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Michael Mignano

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Co-founder of podcasting platform Anchor
Michael Mignano
Photo of Michael Mignano at SXSW 2019, credit: Ståle Grut / NRKbetaMichael Mignano
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Delaware
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur, venture capitalist
Employer(s)Lightspeed, Spotify
Notable workAnchor
TitleCo-Founder, Anchor

Michael Mignano is an American entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He is a venture capitalist at Lightspeed, the co-founder of the podcasting platform Anchor, and former head of Spotify's talk audio (podcasts, live, and video) business. In 2019, Mignano was regarded by Fortune Magazine as one of the most influential young people in business in their annual "40 under 40" list. Mignano studied Computer Science at the University of Delaware.

Business career

Mignano began his career in the music industry at Atlantic Records before transitioning into tech, first at photo-sharing platform Aviary and then Adobe. In 2016, after struggling to produce podcasts on his own, he started Anchor to make it easier for aspiring creators to broadcast audio with co-founder, Nir Zicherman. The pair received financial backing from a variety of venture capitalists, including Accel, Google's venture arm GV, and the co-founders' former boss from Adobe, Scott Belsky.

In February 2019, Anchor was acquired by Spotify for more than $150M and Mignano became responsible for overseeing the Swedish audio streaming company podcast tech business, as well as their expansion into video and live audio. Under Mignano's leadership, Anchor has grown to power more than 75% of all podcasts. In 2022, after announcing he'd be leaving Spotify to focus on early stage tech investing, Mignano introduced a new feature enabling users to create, edit, and share podcasts directly in the Spotify app.

In 2022, it was announced that Mignano would be joining the Silicon Valley venture capital firm, Lightspeed. He has invested in AI companies including Pika Labs, Granola, and TollBit.

In 2024, Mignano and his former Anchor Co-Founder launched a new AI education company, Oboe.

Speaking

In 2019, Mignano was featured as one of the main keynote speakers at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, TX.

References

  1. Loizos, Connie (2022-09-07). "Lightspeed Venture Partners has hired podcasting guru Michael Mignano as a partner". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-01-23.
  2. Ifeanyi, K. C. (2019-05-11). "Anchor is Spotify's best bet to beat Apple for control of your ears". Fast Company. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  3. "Spotify Names New Leader to Strategize Creator Growth". Bloomberg.com. 2022-06-06. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  4. "Michael Mignano". Fortune. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  5. "Undergraduate Students - Computer & Information Sciences - UD". 2005-03-04. Archived from the original on 4 March 2005. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  6. "Anchor Cofounder Michael Mignano Becomes Latest Podcast Executive To Leave Spotify". Insideradio.com. 3 May 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  7. Titlow, John Paul (2016-02-09). "Can This App Rewire Podcasts For The Future?". Fast Company. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  8. Spangler, Todd (2019-02-06). "Spotify Buys Podcast Startups Gimlet Media and Anchor, Plans Up to $500M in Acquisitions in 2019". Variety. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  9. Steele, Anne (2019-02-06). "Spotify Is Acquiring Pair of Podcasting Companies, Signaling Broad Ambitions". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  10. Shapiro, Ariel (2022-05-02). "Anchor co-founder Michael Mignano to leave Spotify". The Verge. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
  11. "Spotify's podcast tech chief is leaving the company". Engadget. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  12. "Anchor Cofounder Michael Mignano Becomes Latest Podcast Executive To Leave Spotify". Insideradio.com. 3 May 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
  13. Leight, Elias (2022-05-02). "Anchor Co-Founder Michael Mignano Resigns From Spotify". Billboard. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  14. Shapiro, Ariel (2022-06-21). "The Obamas head to Audible". The Verge. Retrieved 2022-06-22.
  15. Fischer, Sara (2022-09-07). "Lightspeed Venture Partners opens NYC office". Axios. Retrieved 2023-01-23.
  16. Metz, Rachel. "Spark Capital, Jared Leto Back AI Video Startup Pika". Bloomberg.
  17. Perez, Sarah (October 23, 2024). "VCs love using the AI meeting notepad Granola, so they gave it $20M". TechCrunch.
  18. Fischer, Sarah. "Exclusive: AI startup TollBit raises $24M series A". Axios.
  19. Perez, Sarah (October 24, 2024). "After selling Anchor to Spotify, co-founders reunite to build AI educational startup Oboe".
  20. "Keynotes PJ Raval, Dawn Ostroff, Matt Lieber, Michael Mignano & More Featured Speakers Join SXSW 2019". SXSW. 2019-02-27. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
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