Why Lightspeed is going all-in on creator-led venture capital

Venture firms are turning to creators to build trust with the next generation of founders before a check is ever written. It's a trend that's been building with a16z's acquisition (techcrunch.com/2025/04/21/a16z-acqui-hires-vc-…) of Erik Torenberg’s Turpentine podcast and OpenAI's acquisition (techcrunch.com/2026/04/02/openai-acquires-tbpn…) of TBPN. Lightspeed Venture Partners (x.com/lightspeedvp) just made its own notable hire in that vein, bringing on Claire Zau (x.com/clairejyz), a seed investor with a major following on Instagram and TikTok, to source deals and co-host the firm's new show, Lightwork, alongside CMO Josh Machiz (x.com/Machiz).

On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity (techcrunch.com/podcasts/equity) podcast, Dominic-Madori Davis is joined by Zau and Machiz to dive deep into whether the “creator-investor” is becoming a real function in venture or just something firms are still trying to figure out.

Listen to the full episode to hear more about:

• How an Instagram DM turned into a hire, and why Machiz says Zau’s investing instincts (not just her follower count) made her stand out from other creators.

• Why Zau thinks tech Twitter is a “minuscule” slice of the tech-curious audience, and what she's learned about public sentiment on AI that doesn't show up on X.

• How Lightspeed measures ROI on a media operation that's hard to tie directly to deal flow.

• The founder and portfolio-company stories that came out of Zau's content, including how a single video helped land a health-tech founder a meeting with Shaq.

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