General Partner @USV. Building @Supertake. Co-Founder Anchor (acq. by Spotify) and @OboeLabs. Early investor in @meetgranola, @suno, @xai, others.
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Articles by Michael Mignano
Obliterate, Don't Automate | Union Square Ventures
Skip to content In 2015, my partner Fred Wilson published a short blog post, Don’t Automate, Obliterate, on how USV thinks about startup investments. The post was based on a 1990 HBR article by Michael Hammer by the same name. Specifically, Fred and the rest of USV partners found that the best investments were in the companies that were not just building software to automate existing markets… but to fully obliterate them instead.
The Future of Market Research is Autonomous: Our Investment in Dialogue
For decades, technology companies have competed on who could build the fastest, racing to release features, ship code, and launch products. But in this AI-native era of technology, the differentiator isn’t just speed to building — more than ever it is speed to understanding. Market research has long been the domain of large companies with big budgets and long timelines.
The End of Micromanagement
Today, Lightspeed is announcing that we’re leading a $30M Series A in Macroscope, an AI-powered understanding engine for teams. Founded by Kayvon Beykpour, Joe Bernstein, and Rob Bishop, Macroscope is leveraging AI to help teams of all sizes better understand and fix their codebase, enabling them to cancel meetings, file fewer JIRA tickets, and get back to building.
Game Changers Is Back-Nominate Gaming, Media, and AI Startups!
The Game Changers 2026 theme is “building through chaos.” From mass layoffs, budget cuts, and economic headwinds to shifting global policies, the gaming & interactive media industry is weathering continued volatility. At the same time, generative AI, extended reality, and other emerging technologies are giving rise to unprecedented opportunities to create previously impossible experiences.
Investing in TollBit: The Internet’s AI Toll Booth
AI is changing the economics of the internet. When an AI chatbot can simply answer any question on any topic in the known universe, there’s no need to visit the websites where the bot found those answers in the first place. But without site visits, the advertising revenue keeping many of those sites afloat quickly dries up.
The End of Advertising
Everybody hates ads. At least that’s what we all say out loud. But our revealed preferences tell a different story: we all actually love ads, because they fund most of the content we consume on the internet. Without ads, we’d have to pay for content with our hard earned dollars. But with ads, we pay with our attention, and we perceive the cost of the content as free. Ads have made the internet as we know it today possible.
Generative NYC: Pika and ElevenLabs Share the Secrets of Their Success
At the latest #GenNYC event, Lightspeed chats with the founders of Pika and ElevenLabs about the future of AI audio and video and what it's like to compete against incumbents. The past 18 months or so have been an absolute rollercoaster for generative AI. New breakthroughs nearly every day, tons of startups launching, lots of funding happening–it’s been equal parts exciting and exhausting.
Welcoming The King of Virality
Every consumer founder can agree: finding distribution for your product may be the single greatest challenge startups face. And so today, we at Lightspeed are thrilled to welcome Nikita Bier to our partnership as a Product Growth Partner. In this newly created role, Nikita will help Lightspeed founders across all categories fine tune their products for maximum virality and breakout distribution.
Understand more, faster
Today, Lightspeed is announcing that we’re leading a $10.9M Series A in Particle, the company that’s on a mission to help everyone understand more about the world faster through AI, starting with the news.
Suno’s Hit Factory
Faction Ventures, LLC (“Faction”) and Lightspeed Management Company, L.L.C. (“Lightspeed”) are separate businesses that operate independently of each other. Faction is a registered investment adviser under the United States Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. Faction advises its own fund(s) and does not advise any Lightspeed clients, and Lightspeed does not advise Faction or any of its clients.
Pika’s Imagination Engine
Today, Lightspeed is announcing that we’re leading a $35M Series A in Pika, the company that’s redesigning the entire video-making and editing experience with AI. Founded by Demi Guo and Chenlin Meng, Pika is making it possible for anyone to create high quality video through their state-of-the-art video model and creation platform, both of which also launch today.
Here’s how AI startups can beat the big guys
Here’s how AI startups can beat the big guys By Michael Mignano August 24, 2023 It is summer 2023, and each day brings a new AI product demo that goes completely viral on Twitter X or TikTok. Countless people are blown away by the product’s magic-like qualities, powered by GPT-4, Stable Diffusion, or some other new language, video, or image model.
AI startups can beat the tech giants. Here's how
Premium Co.Design Tech Work Life News Impact Podcasts Video INNOVATION FESTIVAL Login Help Center FC Executive Board Newsletter Courses and LearningAdvertiseCurrent Issue By Michael Mignanolong Read It is summer 2023, and each day brings a new AI product demo that goes completely viral on Twitter X or TikTok. Countless people are blown away by the product’s magic-like qualities, powered by GPT-4, Stable Diffusion, or some other new language, video, or image model.
