Menlo Ventures’ Matt Murphy explains what AI startups founders must do differently

# AI Startups Are Growing at Unprecedented Speed—Here's What That Means An experienced venture capitalist says AI companies are growing faster than anything he's seen in 25 years of investing—even faster than the internet or mobile booms. Anthropic, a major AI company he invested in, went from zero revenue to a $47 billion annual rate in just a few years, which is basically unheard of in the startup world. This explosive growth is forcing investors to rethink what success looks like and how AI startups need to operate differently from traditional tech companies.
Anthropic leaped to a $47 billion revenue run rate by May, compared to $9 billion in 2025. It’s the kind of growth that Menlo Ventures’ Matt Murphy says he’s never seen in 25 years of investing, not in the internet wave, not in mobile, not in the first cloud boom. Menlo led Anthropic’s $500M Series
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