Spotlight On

Sara and Vas talk about Lovable’s record-breaking sprint to $100 million ARR and the growth of startups that boost human creativity. They also explore how the AI talent wars are reshaping industry narratives and why early-stage founders shouldn’t lose sleep over nine-figure compensation offers.This Week’s Three Takeaways1. Tools that amplify self-expression are seeing explosive growth. Lovable reached $100 million ARR in just eight months, while Gamma recently topped 50 million users with a team that could fit in one classroom. They’ve found success by tapping into the basic human desire to create, then making it accessible and fun.2. There’s still opportunity in the AI niches. Founders with deep domain knowledge are drawing on their expertise to build sharp, focused vertical AI products. Stacking on top of the foundational models makes the bigger players’ growth an advantage.3. Headlines about AI research compensation packages are obscuring a more interesting and nuanced dynamic in the hiring market for early teams. There’s more young, green, and eager talent available than there’s been for some time; early teams might be better served by betting on promising talent who’ll be motivated by the journey. 

Accel just led Lovable’s Series A, the largest in Stockholm's history. On the eve of the announcement, Lovable CEO and Co-Founder Anton Osika sat down with Accel’s Ben Fletcher and Zhenya Loginov to talk about the startup’s remarkable growth, building from Stockholm, and what’s next for the small but mighty team.They also revisit Anton’s origins and how they shaped Lovable’s remarkable mission to unlock creativity for 99% of the world's population that doesn't code. Anton’s always been a builder, whether deconstructing gadgets as a kid or as a founding engineer at Sana and CTO and Co-Founder at Depict.ai. Along the way, he realized that building software is one of the most direct ways to have a broader impact on the world. Currently, that power is disproportionately held by the less than 1% of the world’s population that can code. Enter Lovable, and a world where you don’t need deep technical knowledge to build. You just need an idea.

Sara and Vas talk about Scale’s partnership with Meta, Circle’s IPO, and what founders can learn from the companies' early journeys. They also answer common questions they get from founders about exits: the different options, how to build partnerships that can lead to an acquisition, and why a founder’s job doesn’t end at the closing table or opening bell.This Week’s Five Takeaways1. Most people don’t actually want fully automated AI products right now. Technological capability is one thing, but people’s comfort with automation varies widely depending on their industry, task, and background. Andrej Karpathy called the spectrum between manual control and full automation the “autonomy slider” – and for most products, somewhere between those extremes is probably just right.  2. Trust is your wedge for breaking into new industries. Circle’s route to IPO wasn’t linear, but their steady focus on building credibility set them apart from other cryptocurrency and blockchain platforms. Their stablecoin USDC helped make their value clear to skeptical audiences. Takeaway: Big ideas matter (Circle’s Jeremy Allaire brings plenty), but translating them into practical, legible products is ultimately what scales.3. Government relations is an underrated founder discipline. In sectors shaped by regulation, even early-stage leaders gain an edge by learning how to advocate to policymakers. A great example is Alexandr Wang, who framed Scale as a “data foundry” to lawmakers and made the case for AI’s role in national defense.4. What matters now is what you’ve built, not where you’ve been. Traditional badges like Stanford degrees or FAANG stints carry less weight as founders start younger and skip established tracks. The new markers of credibility aren’t always obvious, but one stands out: you’ve already shipped something great. For technical founders without institutional credentials, building and launching is a clear way to demonstrate vision, creativity, and determination.5. It’s a myth that founders “shop” for acquisitions. Instead, most M&A develops more organically out of strategic partnerships – product integrations, go-to-market deals – developed and tested over years of working together.

Freshworks CEO Dennis Woodside’s career reads like a tour through the world’s most complex operational challenges: opening new markets at pre-IPO Google, wrangling billion-dollar losses at Motorola, guiding Impossible Foods from scrappy upstart to mainstream staple. At every turn, he’s proven himself as a singular operator, able to translate bold visions into strong teams, scaled business, and real results, no matter the industry or product. In this episode of Spotlight On, Accel’s Sameer Gandhi sits down with Dennis to talk about how Freshworks—the first Indian SaaS company to list on Nasdaq—honors both its Chennai heritage and its global customer base, tips for thoughtfully succeeding a founder, and why Freshworks’s engineers cross continents to meet customers face-to-face.