Startups v. Incumbents—The Battle for AI’s Application Layer - Lightspeed Venture Partners
It is Summer 2023, and each day brings a new AI product demo that goes completely viral on Twitter X or TikTok. Countless people are blown away by the product’s magic-like qualities, powered by GPT4, Stable Diffusion, or some other new language, video, or image model.
The Battle for AI's Application Layer
Generated with Stable Diffusion. Prompt: Historic battlefield with toy soldiers, GI Joes on opposite sides, clashing, intense, fast-paced, dramatic, historic, high detail. SFW It is Summer 2023, and each day brings a new AI product demo that goes completely viral on Twitter/X or TikTok. Countless people are blown away by the product's magic-like qualities, powered by GPT4, Stable Diffusion, or some other new language, video, or image model.
The Great Rethink: Restaurants Will Need to Evolve to Meet Today's New Values
The fine dining experience, although it has evolved over the years, has always stood for very specific ideals. Gourmet food, attentive white tablecloth service, an upscale ambiance and innovation have been consistent trademarks. Highly curated chefs' menus featuring high-end ingredients would create a restaurant signature. The fine dining experience came with a dress code and a high price. In luxury five-star hotels, fine dining needed to appeal to a wide range of diners from all parts of the globe.
Scott Belsky on Creativity in Generative AI
Our Generative series of meetups bring together the AI community of Founders, builders, and investors to talk about the shape of the future. Recently, we held the summer edition of Generative NYC where Scott Belsky, Adobe’s Chief Strategy Officer and EVP of Design and Emerging Products sat down with Lightspeed Partner Michael Mignano to discuss the influence of generative AI on creativity, work, startups, and healthcare.
HOTEL BUSINESS REVIEW
HOTEL BUSINESS REVIEW August FOCUS: Food & Beverage August, 2023 Food & Beverage: Breakfast is King As always, hotels are looking to leverage their food & beverage operations to increase sales. One strategy being implemented is a greater emphasis on upselling. For example, a pastry chef might host a chocolate making class once a week. Or a chef might offer a signature dining experience in the hotel's most luxurious suite.
The Future Is Context-Aware
Why Lightspeed is leading a $4.25M Seed in Granola Today, Lightspeed is announcing that we’re leading a $4.25M seed investment in Granola, a new, London-based company with a bold vision to build the context-aware workspace of the future. Founded by Chris Pedregal and Sam Stephenson, Granola aims to change the way we all work through tools that deeply understand us, anticipate our actions, and augment our abilities.
The Future is Context-Aware
Today, Lightspeed is announcing that we're leading a $4.25M seed investment in Granola, a new, London-based company with a bold vision to build the context-aware workspace of the future. Founded by Chris Pedregal and Sam Stephenson, Granola aims to change the way we all work through tools that deeply understand us, anticipate our actions, and augment our abilities.
Introducing Generative NYC
Right now, every startup founder, engineer, designer, and product manager is thinking about how they can leverage AI to take their product to new heights. And while there are plenty of places online for people to gather, learn, debate and share new ideas, we believe there's a need for an offline place - somewhere IRL - where AI builders can gather to bond as a local community, learn from leading experts, and showcase the products they are building. So today Lightspeed is launching Generative NYC.
Storytelling at the Cost of Zero
Today, Lightspeed is announcing that we're leading a $43M Series B in Tome, the AI-powered storytelling format and the fastest-growing productivity company to reach 1M users. It's been thrilling to watch just how fast Tome has ascended and become beloved by so many people, so quickly. But why is this happening? The answer is surprisingly simple, and follows a common pattern among software, technology, and creativity. Note: you can also view the below essay as a tome.
Alexa & ChatGPT: a match made in AI heaven
Hello, reader! I’m trying something new with today’s post. Instead of my typical, biweekly-ish long read, I’m trying a shorter “thought starter” to head into the weekend (based on a tweet I quickly fired off a few hours ago). Enjoy! 🙏 Late in 2022, the media was writing off smart speakers like Alexa and Google Home as a “colossal failure.” Given the dramatic Amazon losses driven by the Alexa business, it seemed like a reasonable take.
Fictional reality: Why the real metaverse doesn’t require a headset
By Michael Mignano December 09, 2022 Much has been said of, written about, and invested in the “metaverse.” For the uninitiated, the metaverse is a conceptual version of the future in which we’re all interacting—for work, play, and everything in between—in an alternate version of reality that’s powered by VR, AR, BCI (brain computer interfaces), or a combination of all of the above.
