Generative Now | AI Builders on Creating the Future

Latest Episodes:

Scott Belsky: Content Creators, Creativity, and Marketing in the AI Landscape (Encore) Apr 03, 2025

Show notes

This week, we’re revisiting a conversation with Scott Belsky, who recently announced a new role leading innovation at A24. Lightspeed Partner and Host Michael Mignano talks with Scott about the evolution of marketing with generative content, the future of personalization, and overlooked opportunities in the AI landscape.

This conversation took place at the Robin Hood Opportunity x AI Summit. Robin Hood is the largest foundation fighting poverty in New York City. The group has invested nearly $3.5 billion over 35 years and Robin Hood supports all five boroughs with food pantries, high-performing schools, job-training programs, shelters and more. The group has a venture-like approach; they scale programs that are working and find new programs to fill gaps.

Episode Chapters

(00:00) Intro

(00:32) Scott Belsky on AI and Creativity

(04:06) The Role of Creators

(5:18) AI Generated Content on Social Media

(7:59) Customers Inspiring Product Development

(09:59) The Hyper Personalization of Digital Experiences

(13:57) Overlooked Business Opportunities in AI

(18:38) How AIs Can Scale SMBs

(20:46) Legal Risks with Enterprise Adoption

(25:02) Custom Tuned Models Generated From IP

(26:34) The Rise of AI Agents

(29:12) Why Scott Belsky is An AI Optimist

Stay in touch:

www.lsvp.com
X: https://twitter.com/lightspeedvp
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightspeed-venture-partners/
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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.

Lulu Cheng Meservey: The New Rules of Founder Comms (Encore) Mar 27, 2025

Show notes

Lulu Cheng Meservey puts founders in control of their narrative using one simple principle: Go Direct. This week, we’re revisiting our conversation with the CEO and Founder of Rostra, the go-to communications agency for Silicon Valley founders. Lulu joins Lightspeed Partner and Host Michael Mignano on the podcast to talk about her modern communications playbook for founders of places like Ramp, SSI, Scale, Anduril, Suno, and The Free Press. They talk about why a comms strategy is just as important as a product strategy. Plus, Lulu shares her after action reports on Based Zuck, SpaceX, Tesla, and Waymo.

Episode Chapters:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:29) Why Founder Led Communication Works

(03:47) Challenges and Strategies for Founders

(06:49) Lulu's Career Experience

(08:34) Substack

(12:11) Have a Clear Company Mission

(18:01) The ‘Go Direct’ Manifesto

(23:59) Traditional Media in Communication Strategy

(24:40) Targeted Communication: Persuading Key Decision Makers

(25:54) Effective Use of Press and Media Outlets

(28:30) Lulu’s After Action Report: Tesla's Recent Event

(36:11) Apple's Strategy and Public Perception

(38:46) Waymo's Underrated Progress in Autonomous Vehicles

(40:17) Meta's Positive Feedback Loop and Based Zuck

(43:42) The Importance of Founder-Led Companies

(47:27) 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

Johnny Ho: The Future of Online Search (Encore) Mar 20, 2025

Show notes

This week, we are revisiting a conversation between Lightspeed Partner and host Michael Mignano and Johnny Ho, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Perplexity. Perplexity is the AI powered search engine that is rapidly growing and challenging the industry status quo. Johnny and Michael talk about his background as a competitive programmer, the business model of search, and Perplexity’s Publisher Program, where publishers earn a share of advertising revenue.

Johnny has been ranked number one in the world of competitive programming. He previously worked at Quora as a software engineer – he accomplished all of this before graduating from Harvard.

Episode Chapters

(00:00) Introduction

(00:40) Johnny Ho's Engineering Background and IOI Achievements

(02:44) Transition to Product Strategy

(05:39) Perplexity: The Answer Engine

(11:06 )Technology Behind Perplexity

(15:47) Challenges and Future of AI Models

(19:41) Growth and Distribution Strategy

(23:54) Setting and Achieving Team Goals

(25:35) Perplexity's Business Model and Future Plans

(31:01) Challenges and Opportunities in AI and Search

(32:55) Publisher Program and Content Credibility

(39:59) Voice and Multimodal Experiences

(42:04) What's Next for Perplexity?

