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Why Lightspeed Bet on xAI, Neuralink, Suno, Granola, & Pika | Michael Mignano
Description
Michael Mignano, Partner at $30B VC firm Lightspeed, and the co-founder of Anchor, a podcast creation, hosting, and monetization platform acquired by Spotify in 2019, joins Sourcery to discuss the next era of creation & technology investing.
In this episode, Michael shares how his background building consumer media products informs the way he invests today, with a focus on AI and creativity-driven companies. We discuss his portfolio, including investments in xAI, Neuralink, Suno, Pika, Granola, and Macroscope, and how he evaluates AI businesses when incumbents can move quickly.
The conversation digs into what makes AI companies defensible today, from retention-driven moats to why ARR metrics can be misleading. Michael shares his reaction to the Sora launch and avatars, and what these changes could mean for creators.
We also touch on evolving early-stage check sizes, lessons from Spotify’s Daniel Ek, his work on Obo, and thoughts on potential IPO candidates.
Michael Mignano: https://x.com/mignano
Molly O’Shea: https://x.com/MollySOShea
Sourcery: https://x.com/sourceryy
𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒
YouTube : https://youtu.be/m0lZ3JdZw7s
𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐒
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Disclosure
Paid Endorsement. Brokerage services by Open to the Public Investing Inc, member FINRA & SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors LLC, SEC-registered adviser. Crypto trading provided by Zero Hash LLC, licensed by the NYSDFS. Generated A