For Startup Growth, TikTok is the GOAT đ
But that doesnât mean youâve found product market fit. Iâm about 4 months into my job as a partner at Lightspeed after 15 years building products (including Anchor, which I co-founded and then sold to Spotify) and angel investing in 50+ startups. But while Iâm still new to the job, Iâve already noticed a number of interesting trends throughout the hundreds of startup pitches Iâve been lucky enough to participate in, including early stage teamsâ approach to growth.
Fictional reality: Why the real metaverse doesn’t require a headset
By Michael Mignano 10 minute Read Much has been said of, written about, and invested in the “metaverse.” For the uninitiated, the metaverse is a conceptual version of the future in which we’re all interacting—for work, play, and everything in between—in an alternate version of reality that’s powered by VR, AR, BCI (brain computer interfaces), or a combination of all of the above.
Fictional Reality: Why the Real Metaverse Doesn't Require a Headset
Much has been said of, written about, and invested in the “Metaverse.” For the uninitiated, the Metaverse is a conceptual version of the future in which we’re all interacting — for work, play, and everything in between — in an alternate version of reality that’s powered by VR, AR, BCI (brain computer interfaces) or a combination of all of the above. This promised future requires step changes to the behavior of how we all interact with both hardware and software on the internet.
How Twitter Blue Can Still Succeed
If you've spent any time on Twitter lately, you may have the impression that the platform is experiencing a rapid demise. It feels like there have been a near infinite number of tweets, blog posts, and op-eds in major publications over the past week declaring the end of the social media platform.
Circle Labs: The Shape of AI-powered Friends to Come
Hello subscribers! What you’re about to read is a little bit different than my normal essays. Recently, I announced that I was joining Lightspeed as a Partner, investing in early stage consumer startups. And today, my new partners and I are announcing my first lead investment in Circle Labs.
The Creativity Supply Chain is tech’s next huge opportunity
People are inherently creative. As far back as the history books go, humans have always expressed themselves creatively, whether for communication, storytelling, or even art. As the tools that we’ve used to express ourselves have evolved and multiplied, so too have the manifestations of our creativity. Today, not only are the tools easy to use, they’re also increasingly powerful.
The Creativity Supply Chain is tech’s next huge opportunity
People are inherently creative. As far back as the history books go, humans have always expressed themselves creatively, whether for communication, storytelling, or even art. As the tools that we’ve used to express ourselves have evolved and multiplied, so too have the manifestations of our creativity. Today, not only are the tools easy to use, they’re also increasingly powerful.
The Creativity Supply Chain
Title: "Creative Liberties" | Background made with DALL-E 2, prompt: "person working on a computer in a massive art studio loft, art supplies scattered on the floor, ultra intricate art dynamic composition dramatic lighting octane rendered, colorful". Title text added with Canva. Total time to create: ~9 minutes. People are inherently creative. As far back as the history books go, humans have always expressed themselves creatively, whether for communication, storytelling, or even art.
A former Spotify exec predicts podcasters who favor video formats will tap into more money and a bigger audience
Michael Mignano is the co-founder of Anchor and was Head of Talk at Spotify for nearly four years. COVID-19 turned podcasts into multi-media productions with Zoom recordings building on prior trends. Mignano predicts podcasters will turn to video and breaks down why it could be more profitable.
Lightspeed Ahead
Earlier this year, I announced that I was stepping away from my work on Anchor (after co-founding the company 8 years prior) and Spotify (where I led the podcast, live, and video businesses after we were acquired in 2019). When I announced that I was leaving, I shared that I had decided to pursue a new opportunity in the early stage investing space.
All Podcast Roads Lead to Video
If you’re a regular consumer of podcasts, you may have noticed a change over the past few years: many of the world’s most popular shows (and maybe some of your favorites) have started including the ability to watch instead of simply listen. While video podcasts are not a new concept, they’re quickly becoming mainstream and will soon represent the majority of the world’s podcasts.
The Power of SuperGoals
Most great teams would agree, there's nothing more powerful for executing on big ambitions than a clearly defined and well-communicated goal. But sometimes the stakes are much higher than usual. In these instances, a goal requires even more focus, execution, and clarity. All of these can be achieved through a framework that I have come to call SuperGoals, which I've relied on heavily throughout my career.
Who Loses When the Algorithms Win?
Last week, I published The End of Social Media, detailing how and why platforms were shifting away from social graphs and leaning into algorithmic, recommendation-based models of content distribution. If you haven't read it, here's the TLDR: Distribution of content through friend graphs isn't efficient for platforms. More importantly, it drives massive costs in the form of huge moderation teams, severe damage to platforms' brands, and opportunities for challengers to find more efficient models.
