Exclusive: Josh Machiz joins Lightspeed Venture Partners as CMO
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Lightspeed Venture Partners — the multistage venture capital firm that has backed companies like Anthropic, Mistral AI, Glean and xAI — has appointed Josh Machiz as chief marketing officer, Axios first reports.
Why it matters: By hiring Machiz, Lightspeed signals that it is taking a bet on a new media playbook.
Catch up quick: Machiz joins Lightspeed from Redpoint Ventures, where he was a partner, overseeing content and marketing.
- While at Redpoint, he implemented a content-first strategy and helped grow the firm's social media footprint with roughly 70,000 followers on Instagram and more than 40,000 on TikTok.
- Before that, he served as chief digital officer of Nasdaq, where he helped develop the exchange's digital marketing and content strategy.
Details: Machiz will oversee marketing, communications, social media and content for the firm. He will be based in New York City.
- Machiz succeeds Meredith Maines, who departed the firm this year to serve as chief communications officer for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The big picture: Through early July this year, General Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz, and Lightspeed Venture Partners led the pack in AI investing, per PitchBook.
What they're saying: "This is like a dream job, where I get to help early stage companies make noise, but then I also get to help the late-stage companies prepare for IPOs," Machiz says.
- "And most importantly, I get to help Lightspeed — which is at the top of its game on the investing in AI — shape its brand," he added.
What to watch: Machiz says to expect more social and owned content, like podcasts, conferences and behind-the-scenes IPO videos, coming out of Lightspeed.
- "We're gonna show up in unexpected ways and unexpected places, and I think a lot of our key properties … have yet to be born."
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