{"id":255851,"date":"2026-08-05T20:48:56","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T20:48:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/05\/how-lightspeed-found-its-newest-hire-via-instagram-dm-techcrunch\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T20:48:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T20:48:56","slug":"how-lightspeed-found-its-newest-hire-via-instagram-dm-techcrunch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/05\/how-lightspeed-found-its-newest-hire-via-instagram-dm-techcrunch\/","title":{"rendered":"How Lightspeed found its newest hire\u00a0\u2026 via Instagram DM | TechCrunch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p id=\"speakable-summary\" class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier this year, Lightspeed made headlines when it announced that Claire Zau, an investor and popular tech content creator, would join the venture firm. She has more than 100,000 followers on TikTok and over 250,000 followers on Instagram, where she breaks down the day\u2019s biggest tech trends.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lightspeed partners Josh Machiz and Zau stopped by the Equity studio to talk about the strategy behind their growing social media presence; their podcast, Lightwork; and how it all started with a direct message on Instagram.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA lot of people want to participate in the future and are excited about technology,\u201d Zau told Equity. \u201cThey just don\u2019t have the facts presented to them in an accessible way. So that\u2019s hopefully the role I feel very lucky and privileged to play.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"tcembed-iframe tcembed--megaphone wp-block-tc23-podcast-player__embed\" height=\"200px\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm?e=TCML9205198095\"><\/iframe>\n\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zau, in many ways, is part of a new class of venture operators using social media to connect with new audiences, whether that\u2019s people who are simply tech curious or future founders who may then turn to Lightspeed for a check.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The podcast she co-hosts with Machiz, Lightspeed\u2019s CMO, is part of the new media trend that many venture firms are embracing, where firms take on a greater role in helping their portfolio companies share their stories with the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere\u2019s less and less traditional journalism out there because of layoffs and the consolidation in media,\u201d Machiz said. \u201cIf you\u2019re a startup, it\u2019s harder to get your story out there. There are less places to go to get it out. There\u2019s now pretty heavy bars to get your funding story out. And so we hope to also be able to provide in the new media world another opportunity to tell your story.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So far, the duo \u2014 and the firm \u2014 see some benefits to expanding the Lightspeed media empire. Connecting with early founders is the main one, but being online also helps them get real-time feedback on investments and new technology. For example, Zau talked about how, within the Silicon Valley bubble, everyone was so excited to cut a check for a new AI startup, but then she would talk about the investment online and get the sense that Gen Z was actually quite anti-AI.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was, I would even say, humbling,\u201d she said of the direct feedback she would get to some of her videos. \u201cIt\u2019s so helpful to have basically real-time visibility into how people are using these technologies and what kinds of narratives are hitting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Machiz and Zau also spoke to Equity about what comes next for them. Another podcast? A TV show one day? \u201cOur goal is to be the place where hopefully future founders learn about venture, understand the ecosystem,\u201d Machiz said. \u201cWe\u2019re still early days.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Listen to hear more of the conversation \u2014 and what Machiz and Zau have planned next.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>When you purchase through links in our articles, <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/techcrunch-affiliate-monetization-standards\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/08\/05\/how-lightspeed-found-its-newest-hire-via-instagram-dm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Earlier this year, Lightspeed made headlines when it announced that Claire Zau, an investor and popular tech content creator, would join the venture firm. She has more than 100,000 followers on TikTok and over 250,000 followers on Instagram, where she breaks down the day\u2019s biggest tech trends.\u00a0 Lightspeed partners Josh Machiz and Zau stopped by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":255852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-255851","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tech"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}