The End of Social Media
Hi friends, Nathan here! Today we’ve got another essay by the one and only Michael Mignano, co-founder of Anchor and former Head of Talk at Spotify, who published an essay here last week about how open standards can stifle innovation. This time, Michael is back to talk about how algorithmic feeds (like the one that drives TikTok’s “For You” page) are going to largely replace traditional friend graphs across all social networks.
The End of Social Media and the Rise of Recommendation Media
Last week, Meta announced that the Facebook newsfeed would be shifting towards an algorithmic, recommendation-based model of content distribution. This announcement marked the most recent example of a major platform to formally make this shift, while other major platforms, including Meta's Instagram, have been headed in this direction for a while.
The Standards Innovation Paradox
Hey! Nathan here. Today we have a guest essay from Michael Mignano, the co-founder of Anchor (the largest podcasting platform) and former “Head of Talk Audio” at Spotify. After they acquired Anchor, he went on to lead Spotify’s strategy across podcasts, live, and video. Michael’s essay is about how open standards like HTTP, RSS, and SMS are awesome in some ways, but often have the unfortunate side effect of freezing innovation in any product category where they take hold.
The Standards Innovation Paradox
Technical standards are awesome. Standards help teams save time and money by giving them a common language for how their products can interact with other products, eliminating the need to build each component within a market or re-define how systems communicate with each other.
Anchor - Product Information, Latest Updates, and Reviews 2022 | Product Hunt
Anchor is an app to broadcast your voice and talk with other people Continuous, automated compliance and risk management Latest launches See all launches Video Podcasts on Spotify Create a podcast via Anchor that you can watch on Spotify Geekout with Matt Navarra - Season 3 The hit podcast for social media managers is back Product Ops Podcast Learn how Product Ops is helping hyper-growth startups scale What people like about Anchor Launch Video Podcasts on Spotify! Now all creators can apply...
“Fantasy Hollywood” - Crypto and Community-Owned Characters
Every day we consume popular entertainment centered on characters. A collection of successful characters can become the foundation for a franchise — e.g. Star Wars, Marvel, Harry Potter — that can span decades, and be incorporated into successful products across platforms and media types. But today, most successful characters exist as intellectual property owned by a single corporation.
Evolving Anchor distribution to meet the needs of new creators
Over the past few years, Anchor has helped millions of people all over the world share their voices far and wide, including some of podcasting’s biggest creators. As a result of so many more people podcasting, the space has rapidly changed. New platforms and services for audio are emerging seemingly every week, giving creators more choices to make than ever before.
Podcasting, RSS, Openness, and Choice
The open RSS standard has provided immense value to the growth of the podcasting ecosystem over the past few decades. By publishing audio to the RSS standard, creators can be sure that their podcasts can be heard by consumers all around the world who use the many podcast consumption platforms which have adopted the standard.
The first podcast advertising platform for everyone
This deserves some upvotes for the GIF gallery alone 👏 But more seriously, this is a logical extension of the Anchor platform, now that they're hosting podcasts and building a network of proprietary data. We looked into working with ad networks for Product Hunt Radio earlier in the year and opted sell our own inventory directly.
No, Anchor doesn’t own your podcast – Michael Mignano – Medium
No, Anchor doesn’t own your podcast After speaking with countless podcasters in the community, we’re setting a new standard for podcasting with a Terms of Service that is simpler, easier to understand, and better reflects our mission of empowering creators everywhere. Anchor is built for creators.
No, Anchor doesn’t own your podcast
After speaking with countless podcasters in the community, we’re setting a new standard for podcasting with a Terms of Service that is simpler, easier to understand, and better reflects our mission of empowering creators everywhere. Anchor is built for creators. The mission that drives every decision we make is to democratize audio by giving everyone, regardless of experience level or financial means, easy and powerful tools to make a podcast and share their voice.
Megan Collins of Undressed and Style Girlfriend
Megan Collins is the founder and CEO of Style Girlfriend and host of the podcast Undressed, a podcast that explores what it means to live your life with style. Megan and I talk about the moment in her career where she decided to leave her safe, comfy, full time job in advertising to go all-in on her side project, Style Girlfriend. Later, we explore what it means to dive in to the world of podcasting, previously coming from a world of writing and blogging.
Rethinking audio editing on mobile
Since we launched Anchor 2.0 earlier this year, one of the most common questions we've gotten from creators has been "Why can't I edit audio before adding it to my station?" Editing indeed has always seemed like an obvious (and much-needed) feature that should exist alongside all of our other functionality: recording, adding songs from Spotify and Apple Music, taking call-ins from listeners, remote interviewing, etc. So what took us so long?
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