(43:12) 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

Dan Shipper: The First MultiModal Media Company Mar 13, 2025

Show notes

Code is content. Writers build apps. App builders write newsletters. This is Every CEO & Founder Dan Shipper’s vision for the modern media company. Michael Mignano, Partner at Lightspeed, sits down with Dan to talk about building the first multimodal media company, developing viral software like Cora, and cultivating an audience and talent at Every.

Check out our episode with Nathan Baschez, Every cofounder and Lex CEO

Episode Chapters

(00:00) Introduction
(02:54) Dan's Journey into Coding
(03:47) Cofounding Firefly
(06:53) The Evolution of Every
(15:40) Vibe Coding
(24:37) The Creation of Cora
(30:12) Every's Product Ecosystem
(34:47) AI&I Podcast
(35:37) Innovative Uses of AI Tools
(37:46) Deep Background and Research Tools
(41:07) Exploring AI Models and Their Capabilities
(49:14) Voice as the Future Interface
(57:04) The Future of AI and Startups
(01:03:26) 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.

Josh Mohrer: Is the Future of AI Businesses A Solo Pursuit? Mar 06, 2025

Show notes

AI is rapidly expanding what we can get done in a day. So, can entrepreneurs leveraging AI start companies of one? In this episode of Generative Now, host Michael Magnano, partner at Lightspeed, sits down with Josh Mohrer, the founder and CEO of Wave, a revolutionary AI app that records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings and conversations. Josh talks about his entrepreneurial journey, transitioning from running Uber's New York operations to building a successful solo venture. He shares how he leveraged AI technologies like GPT-3 to learn to code and develop Wave, the challenges and advantages of being a solo founder, and his hands-on approach to customer support.

Episode Chapters:
(00:00) Introduction
(00:31) Josh's Journey with Uber
(09:29) Transition to Building Wave with AI
(24:41) Embracing the Solo Entrepreneurial Journey
(25:26) Balancing Expectations and Investor Influence
(26:20) The Role of AI in Engineering and Development
(27:17) Improving App Performance and User Experience
(29:03) The Future of Solo Ventures and AI-Driven Companies
(31:54) AI's Impact on Coding and Development Practices
(35:53) Leveraging AI for Customer Support and Internal Tools
(38:59) How Josh Leverages AI Tools
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.

Mikey Shulman answers your questions about Suno and making music with AI Feb 27, 2025

Show notes

Mikey Shulman, Co-Founder and CEO of Suno, comes back on the podcast to answer your questions from X with Lightspeed Partner Michael Mignano. Mikey shares about Suno’s growth over the past year, introducing new models, and launching their mobile app. They also address numerous questions from the audience about the potential of AI in creating realistic music, copyright issues, and the future vision for AI-generated compositions.

Episode Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome

01:09 Suno's Recent Developments

01:45 Mobile App and User Experience

02:01 AI Music Models and Quality

05:06 Community Questions and API Discussion

06:43 Future of AI in Music

12:14 Copyright and Legal Considerations

14:24 Challenges and Opportunities in AI Music

23:17 Open Source AI Models

26:54 Future Enhancements and User Controls

29:50 Collaborative Music Creation

31:42 AI Voice Enhancement

33:12 Future of Music Videos

34:20 User Demographics and Live Jamming

36:09 Multimodal Inputs and Personalization

38:47 Blockchain and Music

41:29 AI's Sense of Taste in Music

44:37 Social Music and Prompting Tricks

48:41 Educational Features and Future Vision

52:02 Building an AI Startup

58:32 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

Arvind Jain: Why Now Is the Time to Solve Enterprise Search Feb 20, 2025

Show notes

Enterprise search is a problem that’s plagued companies since the advent of working on computers. Now, AI promises solutions. In this week’s episode, host Michael Mignano from Lightspeed sits down with Arvind Jain, founder and CEO of Glean, to discuss the evolution of AI-assisted enterprise search. Arvind shares what insights helped to start Glean's journey in 2019, how the company leveraged transformer-based models early on, and how Glean developed the market for this product. They also talk about competition, the technical aspects of integrating Glean across SaaS platforms, and the monumental impact of ChatGPT on the industry.

