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