Josh Machiz

Chief Marketing Officer at @LightspeedVP, previously Partner at @Redpoint and Chief Digital Officer at @Nasdaq

[Josh Machiz @Machiz]

today i'm joining @lightspeedvp as Chief Marketing Officer.

after doing thousands of IPOs at Nasdaq and building Redpoint's exceptional platform team, i've learned:

it's not just one launch video. it's the relentless drumbeat that get you heard.

and that's what i'm here to build for Lightspeed and our founders.

let's make some noise!

[Josh Machiz @Machiz]

Spotify: https://t.co/xNUXUCJkxa

[Josh Machiz @Machiz]

would you let AI read your mind?

not your private thoughts. not yet.

Meta just released Brain2Qwerty v2, a non-invasive brain-computer interface that can decode what someone is trying to type from brain activity.

the privacy questions are obvious.

but for people who can’t speak or type, including ALS patients and stroke survivors, the access upside is enormous.

right now, the hardware is still massive, expensive, and nowhere near consumer-ready.

but if this eventually shrinks into something closer to smart glasses, it could change how we communicate with machines.

this week on Lightwork, @clairejyz and i unpack what Meta’s release means, what it doesn’t mean yet, and why the next interface may not be a keyboard, screen, or voice assistant.

we also spoke with @istoica05 about @arena, its rise to $100M in annualized run-rate revenue in just 8 months, and how it stays neutral when the labs it ranks are also its customers.

tune in below.

[Claire Zau @clairejyz]

NEW EPISODE: @Meta reads your brain with Brain2Qwerty. @AnthropicAI releases Claude Science, and Co-founder and Chairman of @arena Ion Stoica joins us.

@istoica05 is the Berkeley professor behind an absurd run of systems that basically run modern AI: @ApacheSpark (the standard for big data), Ray (what OpenAI used to train ChatGPT), and @vllm_project (the most-used LLM inference engine). He also co-founded @databricks and @anyscalecompute - and now chairs Arena, the internet's default scoreboard for AI models.

0:00 The AI memory squeeze
2:55 Brain2Qwerty: Meta Reads Your Mind
9:38 Anthropic Releases Claude Science
15:58 Why Every Lab Wants Pharma
20:52 How Chatbot Arena Was Born
26:58 How Does Arena Actually Rank AI Models?
31:11 Subjective vs Objective AI Quality
33:49 How Arena Evaluates AI Agents
37:54 How Does Arena Stay Neutral?
43:31 Can AI Become Unmeasurable?

@Machiz @lightspeedvp

[Josh Machiz @Machiz]

yt: https://t.co/aMEf4V8b3S

[Josh Machiz @Machiz]

@istoica05 Thanks for joining us, Ion! We loved having you on to share your insights about @arena

[Chainguard ⛓️ @chainguard_dev]

Overheard on @lightspeedvp's Lightwork podcast 👂

Join Athena: https://t.co/PFpmpzkU9W

[Josh Machiz @Machiz]

@mattkrisiloff @Conception so much cool science news on the internet today, but this is mind blowing

[Lightspeed @lightspeedvp]

Is ChatGPT really drinking a bottle of water every time you prompt it?

Lightspeed partner @guruchahal says "the only thing drinking a bottle of water around here is me, not ChatGPT."

He explains: "The next generation of AI data centers are closed-loop systems. It's not like there's a river flowing next to the data center and hot water comes out."

"Once the data center is up and running, the water just gets recirculated within the system."

"We are rapidly approaching a world where the water impact, which is already negligible, is approaching zero."

From Lightwork

[Josh Machiz @Machiz]

guru explains the why behind the video all over the timeline today.

[Guru Chahal🇺🇸 @guruchahal]

A fact that some people are forgetting: Data centers aren't a new or novel concept. They’ve been used to power the internet for at least 30 years now.

This week, I joined @Lightspeedvp’s new show Lightwork, hosted by @clairejyz and @Machiz, to talk about the realities of the data center - debunking some common environmental fears - and how tech companies are responding to climate pushback.

About 10 years ago Google pointed its own AI at its own data centers and made them 40% more efficient.

As AI evolves, I predict that the self-fulfilling cycle of innovation in AI data centers will compound to 100-1,000x higher efficiency.

Thank you to Claire and Josh for having me on the podcast this week! You can watch the full episode below.

