Generative Now | AI Builders on Creating the Future

In this episode of Generative Now, Lightspeed Partner Michael Mignano sits down with Tanay Kothari, the co-founder and CEO of Wispr Flow, an AI-powered voice dictation platform. Tanay traces his path from building dozens of apps as a teen in Delhi to now, and how those experiences inspired him to make one of the first “zero-edit” voice products. Tanay gets into training in-house models, beating sub-second latency, and explains his approach to onboarding customers with the goal of changing behavior. He also discusses what’s next for the future of voice products and why he predicts a post-keyboard future.

For more information on Wispr Flow, please visit https://wisprflow.ai and
https://wisprflow.ai/careers 

00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
01:26 Tenay's Background and Early Inspirations
02:29 Building and Selling Feather X
03:52 The Birth of Whisper Flow
04:25 Early App Development and Challenges
06:39 Innovative Projects and User Impact
11:45 Whisper Flow's Differentiated Approach
18:57 Technical Challenges and Solutions
22:23 Design and User Experience23:19 Personal Onboarding Experience
23:40 Building User Habits
24:43 Inspiration from Video Games
26:11 Onboarding Mechanics in Whisper
29:00 Challenges of Deep Integration
32:10 Transition from Hardware to Software
38:30 Future of Voice Technology
47:42 Upcoming Features and Opportunities

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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.

Recorded live at Lightspeed’s offices in San Francisco, this special episode of Generative Now dives into the urgency and promise of AI interpretability. Lightspeed partner Nnamdi Iregbulem spoke with Anthropic researcher Jack Lindsey and Goodfire co-founder and Chief Scientist Tom McGrath, who previously co-founded Google DeepMind’s interpretability team. They discuss opening the black box of modern AI models in order to understand their reliability and spot real-world safety concerns, in order to build AI systems of the future that we can trust. 

Episode Chapters: 
00:42 Welcome and Introduction
00:36 Overview of Lightspeed and AI Investments
03:19 Event Agenda and Guest Introductions
05:35 Discussion on Interpretability in AI
18:44 Technical Challenges in AI Interpretability
29:42 Advancements in Model Interpretability
30:05 Smarter Models and Interpretability
31:26 Models Doing the Work for Us
32:43 Real-World Applications of Interpretability
34:32 Philanthropics' Approach to Interpretability
39:15 Breakthrough Moments in AI Interpretability
44:41 Challenges and Future Directions
48:18 Neuroscience and Model Training Insights
54:42 Emergent Misalignment and Model Behavior
01:01:30 Concluding Thoughts and Networking

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: [email protected]

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.

In this episode of Generative Now, Lightspeed Partner Michael Mignano sits down with Kayvon Beykpour, co-founder and CEO of Macroscope, which launches today, and the former co-founder of Periscope. They dive into how Macroscope will serve as an “understanding engine” for software companies, giving leaders real-time visibility and saving engineers time with AI-powered workflows. Kayvon reflects on his journey from building Periscope and leading product at Twitter to reimagining how teams manage both human and agentic workforces. They get into philosophies on starting companies, management styles, and how AI could be the thing that helps managers solve their biggest challenges. 

Episode Chapters: 
00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:52 Introducing Macroscope: The New Product
01:24 The Problem Macroscope Solves
02:30 How Macroscope Works
03:52 The Future of AI in Software Development
08:58 Empowering Leaders with Macroscope
10:56 Kayvon's Journey: From College Startup to Macroscope
16:22 The Periscope Story: From Idea to Acquisition
28:22 The Rise and Challenges of Periscope
32:43 Twitter's Live Feature Evolution
33:59 Integrating Audio Conversations
35:07 Challenges in Twitter's Product Strategy
35:32 The Clubhouse Acquisition Attempt
36:27 Twitter's Cultural Shift with Spaces
38:48 Managing Large Teams at Twitter
44:05 Macroscope: The Genesis
47:03 The Role of LLMs in Macroscope
48:36 The Elon Musk Encounter
54:23 The Pivot to Macroscope
59:21 Future of Macroscope and Product Development

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: [email protected]

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.

In this special episode of Generative Now, Lightspeed Partner Michael Mignano talks with Semil Shah, founder and partner of Haystack VC and partner at Lightspeed. Together, they have a wide-ranging, unfiltered conversation on the state of AI, venture capital, and the future of media. They get into everything from Meta’s high-stakes AI talent spree and Apple’s uncertain strategy, to the Figma IPO, to the evolution of the seed stage, and the brewing battle between AI agents and the open web. Semil also shares hard-earned insights on founder strategy, brand building, and why design still wins.

Episode Chapters: 
00:00 Introduction
00:30 Reflecting on Long Island
01:47 M&A Frenzy and Talent Wars
02:10 Meta's Strategic Moves
06:30 Apple's AI Strategy
11:12 Figma's IPO Success
21:33 The State of Seed Investing
25:30 The Model's Mathematical Basis
26:00 Case Study: Firebase Acquisition
27:19 Seed Fund Strategies and Challenges
30:30 Founders' Incentives and Signal Risk
36:40 AI Agents vs. CDNs: A Legal Playground
42:57 The Evolution of Podcasts and Media
51:31 The Future of AI Branding
56:03 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: [email protected]

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.

In this episode of Generative Now, Lightspeed Partner Michael Mignano sits down with Rahul Vohra, founder of the email client Superhuman, to unpack the future of AI-powered productivity. Rahul shares the origin story of Superhuman, how game design principles shaped its blazing speed and keyboard-first UX, and why time—not email—is the real problem it solves. He dives into the thinking behind their recent acquisition by Grammarly, his vision for an AI-native productivity suite, and what it means to build both apps and agents for the future.

Episode Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Guest Overview
01:00 The Superhuman Email Experience
02:28 Building Superhuman: Challenges and Innovations
04:50 The Importance of Speed and Efficiency
05:36 Superhuman's Unique Features and Early Decisions
11:44 The Acquisition by Grammarly
15:35 The Vision for an AI Native Productivity Suite
22:32 Exploring Verticalized Workflows
22:52 The Excitement of the Superhuman-Grammarly Deal
24:23 The Strategy of Bundling
28:10 AI's Role in Future Productivity
32:26 Superhuman's Use of AI
41:53 Lessons from Previous Acquisitions

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: [email protected]

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. The views expressed by our guests do not necessarily represent the views of Lightspeed. For more details please see lsvp.com/legal.