Anthropic’s revenue run rate jumped to $47 billion in May, compared to $9 billion in 2025. Matt Murphy of Menlo Ventures has never seen growth in his 25 years of investing, whether it’s the internet wave, mobile or the first cloud boom. Mr. Menlo led Anthropic’s $500 million Series D, giving Mr. Murphy a front-row seat as the company grew from a pre-revenue, pre-launch bet to one of the most valuable startups.
In this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Julie Bolt talks with Murphy about backing Anthropic before anyone else, why a good model wasn’t important, and what drives the startup’s rapid growth he’s seen so far.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about what’s next.
Why did Menlo bet on Anthropic at a $4 billion pre-sales valuation, even though the deal didn’t fit neatly into any of the company’s funds, and why it was an early “green shoot” that signed Google and Amazon as investors. Why Murphy says the model wasn’t a real moat and how Claude Code, MCP, and Claude Skills transformed Anthropic from a powerful model to a complete platform. Murphy’s take on the backlash to Anthropic’s Mythos rollout and why he disagrees with the idea that it was more about marketing than safety. Why companies like Lovable and Legora are growing faster than any startup Murphy has seen in 25 years, and what that speed means for founders trying to compete.
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