Anthropic has a secret to its success, says one of its earliest investors: the aura of curly-haired CEO Dario Amodei.
Speaking at Tech Insider: Growth Mode, sponsored by Fidelity, in San Francisco on Wednesday, Menlo Ventures partner Matt Murphy said that Amodei can charm AI researchers with his intelligence and mission-driven attitude.
Amodei may not have quite the same type of energy as Silicon Valley’s master salesman, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Still, Amodei’s brainiac vibes chime well with AI researchers, Murphy said.
Murphy said that Anthropic has been able to outperform because of Amodei’s “commitment to culture” and being able to bring on researchers who want to work for him.
“He’s like them, and he’s one of the best,” Murphy told Business Insider’s Ben Bergman.
Amodei was an early OpenAI researcher who left in 2020 over safety concerns to cofound Anthropic. Since then, Anthropic has become the largest AI startup by valuation — it could soon go public at a $2 trillion valuation.
Menlo Ventures first invested in Anthropic in 2023, when it was valued at $4.1 billion, and has invested in every follow-on round.
Murphy said that Amodei wins people over by doing spontaneous things, like popping in unannounced on Zoom calls. In one investor call with Anthropic cofounder Tom Brown, that’s exactly what happened, Murphy said.
“Then all of a sudden, Dario pops in. It was just like, ‘Oh’ — and the energy went way up,” he said.
“There’s just a charm about him, maybe like a boyish charm, especially back then. He’s just a very curious person, incredibly smart.”
Overall, Murphy remains optimistic about Anthropic, despite its high valuation, financial losses, the threat of Chinese open-source models, and concerns about AI safety.
“If I could buy more, I would,” he said of Anthropic’s stock.