According to Veza co-founder and CEO Tarun Thakur, you don’t just found a startup once. Instead, you found and refound it many times over: as you achieve product-market fit, as you land your first investment, as you scale from a team of three to 200 and beyond. In this episode of Spotlight On, Tarun sits down with Accel’s Eric Wolford to discuss how this theory of continuous reinvention has shaped the identity security company’s growth—and his own. He explores how working with a coach has transformed his leadership style, highlights “trust” the most critical ingredient in co-founder relationships, and recounts the story of how a two-page document from an early prospect changed Veza’s vision of both the problem they were solving and the solution. Tarun also shares what he’s learned about building an effective go-to-market motion, including why Veza’s first hire was an SDR and how to execute a “land and expand” strategy. 

Sara and Vas debrief on Vas’s recent trip to India, how founders use geography to their advantage, and what tech can learn from LVMH  about taste. They also share some advice for founders on pitching their stories to investors. This Week’s Five TakeawaysWhere you build can shape how you win. On his recent visit to India, Vas noticed a verve for the messy work of systems integration and solutions engineering he hadn’t seen elsewhere. Different geographies impart strategic advantages, whether it’s talent with a knack for rolling up sleeves, a longtime connection to a particular industry, or simply a certain kind of ambition in the air.  Commodified code requires aspirational brands. As AI lowers barriers to production, there’s been a lot of chatter about taste (we love Sarah Guo’s essay on this). But taste is more than a buzzword; it’s a durable business advantage. (Just look at LVMH and Herman Miller.) Founders should study how luxury brands build worlds for which their products are the ticket to enter.Taste is more than your color scheme and logo. Aesthetic instincts are a start, but the most interesting companies right now are pairing those instincts with a nuanced, almost anthropological understanding of their customer. Taste applied is all about solving the right problems with thought and charm.The founding designer is having a moment. Taste as an ascendant differentiator means designers are taking more prominent roles, earlier. And whether you’re aiming upmarket or targeting the masses, this key early hire can ensure you’re delivering on your brand promise in a way that feels coherent and consistently delights your customers and users.5. It’s okay to talk about the messy parts of building a company. Don’t be afraid to show your work when discussing your project with an investor. That includes false starts, discarded ideas, and tests that didn’t go as planned. These stories often contain nuggets about how you think and work that are really what’s important to a potential partner.

Most of us think of space as a future possibility. The reality is that space is our present: everything from our maps apps, bank transactions, and national defense depends on operations currently floating in orbit around us. That strategic importance also makes space vulnerable. Enter True Anomaly: the defense startup is dedicated to protecting the United States and its allies’ activity in space. In this episode of Spotlight On, Accel’s Jonathan Turner sat down with True Anomaly Co-Founder and CEO Even Rogers to discuss his leap from uniformed service to life as a first-time founder and the fast-evolving landscape of space defense. Their conversation covers: Even’s path into the space tech industry, why designing for space means you have to “invent the universe”, setting and sticking to your goals, selecting the right team, and why True Anomaly has learned to view failure as a critical part of the process—and developed a standard for doing it well.

George Kurtz, Founder and CEO of CrowdStrike, shares his wealth of knowledge from over 30 years in cybersecurity. He discusses how AI has reshaped the threat landscape, making advanced attack techniques accessible to lower-tier actors. Kurtz reflects on the critical importance of robust infrastructure for scalable security and emphasizes lessons from F1 racing on teamwork and mental toughness in business. He also delves into the evolving strategies necessary to tackle today's complex cybersecurity challenges, driven by emerging AI technologies.

Guillermo Rauch, Founder and CEO of Vercel, shares his journey from a young computer enthusiast in Argentina to a trailblazer in web development. He discusses the simplicity of software distribution and how it shaped his vision for Vercel. Topics include Vercel's robust infrastructure that supports e-commerce during peak times, the creation of pivotal tools like Next.js, and the importance of rapid feedback in product development. Rauch emphasizes the role of innovative solutions in connecting lofty ideals with real-world needs, inspiring future tech entrepreneurs.

Patty McCord, author and former Chief Talent Officer at Netflix, and Jessica Neal, former Chief HR Officer and Venture Partner at TCV, dive deep into the evolution of Netflix's groundbreaking culture deck. They discuss its deliberate 'brutal' design, unique compensation strategies, and share what every founder can learn about culture-building. Their insights include navigating the complexities of employee terminations, the importance of effective DEI practices, and how true workplace fulfillment stems from meaningful work, not just perks.