My guest today is Shawn Carolan, Managing Partner at Menlo Ventures, one of Silicon Valley’s oldest venture firms with more than $5B under management.
Shawn led early investments in Uber, Roku, Siri, and Chime, generating over $2B in returns for Menlo’s LPs.
Behind those wins is a clear philosophy, what Shawn calls his Consumer Utilitarian Framework: a model for backing companies that use breakthrough technologies to meet timeless human needs in faster, cheaper, and better ways.
Today we talked about:
His Consumer Utilitarian Framework and Menlo Ventures’ 4 investing pillars.
Core principles: timeless human needs × evolving technology.
AI as the next “ingredient technology” unlocking new markets.
How AI gives failed apps like MyFitnessPal a second life
Shawn’s key lessons from 20+ years of consumer investing.
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