20VC: Leading Anthropic's First Ever Round | Will Open Source Threaten Anthropic's Business | Do Margins Matter in a World of AI | Why Triple, Triple, Double, Double is Not Good Enough Today | Why Series A is Hard Today with Matt Murphy @ Menlo

**Matt Murphy** (0:00)
I think the foundation models, let's say specifically Anthropic, have such special models, performant, intelligent models. This can be hard for somebody to just kind of say, I've used open source with my data. It's going to be functional and positive for some amount of what you're doing, but I just don't think it can be powerful enough to really, you know, displace it.

**Harry Stebbings** (0:18)
This is 20VC with me, Harry Stebbings. Now, joining me in the hot seat today, we have someone I've known for 10 years, Matt Murphy, partner at Menlo. He's the guy that led the deal into Anthropic. I mean, Jesus, if anyone's got brownie points inside a firm for leading a deal, it's the dude that led Anthropic. Come on, he can do anything for years and he's got a hall pass. But then he follows it up with, check this out, investing in Lovable and then investing in Legora. I mean, this man is just hitting banger after banger. Matt is on a tear right now, almost more than any other venture investor. And so, it was an incredible opportunity to sit down with Matt. He's a dear friend and this is honestly two friends shooting the shit, if I'm allowed to say that, and having a great discussion. But before we dive into the show today, founders face a different set of challenges at every stage of growth. For Sid Shait, co-founder and CEO of D-Matrix, JP Morgan delivered the guidance and expertise to help navigate what came next. He credits JP Morgan's high-touch approach with supporting D-Matrix as it grew and expanded internationally. Whether you're in the early days or expanding into new markets, JP Morgan helps startups navigate complexity with real confidence, offering personalized guidance and deep sector expertise. Find out how JP Morgan helps founders at jpmorgan.com/growwithoutlimits.
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Visit flex.one, that's F-L-E-X, dot O-N-E, and use the code 20VC. You have now arrived at your destination. Matt, I cannot believe it, dude. It's been like six or seven years since we did our last show, which worries me because I was like 23
I just look back now and I get, Harry, you knew nothing, my dear friend, and Matt was so wise and is so wise. But thank you for joining me once again. It's so good to see you, man.

**Matt Murphy** (3:49)
It's great to be here. It's taken me seven years to earn my way back onto the show now that you've become so famous.

**Harry Stebbings** (3:54)
I mean, that's super kind of you, one, but hell have you earned your way back. Like the last few years has just been ripper. And I wanted to start with a relatively obvious one, which is Anthropic. I think it's at the cornerstone of Menlo of the last few years for you investing. Can you actually just tell me, how did it come to be? How did you get introduced? Was it obvious?
How did the investment meetings go? Just take me to it.

**Matt Murphy** (4:22)
Yeah, well, he'll be mad if I don't give him a call out. But Anjane Mida was the one who introduced me. So Anj worked for me, with me at Kleiner Perkins when I was there as a young kind of associate. But he was so spiky at the time. So he's always kind of just been in the flow. We were talking about AI and he said, hey, Matt, you got to meet Dario and Tom. This is the one company. I said, let's do it. Got on the phone with Dario and Tom the next day.