Jeremy Liew: 1st Investor in Snap, Affirm, and 9x Forbes Midas List GP at Lightspeed
Jeremy Liew traces his path from Perth, Australia and McKinsey through CitySearch, USA Networks/IAC, and AOL to becoming Lightspeed's first dedicated consumer-internet investor in 2006. He explains the four-part framework he uses to evaluate consumer startups—whether a product can become part of pop culture, whether it builds new habits, whether it has a scalable way to grow, and whether the founder has a unique, non-obvious insight—illustrated through his investments in Giphy and Snap.
Liew breaks down what it takes to succeed in venture capital: curiosity and work ethic that are largely innate, telling "good from great" through sheer reps, and winning competitive deals by knowing your "home ground advantage." He shares how partner Nicole Quinn turned brand expertise into a widening edge (Goop, Lady Gaga, Cameo), why trust is earned in difficult situations like the Honest Company, and concrete steps for breaking into VC with no connections.
“You can't just read a bunch of blogs or listen to a bunch of podcasts and like get good at telling what a top 0.1% company is. You have to run the miles. You have to do the reps.”
“I think the right executive team can make it three times difference and I think the right founders can make it 30 times difference.”
“Every successful company will give a good reference for all of their investors. Because it's easy to be a supportive investor when the company is doing well.”
Key takeaways
- 00:18:58Liew joined Lightspeed in 2006 as its first consumer-specialist investor and one of the first consumer specialists in an industry of generalists.
- 00:22:04He evaluates consumer startups on four questions: can it become part of pop culture, does it build new habits, is there a scalable way to grow, and does the founder have a unique insight.
- 00:25:07Giphy worked because GIFs let people add emotion and context to text-based communication, differentiating an "I love you" to a spouse, child, or friend with clips from film and TV.
- 00:30:07Telling good companies from great ones takes reps—you have to meet thousands of companies to recognize a top 0.1% one that drives returns.
- 00:31:18Winning competitive deals comes down to knowing your "home ground advantage," whether that is domain expertise, network, or geography.
- 00:40:54Snap's growth metrics (50% DAU/MAU, 50% D30 retention, ~50% monthly growth) plus Evan Spiegel's insight on disappearing messages reducing performance anxiety led Lightspeed to invest.
- 00:46:25To test whether Snapchat was mainly for sexting, the team looked at send times and found roughly 80-85% of snaps were sent during the school day, disproving the assumption.
- 01:00:18To break into VC, Liew advises building a real edge—deep expertise in an emerging area or a geography—then approaching a firm that values it with costly, high-quality work like written investment memos.
Chapters
- 00:00:00Introduction to Jeremy
- 00:04:36From Perth to Silicon Valley: Lessons for Aspiring Founders
- 00:06:09The Near Merger with Elon Musk That Changed My Career Path
- 00:09:22Path to Venture Capital
- 00:09:52Mentorship, The #1 Way to Add Value and Get Into the Inner Circle
- 00:14:07What Makes an Exceptional Leader: Why Spikes Matter More Than Balance
- 00:15:52Why Lightspeed stood out among VCs
- 00:18:55Jeremy's Genius Strategy to Win Competitive Deals
- 00:21:524 Ways to Spot Emerging Trends Before They Become Obvious
- 00:25:19GIPHY: The Real Reason GIFs Took Over Digital Communication
- 00:27:404 Qualities to be a Great Investor
- 00:31:18How to Beat Top Firms by Owning Your Niche
- 00:33:20How Nicole Quinn Built a VC Edge Around Celebrity Brands
- 00:36:00Why Founders & VCs Need a Clear Home Ground Advantage
- 00:38:39The Founding Insight Behind Affirm’s Success
- 00:39:46Snap’s Evan Spiegel Disrupts Social Media & Barry Eggers' Observations
- 00:43:06The Disappearing Message Insight That Built a Unicorn
- 00:45:42Why Consumer Investors Should Think Like Anthropologists
- 00:49:37Why Founders Multiply Impact—and Investors Only Nudge It
- 00:51:54VC is a Game of Luck AND Judgment—Here’s How to Balance Both
- 00:53:00The Honest Company Backstory: Working with Brian Lee
- 00:55:55Be the Investor That Founders Trust—Even When Things Go South
- 00:58:04Why VCs Need to Get Out of the Driver’s Seat
- 01:00:153 Moves to Break Into VC with No Connections
- 01:03:56How Founders Can Get a Top VC to Invest
- 01:07:01Representation in VC: How Founder Diversity Drives Investor Diversity
- 01:09:30What’s next for Jeremy?
