Spotlight On is a podcast about how companies are built, from the people doing the building. We take you behind the scenes to hear from founders and builders about what they did, what they learned… and what they’ll never do again. This series is produced by Accel, a global venture capital firm. Learn more at Accel.com/SpotlightOn.
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May 8, 202631 min
BONUS: Nebius’s Arkady Volozh on building in the agentic era
Arkady Volozh launched Nebius with one 25-megawatt data center and a belief that the AI era would require more infrastructure than anyone was building. Now, fresh off a round of major announcements—new company commitments, a deepening Nvidia partnership, and significant financing—Arkady joins us to look back on how far Nebius has come and where they’re headed next.In this episode of Spotlight On, Arkady sits down with Accel’s Matt Weigand to talk about how domain expertise became Nebius’s early edge, the financing logic behind its rapid expansion, and why competing with hyperscalers doesn’t keep him up at night.
March 10, 202639 min
BONUS: Armadin's Kevin Mandia | On Redefining Security in a New Age of Threats
When Armadin co-founder and CEO Kevin Mandia started his career, hacking was an under-the-radar nuisance. As our lives and financial systems moved online, everything changed. Mandiant, his first company, became the team that CEOs called during their worst breaches. Now, he believes cybersecurity is entering its biggest shift yet, and he’s founded Armadin to put the defenders back on offense.In this episode of Spotlight On, Accel’s Ping Li talks with Kevin about his path from the U.S. Air Force to founding Mandiant and now Armadin. They dig into how hacking went from annoyance to national security threat, what’s different about today’s AI-enabled adversaries, and Kevin’s playbook for CEOs facing a breach.
November 6, 202521 min
Q&A with Zhenya Loginov: the Euro founder flywheel, 2025 IPOs, and leveling up from PLG
For our final episode of VBSR this season, Sara phones a friend. Accel’s Zhenya Loginov joins from London to talk about what defines the 2025 IPO, common PLG-to-enterprise pitfalls, and why today’s European founders look different. Plus: Zhenya’s startup green flags.This Week’s TakeawaysIPOs are back. But they’ve changed. Not long ago, companies were going public before becoming profitable. After years of belt-tightening, 2025’s IPOs are disciplined companies with solid fundamentals, higher revenue, and durable growth trajectories.Don’t underestimate the PLG-to-enterprise transition. Zhenya calls it “Enterprise University,” since it often takes four years to execute well. His advice: start early, be ready for a steep learning curve, and don’t forget that user love will power new customer acquisition—so keep investing in product, too.The Euro founder flywheel is spinning. Healthy investment, a generation of unicorns, and a pandemic and AI boom that shifted the talent center of gravity have come together to reshape Europe’s startup ecosystem. Today’s founders began their careers at early-stage startups that went on to become industry-defining companies. They know how to build and understand what “good” looks like.Conversation Highlights2:25 - The 2025 IPO7:02 - Zhenya’s founder green flags8:22 - The PLG-to-enterprise tightrope12:40 - “A leader in the global market”: today’s European startups16:46 - What makes the European buyer different?19:08 - The new European founderFor more on the European founder flywheel, read our Founder Factory report.Zhenya LoginovZhenya joined Accel in 2023 and has a particular interest in cloud/SaaS, enterprise, and developer tooling businesses. Prior to Accel, he held roles in multiple Accel-backed companies. He ran the go-to-market teams at Miro and Segment (acquired by Twilio) as CRO and COO, respectively. Earlier in his career, Zhenya led teams at Dropbox across a number of different functional areas. He graduated from Lomonosov Moscow State University and Harvard.
