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  • LIGHT SPEED VENTURE PARTNERS

  • BEFORE JOINING LIGHT SPEED HE

  • WAS THE HEAD OF TALK FOR

  • SPOTIFY.

  • MIKE, I ASSUME THAT SOUNDS

  • FAMILIAR TO YOU AS YOU GO OUT

  • AND LOOK FOR POTENTIAL

  • INVESTMENTS, TALK TO PORTFOLIO

  • COMPANIES.

  • HAS THE ENVIRONMENT CHANGED THE

  • APPROACH OF WHAT IS GOING TO

  • MAKE A SUCCESSFUL STARTUP OR

  • MAYBE CREATED A LITTLE BIT MAYBE

  • HIGHER HURDLE RATE FOR WHEN YOU

  • EXPECT COMPANIES TO ACTUALLY GET

  • TO CRITICAL MASS

  • >> ABSOLUTELY.

  • THANKS FOR HAVING ME, MIKE

  • LOOK, IT IS NO SECRET THAT

  • VALUATIONS AT ALL STAGES ARE

  • DOWN, BE IT AT THE EARLY STAGE

  • THE

  • OR GROWTH STAGES BUT DEALS ARE

  • GETTING DONE, ESPECIALLY WHEN

  • YOU TAKE A LONG-TERM VIEW WHICH

  • IS WHAT VENTURE CAPITAL IS ALL

  • ABOUT.

  • SO VENTURE IS A LONG TERM

  • BUSINESS

  • AT LIGHTSPEED WE TAKE A TEN-YEAR

  • VIEW OF COMPANIES WE INVEST IN

  • WHETHER YOU ARE INVESTING IN

  • 2008 AND 2016 OR 2022, THERE'S

  • ALWAYS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR A

  • REALLY, REALLY FANTASTIC

  • COMPANY.

  • IN FACT, HISTORICALLY LOTS OF

  • OUR BEST INVESTMENTS HAVE BEEN

  • MADE DURING THE 2009 DOWNTURN

  • WHEN WE INVESTED IN COMPANIES

  • LIKE MULESOFT OR APP DYNAMICS.

  • SO THE SPACE IS STILL ABSOLUTELY

  • RIPE FOR CREATIVE FOUNDERS AND

  • PROBLEM SOLVERS RIGHT NOW AND WE

  • ARE STILL BULLISH IN EVERY

  • ECONOMIC CLIMATE

  • >> IF YOU LOOK AT THE WAY THE

  • PUBLIC MARKETS HAVE BEHAVED AND

  • THE AREAS OF THIS MARKET THAT

  • SEEMED LIKE THEY HAD THIS VERY

  • DRAMATIC BOOM/BUST CYCLE,

  • WHETHER IT IS SOME FINTECH OR

  • CLOUD SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS,

  • THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT WOULD

  • SEND A MESSAGE THAT SAYS THERE

  • WAS OVERINVESTMENT IN THOSE

  • AREAS, MAYBE THE AMOUNT OF

  • CAPITAL THROWN AT HIS

  • OPPORTUNITIES EXCEEDED WHAT

  • COULD REALLY BE REALIZED IN THE

  • SHORT TERM

  • IS THAT THE CASE IN THE PRIVATE

  • MARKETS AS WELL?

  • WHAT AREAS DO YOU THINK LOOK

  • STILL RIPE AND NOT YET

  • OVERPLAYED

  • >> I THINK ALL THESE AREAS,

  • ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU TAKE A

  • TEN-YEAR VIEW, ARE STILL GOING

  • TO BE ATTRACTIVE INVESTMENT

  • OPPORTUNITIES, LIKE CLOUD

  • COMPUTING OR EVEN CONSUMER

  • TECHNOLOGY

  • I THINK IT COMES BACK TO LIKE

  • ALEXIS SAID, THAT IF YOU ARE A

  • FOUNDER BUILDING IN ANY OF THESE

  • SPACES RIGHT NOW YOU NEED TO BE

  • MINDFUL OF YOUR CORE BUSINESS

  • AND CAPITAL.

