Thursday, June 18, 2026
In today’s digest, NYC’s historic parade, smaller class sizes in the works, and we’re spotlighting Lightspeed Venture Partners’ CMO, Josh Machiz. ⚡
Programming note: We’ll be off tomorrow for Juneteenth. Back in your inbox on Monday!
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New York’s long-awaited Knicks championship parade transformed Lower Manhattan into a sea of blue and orange as legions of fans celebrated the franchise’s first title in 53 years, with players, celebrities, and city leaders all joining in. 🏀 (New York Times)
Fans camped out overnight, packed subway stations before dawn, and filled the Canyon of Heroes for a momentous celebration.
Finals MVP Jalen Brunson, along with Knicks teammates Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, and the rest of the championship squad, rode through the crowds, while celebrity superfans including Timothée Chalamet, Tracy Morgan, Alicia Keys, and Spike Lee joined the festivities.
Plus: The Knicks have generated $380 million in economic activity post-season, according to New York City Economic Development Corporation. (CNBC)
New York is moving ahead with a major investment in smaller class sizes. Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration unveiled a plan today to spend more than $1 billion on additional teachers and school construction to comply with the state's class size mandate. 🎓 (Gothamist)
The city also plans to allocate $244 million for teacher hiring and $1.5 billion for new school space, with hundreds of schools slated for construction projects.
While this law has been on the books since 2022, the state recently extended the implementation timeline, requiring 70% of classrooms to meet class size targets by next fall and full compliance by the 2029-30 school year.
Juneteenth, commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, is tomorrow. Here are 12 ways to celebrate the day throughout NYC, from parades to food festivals and documentary films. 🗽 (Epicenter NYC)
In other reading:
25 free World Cup watch parties in NYC (6sqft)
Sustaining the joyful city: A New York City social infrastructure agenda (Vital City)
The surprising science history behind New York City’s ticker-tape parades (Scientific American)
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VC Spotlight: Josh Machiz
Josh Machiz knows how to tell a good story.
And as the Chief Marketing Officer at Lightspeed Venture Partners, he uses that skillset to help founders tell their story, from first fundraise to IPO.
Lightspeed recently launched Lightwork — a weekly AI news show that Josh co-hosts with Claire Zau out of the firm’s new NYC studio. With new episodes weekly, the show will break down the biggest moves in AI each week.
“That’s the model,” says Josh. “The firm as a megaphone, not just writing checks.”
These days, venture capital firms have become much more than capital providers. They’ve become media companies.
With this in mind, we caught up with Josh to discuss his career, how the job of building a VC firm’s brand has changed, his tech stack, how founders can tell a good story, and much more.
Here’s a preview:
📣 On what separates good storytelling from noise or hype:
“Tension. Every good story has a setup and a payoff. Something is broken, backwards, or generic, and you show the answer. Hype skips the setup and goes straight to adjectives.”
💰 On how building a venture firm’s brand changed over the last five years:
“Now it’s a full media operation. Video replaced the blog post as the atomic unit. We built podcast studios for Lightwork and our other shows in our NYC and SF offices because that’s where the needle moved.”
📺 On his marketing advice for founders:
“Your de-stealth shouldn’t be the first time anyone’s heard from you. Start building an audience 12 to 18 months before you need it, so when the announcement lands you’re broadcasting to a room you already filled.”
🧑💻 On his favorite AI tools:
“Granola for meeting notes, Affinity, Notion, Slack, and a video production pipeline that gets more AI-assisted every month.”
🍕 And, of course, on the best slice in the city:
“Depends on the mood. Trashy NY slice: University Pizza on 13th and University. The real Italian version: Song E Napule on Houston.”
In other reading:
Writing with AI (Axios)
To thrive alongside AI, focus on mindset — not skillset (HBR)
The LinkedIn makeovers that actually get people hired (Wall Street Journal)
Rylo (fka Nagish), a New York-based communication platform for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, raised $85 million at a $500 million valuation led by General Catalyst and Canaan.
Featured event:
⭐ June 24: NYC AI Demos, from Tech:NYC, Pensar, and Two Trees, this month featuring a hand-picked lineup of fast-growing startups selected by some of New York’s most influential venture firms: Thrive Capital, First Round Capital, Index Ventures, Inspired Capital, Able Partners, and more. Register here.
Other great events:
June 22: NYC Summer Retail Mixer, an evening designed for meaningful conversations, genuine connections, and fresh perspectives with peers across the retail ecosystem. Register here.
June 23: The Choose NYC Summit, an annual convening connecting business leaders, investors, and policymakers to facilitate the expansion of companies from around the world to New York City. Register here.
June 23: Happy Hour — CommerceNext Growth Show, NYC, an evening of drinks and conversation for founders, operators, and growth folks who’d rather swap notes over a cocktail than a coffee queue. Register here.
June 23: AmTech Happy Hour, for all founders and operators, engineers and investors, civil servants past and present, and policy enthusiasts. Register here.
June 24: Brderless Founder Dinner, a private founder dinner for a curated group of Seed+ founders. Register here.
June 25: Pitching Yourself in the Moments That Matter, an interactive workshop where you can learn how to introduce yourself in a way that is clear, natural, and designed to start real conversations. Register here.
June 25: Ugly Talk: The ROI of Living Your Brand, where you can hear founders break down how visibility actually turns into trust, reach, and revenue. Register here.
June 26: Brits Tech — Coffee Meet, where you can grab a cuppa tea (or coffee if you must), with fellow founders and tech industry folks from across the pond. Register here.
June 27: TechWalk — Brooklyn, a networking event for members of the tech and SaaS communities to get outside, meet new people, and enjoy some fresh air, while practicing mindful movement. Register here.
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