Escape Velocity with CK and Teng Yan: AI and Tech Podcast AI Bubble Risks, Founder Lessons, and Web3 AI’s Future: Anand Iyer’s Perspective | Ep 4
Aug 29, 2025
Anand Iyer, a managing partner at Canonical and venture partner at Lightspeed, dives into his journey from Microsoft to venture capitalism. He discusses the current AI bubble, urging caution for investors and highlighting the importance of understanding market dynamics. Iyer emphasizes founder relationships and strategic hiring as keys to startup success. The conversation also touches on the exciting intersection of AI and cryptocurrency, examining the potential of Web3 technologies and the challenges innovators face in achieving product-market fit.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
From Microsoft To VC By Way Of Founding
- Anand moved from Microsoft to founding startups and then built a fund after exiting in 2018.
- He used public learning and crypto curiosity to pivot into venture capital focused on AI and Web3.
Pick Investors Who Predict Tomorrow
- Partner with VCs who are career operators or career investors and ideally both.
- Seek investors who practice temporal arbitrage and predict market direction 6–18 months ahead.
AI Compresses Product Cycles
- AI tools are massively accelerating prototyping and developer productivity across orgs.
- This momentum creates a rare founder opportunity to move fast and capture product inflection points.
