurity and security-related venture investments, with a debut fund of $300M. Before working at Ballistic, Jake was a Managing Director at Lightspeed Venture Partners and founder and Managing Director at Stone Bridge Ventures—his portfolio includes Blend, Brex, Bolt, Abnormal Security, Carta, Cresta.ai, Drata, and more.    You can learn more about:  Investing trends in the cybersecurity space Starting and building a successful fund  How to attract the best founders  ===================== YouTube: @GraceGongCEO Newsletter: @SmartVenture LinkedIn: @GraceGong TikTok: @GraceGongCEO IG: @GraceGongCEO Twitter: @GraceGongGG ===================== Join the SVP fam with your host Grace Gong. In each episode, we are going to have conversations with some of the top investors, superstar founders, as well as well-known tech executives in silicon valley. We will have a coffee chat with them to learn their ways of thinking and actionable tips on how to build or invest in a successful company.

Sebastian Duesterhoeft of Lightspeed Venture Partners joins Nate to discuss Are Software Businesses Defensible? What is the S curve and How to Time it, and Lessons from Investing in Snowflake, Databricks, and Confluent. In this episode we cover: Investing in a Challenging Market with a Growth Investor AI Technology, Its Impact & Potential to Disrupt Industries and Create New Opportunities Investment Strategies and Price Dynamics in the Startup Space Investing in Enterprise Software Companies, Including S-Curve Analysis Market Size and Potential for a New Endpoint Security Player Determining the Size of the Queue for Cloud Security and Software Development Market Sizing, Vertical SAAS, and Software Margins Investing, Brand, and Distribution in the Tech Industry Guest Links: Twitter LinkedIn Lightspeed Venture Partners The hosts of The Full Ratchet are Nick Moran and Nate Pierotti of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area. Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social. You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and we'll send a list of potential investors right to your inbox!