Skip to 23:04 to hear our discussion on AI data centers.

[Josh Machiz @Machiz]

it feels like ai researchers are getting traded like athletes.

this week on Lightwork, @clairejyz and i unpack Meta’s AI reorg and morale issues, ChatGPT slipping below 50% assistant market share for the first time, two major DeepMind researchers heading to Anthropic and OpenAI, and why Midjourney’s move into healthcare is more significant than it looks.

we also get into Google DeepMind’s partnership with A24, where i seem to be in the unpopular camp of people who are actually thrilled.

thank you to @Lightspeedvp partner @guruchahal for joining us. we pulled back the curtain on AI data centers and why the energy conversation is more nuanced than the headlines suggest.

the stat that stayed with me: Guru framed California almond farming as consuming in roughly 4 days what U.S. data centers consume in water in an entire year.

tune in below for our first shoot on the road. and we’ll see you again next week.

[Claire Zau @clairejyz]

NEW EPISODE: Midjourney’s body-scanning spa, ChatGPT slips below 50% market share, two big DeepMind departures

@Lightspeedvp Partner @guruchahal breaks down AI data centers, layer by layer, and where we see innovation happening

3:04 Midjourney Medical: A Spa That Scans Your Body
11:26 The Assistant Race: ChatGPT Slips Below 50%
15:59 DeepMind Departures And The AI Talent War
19:57 Google x A24: AI Goes To Hollywood
28:01 Debunking AI Data Center Myths
33:20 How AI Is Making Data Centers More Efficient
37:26 The AI Data Center Stack
49:36 Can We Solve the Biggest Challenges of Space Data Centers?

@Machiz

[Josh Machiz @Machiz]

@arena Really moving at Lightspeed!!! Congrats @ml_angelopoulos and team 🥳

[Josh Machiz @Machiz]

@TechNYC @lightspeedvp thanks tech nyc!

[Josh Machiz @Machiz]

@arnaud_thev @clairejyz @lightspeedvp Thank you so much!

[Josh Machiz @Machiz]

physical AI is no longer theoretical.

this week on Lightwork, @clairejyz and i unpack Snap’s Specs, Prometheus, the SpaceX + Cursor deal, and Google DeepMind’s TacticAI for the World Cup.

plus, James Ephrati from @lightspeedvp’s growth team joins us to talk through what he calls the "Moore's Law for market value," how he sees the venture game changing, and the paradox for giant companies getting bigger faster.

tune in below.

[Claire Zau @clairejyz]

NEW EPISODE: Snap Launches Specs, Bezos’s $41B AI Startup & The SpaceX Cursor Deal 🚀

@lightspeedvp Partner James Ephrati also joined us to walk through how he thinks the VC playbook has changed as giant companies compound faster (not slower!)

🕶️ Are @Snapchat specs the future of wearable computing?
🤖 @JeffBezos bets on physical AI (and why it might be the next industrial revolution)
🚀 SpaceX goes public + acquires @cursor_ai - what does it mean when the biggest companies just keep getting bigger?
💰 How founders should think about venture in a world dominated by mega companies

We’ll be back next Monday with more - full YT and Spotify link below @Machiz

[Lightspeed @lightspeedvp]

What happens to ads when AI agents start doing the shopping?

@machiz and @clairejyz discuss:

"Our entire Internet is built on this premise that we're monetizing on eyeballs. All we care about is how many people see things."

"When you are being funneled through an AI conversation and a link that is suggested to you by AI, those are often much higher intent."

"AI-referred visitors converted at nearly 50% higher rates than organic search, with 14% higher average order values."

"I'm not going to pay per click. I'm not gonna pay per view because that doesn't work."

From our new show, Lightwork

[Josh Machiz @Machiz]

real-time video generation has the potential to be a game-changer for marketing and media.

after @lightspeedvp co-led @reactorworld's Seed, and again led their Series A, co-founders @taiuti and @_bschmidtchen went on The Investment Memo to share their vision for the future of world models.

together with @buckymoore and @theamberyang, they talked about the complexity of real-time video, what they learned on the early Apple Vision Pro team, and what developers are building on reactor.

watch the full episode to hear more from Alberto and Bryce on the World Model era.

[Lightspeed @lightspeedvp]

Real-time world models represent a fundamental shift in AI.

