By May, Anthropic had surged to a revenue run rate of $47 billion, a staggering leap from $9 billion in 2025. This kind of explosive growth is unprecedented, according to Menlo Ventures' Matt Murphy, who says he hasn't witnessed anything like it in his 25-year investment career—not during the internet boom, not through mobile, and not in the first cloud wave. Menlo led Anthropic's $500 million Series D, giving Murphy a front-row view as the company transformed from a pre-revenue, pre-launch wager into one of the most valuable startups around. Listen to the full episode for deeper insights.

Discover why Menlo placed its bet on Anthropic at a $4 billion valuation before the company had any revenue, even though the deal didn't neatly align with any of the firm's existing funds. Murphy also explains why having Google and Amazon as early investors was a promising "green shoot."

Hear Murphy's argument that the model itself was never the true competitive advantage, and learn how products like Claude Code, MCP, and Claude Skills evolved Anthropic from a strong model into a full-fledged platform. Get his perspective on the backlash surrounding Anthropic's Mythos rollout, and why he pushes back against claims that it was more about marketing than safety.

Learn why companies such as Lovable and Legora are growing faster than any startups Murphy has seen in 25 years, and what that breakneck speed means for founders trying to compete. Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, and all other platforms. You can also follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.