280. The Harsh Truths Behind Venture Capital No One Tells Founders with Lightspeed's Mortiz Baier-Lentz

Listen to this episode from Deconstructor of Fun on Spotify. Lightspeed’s Moritz Baier-Lentz joins us for a no-holds-barred conversation on venture capital, gaming, and the inner workings of multi-billion-dollar venture funds. No fluff—just real talk about fund math, spotting exceptional founders, the future of AI in gaming, and why most investments won’t work out (and why that’s okay).00:00 from pro-gamer in Diablo II to Goldman Sachs to Lightspeed VC10:00 The Lightspeed model18:00 How Moritz spots truly exceptional founders (hint: not a checklist)24:00 Fund math 10130:00 Studio investing vs. tech investing in games 36:00 How consolidation is reshaping gaming M&A (and why it’s a big deal)43:00 Speedrun, a16z’s gaming accelerator: innovation or red flag?51:00 Debunking big VC myths58:00 The future of gaming: AI, generative content, and creating the next Roblox1:05:00 How Lightspeed wins competitive deals—and what founders should ask VCs1:12:00 Is raising VC money harder now? Yes. But here’s why it’s still a golden era.1:20:00 Final thoughts: investing at the edge of what’s possible