20VC: Leading Anthropic's First Ever Round | Will Open Source Threaten Anthropic's Business | Do Margins Matter in a World of AI | Why Triple, Triple, Double, Double is Not Good Enough Today | Why Series A is Hard Today with Matt Murphy @ Menlo

Matt Murphy, a partner at Menlo Ventures, led his firm into Anthropic at a $4 billion valuation when the company was pre-revenue and pre-launch. The deal was controversial inside the firm because it did not fit the standard playbook: a $600 million venture fund typically writes $15 million checks for meaningful ownership, and Anthropic wanted a round that was too large for the venture vehicle and too early for the growth fund. Murphy's partnership chose flexibility over rigidity. "Let's just do this," he recalls the consensus being. "This is one of the biggest waves. We've pivoted the firm to be all in on AI. Let's jump on this thing." That first check was just over $10 million — a "starter check" that got Menlo in the door. Within months, Anthropic launched its model, revenue began building, and Amazon and Google came in as both capital partners and distribution partners. Menlo then led a $500 million-plus SPV, its first ever, and Murphy describes the capital-raising process as the most nerve-wracking period of his recent career — "having to be the person capital raising, talking to investors, getting an occasional turn down, having to answer second and third order questions." The experience gave him new empathy for founders.

Ownership, dilution, and the new math of venture