What Investing in Software Looks Like in 2026

It’s actually open source software that's eating the world

At Lightspeed we’ve been investing aggressively in open source software (OSS) businesses for the past 10 years. Recently, we’ve seen a significant increase in entrepreneurs pitching open source startups, and we’ve also seen greater competition for these deals. We pulled together some numbers in an attempt to measure the acceleration in interest in and funding for OSS businesses in the last few years. The results were staggering even to us.

The Money In Open-Source Software | TechCrunch

It’s no secret that open-source technology -- once the province of radicals, hippies and granola eaters -- has gone mainstream. According to industry estimates, more than 180 young companies that give away their software raised roughly $3.2 billion in financing from 2011 to 2014. Despite the growing popularity of open-source software, though, many open-source companies are not financially healthy.

The $70B Open Source Software Paradox

It’s no news that over the last 10-15 years, particularly noticeable in the last 5 years, the enterprise software industry has gradually transformed from complex, expensive, closed-source (proprietary) software stacks to extensible/configurable,...

What's Next at Bluesky - Bluesky

As we head into 2026, we're entering a new phase for the Bluesky app. Last year was about scaling through rapid growth and getting the fundamentals in place. This year is about leaning into what's working and investing more intentionally in the things that make Bluesky different.

Roadmap: Open Source

After years of investing in open source software, we’re releasing our thinking on what positions these companies as emerging technology giants.

OpenAI Announces $122 Billion Additional ‘Committed Capital’, and Announces Their ‘Superapp’ Plan for the Future

I don’t see the path from here to there, where *there* is a justification for a trillion-dollar-ish valuation.

You have to beat the models at something

In 2025, I wrote that software engineers ought to be assessed by “value over replacement”: not how much money they made for their company, but how much they…

Why We Can't Have Nice Software - Andrew Kelley

The problem with software is that it's too powerful. It creates so much wealth so fast that it's virtually impossible to not distribute it.

Big Tech’s A.I. Spending Is Accelerating (Again)

Despite the risk of a bubble, Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon plan to spend billions more on artificial intelligence than they already do.

The 2026 Developer's Guide to Free Google Cloud Credits (For AI & Side Projects)

If you’re a beginner or developer who wants to pursue a career in AI in 2026, you can’t ignore the...

Community Software is Dead

I just got back into the “community software” category after an eight year hiatus. The customers, analysts and consultants are still…

AI Is A Money Trap

In the last week, we’ve had no less than three different pieces asking whether the massive proliferation of data centers is a massive bubble, and though they, at times, seem to take the default position of AI’s inevitable value, they’ve begun to sour on the idea that

SPVs, Credit, and AI Datacenters

How a new credit bubble is building in AI data centers

Timing Is Everything in the AI Bubble

This week's tech sell-off is a symptom of a deeper problem: no one knows when - or how - big tech's $1 trillion bet on AI is going to pay off.

The Beginning of the End of Big Tech

From politicians to VC firms, everyone is falling out of love with the massive, money-oriented, global technology titans. In their place, we have the chance to build something open and trustworthy.

Google Cloud Next 2026: The End Of The AI Pilot Era

Google Cloud Next 2026 opened with Thomas Kurian declaring the end of the AI pilot era and Sundar Pichai comparing the enterprise refrain of last year (“Can we build an agent?”) to today’s: “How do we manage thousands of them?” Google Cloud Next ’26 answers the second question with a single product story: Gemini Enterprise […]