Generative Quarterly with Semil Shah: Seed Markets, Vibe Coding, and the Flappy Bird Effect

History may not repeat itself, but it certainly rhymes. Vibe coded games, like a flight simulator from @levelsio, are reminiscent of early iPhone app store games like Flappy Bird and Paper Toss. How else are consumer tech cycles evolving? Lightspeed Partner Michael Mignano welcomes back investor Semil Shah for their quarterly check-in. They talk about the landscape of VC seed investing, the impact of AI on tech hubs like New York, LA, and the Bay Area, and whether accelerators like Y Combinator still have the same edge?

Flight Simulator: fly.pieter.com

Episode Chapters:

(01:22) LA vs NYC Tech Scenes

(02:54) AI's Geographic Pull

(05:37) Gaming as Future Consumer Tech

(08:35) Vibe Coding

(17:40) Seed Investing in the AI Era

(25:13) The Series A Crunch

(36:03) Rising Series A Standards

(41:14) Bootstrapping vs VC for AI

(45:26) Value of University Degrees

(55:32) YC's Expanded Cohorts

(57:52) Overlooked Seed Trends

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