October 9, 202529 min
Bonus Episode: n8n’s Jan Oberhauser on building the Excel of AI
Jan Oberhauser was spending too much time on tasks that weren’t joyful. A former visual effects artist turned programmer, he lost hours each day rebuilding the same code instead of solving new problems. In 2019, Jan founded the German workflow automation startup n8n to end the drudgery. Now, hundreds of thousands of developers and thousands of enterprises use n8n’s automation platform to make work more efficient, more productive, and yes, more joyful. Today, we announced that Accel is leading n8n’s Series C. Ahead of the announcement, Accel’s Ben Fletcher joined Jan in Berlin to retrace n8n’s journey from developer favorite to powerhouse of Europe’s AI boom. Jan and Ben talk about how n8n reimagined their product strategy for the LLM era, the choices that kept its community loyal while expanding in enterprise, and why the team set its sights on an ambitious goal: becoming “the Excel of AI.”Conversation Highlights0:43 - Meet n8n1:45 - From VFX to n8n: Jan’s story2:49 - Spending too much time on “not very joyful” tasks5:26 - No-code’s “80% there” issue7:14 - How n8n built its community11:00 - “Do a few things right versus everything half-baked”12:25 - AI-native vs. incumbents14:47 - “I honestly was a bit scared”: reimagining n8n post-AI22:52 - n8n’s secret to a high employee NPS24:17 - The traits Jan looks for in team members27:42 - Becoming the “Excel of AI”
October 6, 202527 min
VBSR 1.07: Education's Big Transformation
Sara and Vas discuss what AI means for teachers, new graduates, and the broader education system– and whether it’s changing the investment landscape for edtech.This Week’s Takeaways1. Forward-thinking educators won’t play the AI “cat and mouse” game. They’ll put automation to work instead, tailoring lessons and giving students more hands-on reps.2. Developing the next generation of knowledge workers will mean getting creative. As the entry-level job market tightens, companies should invest in apprenticeships that can track new graduates into roles less impacted by AI.3. There’s opportunity in edtech, but it’s complicated. Baroque RFPs and knotty webs of stakeholders make selling into this market hard. Products need a sharp purpose. Do schools want specialized AI presentation tools, or can students just use Gamma?Conversation Highlights0:33 - Back to school, AI edition7:57 - The entry-level crunch11:27 - The return of apprenticeships?15:22 - Credential erosion21:07 - AI reshapes edtech
September 9, 202524 min
VBSR 1.06: AI Leaves the Chatbox
This week, Vas and Sara talk about why the browser is suddenly the hottest space on the internet, how security will adapt to AI agents, and what makes software defensible.This Week’s TakeawaysThe browser isn’t dead; it’s changing. AI agents are taking over to-dos like booking Vas’s pickleball court, but comfort, preference, and technical limitations have kept us from outsourcing everything – for now. Now, products like Perplexity’s Comet, with a user experience built for tandem browsing mode, hint at how the Internet’s front door is adapting to an agentic world. “Not human” is no longer synonymous with “under attack.” Activity that once signaled bots swarming a reservation system could simply be AI assistants snagging a table for Friday. Security’s in a hinge moment, and the way its architecture adapts will set the boundaries for what agents can do.Building defensible software is harder, but still possible. Some users will move on to bespoke, DIY solutions. Others will continue to prefer out-of-the box tools. Delight the “out-of-the-box” crowd, and your product’s more likely to stick.Conversation Highlights1:16 - The founder-to-investor transition3:29 - What’s next for the browser?9:51 - The rise of the friendly bot17:09 - Defining “defensible”21:48 - What’s behind the backlash to GPT-5
August 20, 202526 min
Figma IPO, GPT-5, and a Q+A with Kerry Wang
This week, we’re talking to Accel’s newest partner, Kerry Wang, about her journey from founder to investor, advice for finding the right early-stage partners, and what we can learn from Figma’s “12-year overnight success.”This Week’s TakeawaysReturn to first principles during uncertainty. Figma’s journey to IPO was anything but linear, with a bumpy road to product-market fit and a near-acquisition by Adobe halted by regulators. But instead of letting the blocked deal become a “switch flip” that changed their product roadmap or strategy, the team stayed locked on their long-term vision – which in turn, drove their resilience. Pivots aren’t failures. In Kerry’s experience, successful founders are like “heat-seeking missiles,” able to read the market's signals, make informed decisions, and adjust their paths accordingly.When you’re choosing an early investor, ask yourself: would this be the first person I’d call when I have a problem? Good investors are like the friend who always has your back—and will give you the hard truth when it matters.Conversation Highlights:0:53 - Figma’s “12-year overnight success”6:05 - Is it time to stop numbering AI models?9:24 - Meet Kerry Wang10:48 - Co-founding with your twin12:45 - “Everything is different”: shifting AI norms14:19 - Founders as “heat-seeking missiles”17:22 - How do you know when it’s time to exit?20:26 - Investor green flags
