‘Why I Put $35 Million Into Anthropic’ — Guy Oseary
In a Nutshell
Guy Oseary invested $35M in Anthropic at a $5B valuation after spotting AI's potential the day ChatGPT launched, drawing on his prior success timing the iPhone/App Store wave with investments in Airbnb, Uber, and Spotify. He and Ashton Kutcher raised a dedicated AI fund and deployed 80% of capital within a three-month window by leveraging connections like Marc Benioff to access top founders and secure deals. Oseary continues backing exceptional talent across sectors from his Hollywood base, offering narrative, marketing, and partnership value rather than operating as a traditional Silicon Valley investor.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Guy Oseary invested $35 million into Anthropic at a $5 billion valuation. The company's most recent round reached approximately $965 billion. This investment has already generated a significant multiple.
Oseary's interest in AI began when ChatGPT launched on November 30, 2022, which coincided with his father's birthday. He described the moment as life-changing, comparing it to first hearing Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," when he pulled over his car and thought, "What is this?" After ChatGPT's release, he obsessively showed the technology to every artist and actor he encountered.
He immediately called Ashton Kutcher and declared they needed to invest in OpenAI, calling it the greatest thing he had ever seen. Oseary draws on pattern recognition from his earlier career. When the iPhone and App Store launched, he and Kutcher started their fund at exactly the right moment, enabling unprecedented company scaling. They achieved major success with companies including Airbnb, Uber, and Spotify.
Oseary recognized the same opportunity with foundational AI models, believing these systems would become the infrastructure through which people access technology over the next 10 to 15 years.
Oseary and Kutcher identified a narrow 3-month window to invest in foundational AI models. ChatGPT launched on November 30, 2022, leaving little time before the Christmas break. In January 2023, they began pitching LPs on a dedicated foundational AI model fund.
They committed to deploying 80% of the fund's capital within three months. The fund was raised with this specific thesis presented upfront—LPs opted in or out based on the stated strategy of rapid deployment during the narrow opportunity window. There were no LPs in place before the pitch; the thesis itself was the pitch.
Oseary leveraged his relationship with Marc Benioff to connect with Salesforce Ventures. He identified two key investors there—John Somorjai and Paul Drews—whom he describes as among the best investors in the world. Through his research on AI opportunities, he learned Salesforce Ventures was bullish on Anthropic.
A headhunter contact informed him that talent was flowing heavily to Anthropic and not to competing companies. Oseary asked Somorjai and Drews to connect him with founder Dario (Amodei) and Neerav (Kannan). The meeting occurred in Oseary's room, where the investment deal was made.
The fund deployed capital across multiple foundational AI companies during the three-month window, positioning itself before many later entrants.
Oseary's firm, Sound, has achieved 86 exits and 26 IPOs.
Oseary plans to continue his core approach: identifying the greatest talent and greatest ideas. He believes the current environment enables faster company scaling than ever before. He has already identified three new opportunities he wants to pursue.
His strategy centers on backing exceptional teams and supporting them comprehensively. He emphasizes that access is the difficult part for most investors, but his position provides strong access combined with proven results.
Oseary positions himself as a distinctive investor because he operates from Hollywood rather than Silicon Valley. His value-add includes:
- Narrative development
- Marketing strategy
- Media expertise
- Partnerships
- Storytelling
He has focused on marketing since his teenage years. He seeks companies where he can be genuinely helpful and where founders see his involvement as a meaningful advantage.
Oseary describes himself as a generalist investor. While the AI fund was thematic and specific, he typically invests across sectors based on talent rather than themes. He may create thematic funds when compelling ideas emerge but defaults to backing exceptional people regardless of sector.
He does not actively market himself publicly. People find him through word of mouth, or he discovers opportunities himself. He views this as sufficient and has no plans to increase public visibility or outreach efforts.
Keep Tim Ferriss in your library
Save the videos and channels worth coming back to, and find them again in one place.