@reactorworld is building the platform for real-time generative video infrastructure, supporting developers who need the tech for use across entertainment, physical AI, and robotics.

Co-founders @taiuti and @_bschmidtchen joined us last week on The Investment Memo, hosted by Partners @buckymoore and @theamberyang, to talk about the era of world models.

The conversation centered around the infrastructure Reactor is building, why real-time models are the edge right now, and current use cases for the product.

Alberto and Bryce agreed that world models are shaping the way simulations are created, and that developers need a streamlined platform that can support their ideas.

We believe Reactor is positioned to be at the frontier of research into real-time generative models. We look forward to seeing how these models apply across industries.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction & Overview of Reactor
01:08 Meet the Hosts & Founders
02:18 The Origin Story: From 3D Assets to World Models
05:07 Real-Time Video Applications Across Industries
06:55 The Open Source World Model Explosion
07:23 Why Infrastructure Is the Opportunity
08:42 Parallels to Past Technology Waves
09:51 Bridging the Research-to-Production Gap
13:13 What Developers Are Building with World Models
16:41 Lessons from Luma AI
18:23 What Apple Vision Pro Taught Bryce About Real-Time Systems
20:48 Company Values & Team Culture
22:40 Series A: What the Capital Unlocks
24:13 Reactor's Five-Year Vision
26:09 Closing Remarks

[Josh Machiz @Machiz]

@Vatsalpandya333 @lightspeedvp @clairejyz Every week 🫡

[Josh Machiz @Machiz]

@averghese thx sir excited to make light work of things

[Josh Machiz @Machiz]

Watch the full episode: https://t.co/RZxYDaTFDl

[Josh Machiz @Machiz]

what a fulfilling day.

huge thank you to @ravi_lsvp for joining us as the first guest on Lightwork, and to everyone who watched, shared, and reached out after episode one.

we designed the studio to feel like a 1960s space shuttle crossed with a Silicon Valley garage: part retro future, part startup origin story.

more soon on how we built it. full tour + behind-the-scenes coming soon.

[Josh Machiz @Machiz]

@MollySOShea @clairejyz would love to take a crack at designing a travel set for Sourcery 🔮

[Josh Machiz @Machiz]

EXCLUSIVE: the vc media wars have entered their Lightwork era.

we gave @MollySOShea and Sourcery the first look at the show, the strategy, and why @clairejyz is exactly the voice this moment needs.

[Molly O’Shea @MollySOShea]

NEW: a16z bought Turpentine. OpenAI bought TBPN. Jack Altman joined Benchmark. Now Lightspeed makes its move..

The $40B AUM VC fund hired Claire Zau (aka 'Zauey Talks' on IG) to lead *new media* & co-host Lightwork, its weekly AI podcast

Zauey Talks Stats:
- 350K+ followers
- 10M+ monthly impressions
- Built in ~1 year

We cover:
- The tech media land grab
- Split investing + media role
- Tech X vs mainstream social media
- AI bubble?
- Why does GenZ hate AI?
- Who tells the AI story best?

Lightwork is co-hosted by @clairejyz & CMO @Machiz

Since 2000, @lightspeedvp has been an early backer of Abridge, Anthropic, Anduril, Castelion, Databricks, Glean, Mistral, Navan, Neko Health, Netskope, Thinking Machines, Reflection AI, Rubrik, Snap, Skild AI, Vinted, Wiz, & more.

𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒
(00:00) Claire Zau, Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners
(00:54) Inside Lightspeed's new podcast studio
(02:37) How Josh Found Claire on TikTok
(04:34) Why venture expertise is missing from the mainstream
(08:23) The content that actually works
(10:19) What TikTok comments taught her about AI perception
(13:01) Keeping editorial independence at a mega fund
(14:42) The split role nobody thought was possible
(17:20) The show built to bring mainstream audiences into venture
(20:43) The AI bubble question everyone's asking
(22:00) What Claire is most excited about covering
(23:39) Why Gen Z hating AI makes no sense
(28:50) How big tech companies can fix their image problem
(32:16) Who tells the AI story best
(34:14) The Lightspeed portfolio companies to watch
(38:40) Two creators compare notes on building in media
(43:31) Getting recognized in the wild
(45:43) Expanding beyond ed tech into AI frontier