TechCrunch · AIJul 22, 2026, 22:00 UTC+8

Menlo Ventures' Matt Murphy: The model was never the moat—platforms win

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

Menlo Ventures partner Matt Murphy told Equity podcast that Anthropic hit a $47B revenue run rate by May 2026, up from $9B in 2025—growth he hasn't seen in 25 years across internet, mobile, or cloud waves. Menlo led Anthropic's $500M Series D at a $4B pre-revenue valuation. Murphy argues the model was never the real moat; Claude Code, MCP, and Claude Skills turned Anthropic into a platform. He also flagged Lovable and Legora as growing even faster, and pushed back on criticism that Anthropic's Mythos launch was more marketing than safety—though the post doesn't detail his counterarguments.

Why it matters: Anthropic revenue figures are newsworthy, and the investor's cross-cycle perspective has real judgment. HKR all hit. Capped below 85 because this is a podcast recap, not hard news, and TechCrunch's Equity is a regular column.

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Take

The $47B number is why this catches your eye—up from $9B in 2025, more than 5x in roughly a year. Murphy has been investing for 25 years through internet, mobile, and cloud, and he says he's never seen growth like this. That claim carries weight coming from him.

His real argument: the model was never the moat. Claude Code, MCP, and Claude Skills turned Anthropic into a platform, and that's what drove the revenue. He also name-dropped Lovable and Legora as growing even faster, though the post gives no numbers for either.

I'd discount the headline figure a bit. A revenue run rate takes one month and multiplies by 12—if that month had a big deal or seasonal bump, the number inflates. The post doesn't break down enterprise customer count, average deal size, or product-line mix, and it doesn't say which month the run rate is based on. Murphy pushed back on the criticism that Mythos was more marketing than safety, but the post doesn't include his counterarguments. Treat this as a signal, not a financial fact you can cite.

Source: TechCrunch · AI · techcrunch.com
Published: Jul 22, 2026, 22:00 UTC+8 · Jul 22, 2026