The Full Ratchet (TFR): Venture Capital and Startup Investing Demystified 489. Investing in the Gen AI Extraction Layer, Value Accrual in New Tech Waves, and India’s Digital Currency & Identity Economy (Hemant Mohapatra)
Aug 11, 2025
Hemant Mohapatra, Partner at Lightspeed India and former investor at A16Z, shares his insights on AI and India's innovation landscape. He discusses the opportunities and challenges in AI investments, particularly in healthcare and legal sectors. Hemant highlights the importance of strategic positioning in tech super cycles and how vertical integration is reshaping India's digital future. He delves into the potential of India's digital currency and blockchain, emphasizing the need for strong narratives in the investment world.
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AI As A Long-Term Transformational Wave
- AI is a transformational technology that will reshape many aspects of society over decades.
- Hype helps adoption but requires discerning investors and founders to avoid self-deception.
Value Shifts Up The Tech Stack
- New tech supercycles start with an extractive phase where resource producers capture outsized value.
- Over time value shifts up the stack from commodity extraction to applications built on that resource.
AI Token Is The Current Extractive Resource
- The AI token (compute/models) is currently the extractive resource and attracts massive capital.
- Few winners will dominate the lower layers, then value will move to higher application layers.
