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Search is at War
Defensibility in the Age of AI Search Search is at war. LLMs are quickly changing how consumers search. A lot is at stake, including the market caps of 2 of the top 5 most valuable companies in the world. Google (GOOG: $1.9T market cap) and Amazon (AMZN: $2.04T) each dominate different types of search: knowledge…
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Consumption v. Creation Breakthroughs and How AI Can Revive Consumer Social
It’s been nearly a decade since a major social platform broke through — you can argue the last was either TikTok which bought Musically in 2017 (and then spent billions on acquisition), or Discord (200M MAU), founded in 2015. But the time may be now. The newest wave of AI has created a perfect storm…
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Consumer Products and the Utility v. Entertainment Tradeoff: Be Fun, Be Essential, or Be Nothing
I constantly see really smart people launch consumer products, get little to no reception, and wonder why. There are a ton of possible culprits. One common one I see is that their product lacked a captivating hook that chooses a side: to be singularly entertaining or provide extreme utility. It is my strong belief that…
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The Screens are Marching Closer: How Tech Interfaces Evolve
I’ve long had a thesis that “The Screens are Marching Closer.” The screens are marching closer means each successive iteration of tech interfaces will prioritize ease and intuition by bringing the screens closer to our face (and one day inside them with brain-computer interfaces). It’s what has me so convinced that typing into a chatbot…
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How AI is changing the rules of Consumer Engagement
AI is changing the rules of consumer engagement. Many formerly dependable tactics for building consumer tech products are changing. Operators will need to “re-learn” how build consumer tech in the world of AI. Across our consumer portfolio companies and externally, here’s a snapshot of where I’m seeing key areas of change: 🔹 **Acquisition**– Who the…
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THE SOPHISTICATION ERA OF CONSUMER FINTECH
This is Part 2 in my Consumer Fintech Series. See Part I here. First published on Lightspeed’s blog Consumer fintech is entering a new, 3rd era that will be defined by consolidation, optimization and intelligent software. Consumer fintech is in a transitory phase. Consolidation is taking place as value accrues to larger incumbents. We’ve reached…
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The Future of Crypto Native Consumer Products Part 4: Digital Identities
No More Catfishing. Digital Identities — It’s not a matter of if, but whom. This is Part 4 of the Series. Read Part 1, Part 2 (Messaging), & Part 3 (Utility). If you’re like me, you’ve had a friend who’s about to go on a first date with someone they met on Bumble. They’ll usually say something like, “I’ve already…
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The Future of Crypto Native Consumer Products, Part 3: Utility
What are Web3, NFTs, and crypto actually good for? Quite a lot, actually. Read Part I and Part II of the future of crypto consumer product series People who know of my interest in NFTs in the arts and crypto in general often ask me, “Okay, but are these things *actually* useful in the real…
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The Future of Crypto Native Consumer Products, Part 2: Messaging
Crypto’s ‘You’ve got mail’ moment is coming To steal a line from Mark Twain, the demise of crypto has been greatly exaggerated. Yes, token values are falling, and crypto companies built on the assumption of an ever-rising tide are starting to trim their sails. And yes a “crypto winter” is upon us. But I am confident that…
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The Future of Crypto Native Consumer Products
Every major technology shift has eventually brought forth a new wave of consumer tech companies. The emergence of the Internet led to messaging apps like AOL and Yahoo, marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, and entertainment services like Netflix and Pandora. The move to mobile led to the rise of Twitter, Uber, Facebook, and Snap*, among…
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Mercedes Bent 