  • WHEREAS PREVIOUSLY FOUNDERS WERE

  • MAYBE RAISING CAPITAL FOR, SAY,

  • 18 MONTHS OF RUNWAY, WE THINK

  • SOMEWHERE BETWEEN TWO TO THREE

  • YEARS OF RUNWAY IS MORE

  • APPROPRIATE AND, YOU KNOW, WE

  • HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN TELLING OUR

  • COMPANIES THIS SINCE LAST YEAR

  • AND EVEN BEFORE TO PREPARE FOR

  • THIS EXACT MOMENT, BECAUSE

  • OBVIOUSLY MARKET CYCLES LIKE

  • THIS ARE NORMAL AND THEY DO

  • HAPPEN

  • BUT, LOOK, I THINK IN GENERAL WE

  • ARE LOOKING FOR FOUNDERS WHO CAN

  • EXECUTE RIGHT NOW, WHO CANNOT

  • SIMPLY WHITE BOARD, FOUNDERS

  • THAT CAN BE LEAN AND DO A LOT

  • WITH A LITTLE.

  • WE KNOW THIS IS POSSIBLE

  • I KNOW THIS IS POSSIBLE FROM

  • PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.

  • LIKE YOU SAID, I RAN THE TALK

  • DIVISION OF SPOTIFY BEFORE

  • FOUNDING ANCHOR, THE WORLD'S

  • BIGGEST PODCASTING PLATFORM.

  • WE WENT FROM 0% MARKET SHARE TO

  • BEING THE GLOBAL MARKET LEADER

  • IN THREE YEARS WITH A TEAM OF

  • LESS THAN 20 PEOPLE AND UNDER

  • $15 MILLION CAPITAL IN TOTAL

  • RAISED

  • SO THERE ARE COUNTLESS EXAMPLES

  • OF COMPANIES IN ALL SECTORS THAT

  • CHANGE THE WORLD IF THEY OPERATE

  • IN A VERY, VERY LEAN WAY

  • I THINK THIS NEXT STAGE OF TECH

  • INVESTING IS GOING TO BE THE

  • SAME

  • >> PROBABLY THE AREA THAT'S

  • CREATED THE MOST RECENT

  • EXCITEMENT I SUPPOSE IS AI

  • APPLICATIONS

  • EVERYONE HAS BEEN TALKING ABOUT

  • THE CHATGPT AND WHAT IT MEANS

  • AND WHETHER IN FACT THIS IS A

  • BUSINESS OR JUST KIND OF A TRICK

  • AND WHAT POTENTIALLY MIGHT BE

  • THE THREAT TO SOME ESTABLISHED

  • BIG COMPANIES.

  • I KNOW THAT YOU SORT OF PLAY IN

  • THAT AREA.

  • WHERE IS IT HEADED MOST

  • IMMEDIATELY FROM HERE?

  • >> LOOK, I THINK POSSIBLY IT IS

  • THE MOST EXCITING BREAKTHROUGH

  • IN CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY SINCE

  • MAYBE THE iPHONE

  • IF YOU LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF

  • THE INTERNET OVER, SAY, THE PAST

  • 20, 30 YEARS, ONE AREA IN

  • PARTICULAR WHERE WE SEE A

  • TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF OPPORTUNITY

  • THROUGH AI IS IN CREATIVITY.

  • IF YOU LOOK AT CREATIVITY

  • ONLINE, THERE'S MASSIVE, MASSIVE

  • VALUE CREATED IN THE

  • DEMOCRATIZATION OF CREATIVITY.

  • YOU CAN LOOK NO FURTHER THAN

  • ADOBE'S RECENT ACQUISITION OF

  • FIGMA FOR $20 MILLION.

  • AI ALLOWS ANYONE TO BE CREATIVE

  • AND THAT LED US AT LIGHTSPEED TO

  • INVEST IN STABILITY AI

  • THEY'RE THE LEAD

LIGHT SPEED VENTURE PARTNERS

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