August 5, 202513 min
VBSR 1.04: Lovable, talent wars, and the changing $100m milestone
Sara and Vas talk about Lovable’s record-breaking sprint to $100 million ARR and the growth of startups that boost human creativity. They also explore how the AI talent wars are reshaping industry narratives and why early-stage founders shouldn’t lose sleep over nine-figure compensation offers.This Week’s Three Takeaways1. Tools that amplify self-expression are seeing explosive growth. Lovable reached $100 million ARR in just eight months, while Gamma recently topped 50 million users with a team that could fit in one classroom. They’ve found success by tapping into the basic human desire to create, then making it accessible and fun.2. There’s still opportunity in the AI niches. Founders with deep domain knowledge are drawing on their expertise to build sharp, focused vertical AI products. Stacking on top of the foundational models makes the bigger players’ growth an advantage.3. Headlines about AI research compensation packages are obscuring a more interesting and nuanced dynamic in the hiring market for early teams. There’s more young, green, and eager talent available than there’s been for some time; early teams might be better served by betting on promising talent who’ll be motivated by the journey.
July 17, 202526 min
Bonus: Anton Osika on how Lovable’s creating a world of builders
Accel just led Lovable’s Series A, the largest in Stockholm's history. On the eve of the announcement, Lovable CEO and Co-Founder Anton Osika sat down with Accel’s Ben Fletcher and Zhenya Loginov to talk about the startup’s remarkable growth, building from Stockholm, and what’s next for the small but mighty team.They also revisit Anton’s origins and how they shaped Lovable’s remarkable mission to unlock creativity for 99% of the world's population that doesn't code. Anton’s always been a builder, whether deconstructing gadgets as a kid or as a founding engineer at Sana and CTO and Co-Founder at Depict.ai. Along the way, he realized that building software is one of the most direct ways to have a broader impact on the world. Currently, that power is disproportionately held by the less than 1% of the world’s population that can code. Enter Lovable, and a world where you don’t need deep technical knowledge to build. You just need an idea.
July 10, 202529 min
VBSR 1.03: Scale, Circle, and Exits 101
Sara and Vas talk about Scale’s partnership with Meta, Circle’s IPO, and what founders can learn from the companies' early journeys. They also answer common questions they get from founders about exits: the different options, how to build partnerships that can lead to an acquisition, and why a founder’s job doesn’t end at the closing table or opening bell.This Week’s Five Takeaways1. Most people don’t actually want fully automated AI products right now. Technological capability is one thing, but people’s comfort with automation varies widely depending on their industry, task, and background. Andrej Karpathy called the spectrum between manual control and full automation the “autonomy slider” – and for most products, somewhere between those extremes is probably just right. 2. Trust is your wedge for breaking into new industries. Circle’s route to IPO wasn’t linear, but their steady focus on building credibility set them apart from other cryptocurrency and blockchain platforms. Their stablecoin USDC helped make their value clear to skeptical audiences. Takeaway: Big ideas matter (Circle’s Jeremy Allaire brings plenty), but translating them into practical, legible products is ultimately what scales.3. Government relations is an underrated founder discipline. In sectors shaped by regulation, even early-stage leaders gain an edge by learning how to advocate to policymakers. A great example is Alexandr Wang, who framed Scale as a “data foundry” to lawmakers and made the case for AI’s role in national defense.4. What matters now is what you’ve built, not where you’ve been. Traditional badges like Stanford degrees or FAANG stints carry less weight as founders start younger and skip established tracks. The new markers of credibility aren’t always obvious, but one stands out: you’ve already shipped something great. For technical founders without institutional credentials, building and launching is a clear way to demonstrate vision, creativity, and determination.5. It’s a myth that founders “shop” for acquisitions. Instead, most M&A develops more organically out of strategic partnerships – product integrations, go-to-market deals – developed and tested over years of working together.
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