Episode Chapters

(00:00) Introduction

(01:15) Why Arvind Created Glean to Solve Enterprise Search Problems

(03:50) Technical Foundations: Building Glean with Transformers

(09:04) Product Market Fit and Early Challenges

(12:16) The Impact of ChatGPT and Market Evolution

(13:42) Glean's Architecture and Model Integration

(17:58) The Future of AI in Enterprises

(27:52) Leadership, Competition, and Company Culture

(35:48) Reflections and Lessons from Rubrik to Glean

(41:15) Lightning Round and Closing Remarks

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.

Mike Krieger: Product Building Lessons from Co-Founding Instagram to Leading Product at Anthropic Feb 13, 2025

Show notes

Mike Krieger is known for cofounding Instagram, one of the most beloved pieces of consumer technology, and now he is leading product at Anthropic. This week, host and Lightspeed Partner Michael Mignano talks to the product building legend to discuss the challenges AI product builders face and the evolution of product innovation. They draw parallels between two transformative eras: the social media revolution that gave birth to Instagram and today's AI renaissance.

Episode Chapters

(00:00) Introduction

(00:54) Mike Krieger's Journey to Anthropic

(03:17) Building Product Strategy at Anthropic

(07:43) Rapid Iteration and Safety

(10:58) Differentiating AI Models and User Experience

(17:57) Impact of AI on Consumer Products and Business Models

(24:39) Enterprise vs. Consumer Product Strategy

(29:19) AI in Personal Life Management

(30:15) Open Source and Claude Integrations

(33:09) AI-Assisted Product Development

(37:13) Scaling Teams and Processes at Anthropic

(42:17) Reflections on AI and Future Prospects

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

Rajarshi Gupta: Artificial Intelligence and Crypto at Coinbase Feb 06, 2025

Show notes

This week on the podcast, we’re looking at how machine learning is optimizing how crypto giant Coinbase operates. Coinbase Head of Machine Learning Rajarshi Gupta joins the Generative San Francisco stage to discuss with Anand Iyer, Lightspeed Venture Partner focused on crypto.

(00:00) Introduction
(00:26) Rajarshi Gupta’s Career Journey
(01:54) Exploring Early Android Malware Detection
(04:44) Machine Learning at Coinbase
(09:03) Generative AI Initiatives at Coinbase
(13:52) Evaluating and Managing AI Deployments
(21:10) GPU Availability Challenges
(23:27) Workflow with Specific Hosted Instances
(25:43) Coinbase: Scaling and Future Plans
(29:09) Opportunities for AI Startups
(31:46) Audience Q&A: Data Gap with AI Startups
(34:48) Audience Q&A: Agentic AI and Crypto Integration
(38:26) Audience Q&A: Guardrails and Frameworks for AI
(42:43) Audience Q&A: Evaluating LLMs
(45:40) Closing Thoughts

Anu Atluru: Will AI Change How We Use Social Utilities? Jan 30, 2025

Show notes

In this episode of Generative Now, host Michael Mignano, Partner at Lightspeed, chats with Anu Atluru—a startup founder, operator, angel investor, and co-runner of Slang—a product studio dedicated to social consumer products. Anu shares her insights on the evolving landscape of social products, the difference between social utilities and social networks, and how AI could reshape the healthcare landscape.

Episode Chapters

(00:00) Introduction to Generative Now

(02:55) Exploring Social Utilities and Networks

(10:21) Subscription Services and Consumer Behavior

(17:14) The Role of AI in Social Utilities

(34:06) The Future of Software Creation

(37:34) The Value of Software Creation

(38:34) Ecosystem and Marketplaces for Software

(39:34) Artistic Side of Software

(47:42) AI in Medicine and Healthcare

(52:21) Will we have AI Doctors?

(01:05:19) Lightning Round