Venture with Grace

Grace Gong
  • 4.8 (22)
  • Investing
  • Updated Daily

I host a top VC podcast called Smart Venture Podcast (SVPpro.com). Past guests include C-level/VPs of Google, Meta, Amazon, Sephora, Dunkin' Donuts, Chipotle, Pepsi, Instagram, Deloitte, Reddit, Lyft, etc. Managing Partners of top funds (many were featured on the Forbes Midas List) and unicorn founders (founders of Craigslist, Square, Loom, Cruise, etc.) Venture with Grace is my new spin-off series that features top LPs, GPs, solo GPs, Angel Investors, top AI founders, and other experts in tech and business to cover specific domain expertise. Watch this Live on LinkedIn/ YouTube: Grace Gong

  1. 1d ago

    Barr Moses, Monte Carlo CEO on Agent Trust, AI Infrastructure and Data

    Barr Moses is the CEO & co-founder of Monte Carlo, the agent trust platform. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~This episode is brought to you by Nebius — the ultimate cloud for AI innovators.Nebius provides AI infrastructure you can count on, combining reliability and speed with flexibility and engineering support unmatched by hyperscalers.AI leaders like Meta, Shopify, and Higgsfield already partner with Nebius to run their AI workloads. Plus, venture-backed startups can save up to $150,000 on compute costs when they apply for access. Visit nebius.com or nebius.com/startups to learn more~~~~~~~~~~~~~Under Barr’s leadership, Monte Carlo has empowered the world’s most innovative organizations to accelerate their AI transformation, from piloting human-guided agents to deploying fully autonomous operations at enterprise scale. The company is backed by leading Silicon Valley investors, including Accel, GGV Capital, ICONIQ Growth, and Redpoint Ventures. She has been named a Top 25 Data Management & Analytics Executive of 2025, a 2024 top Woman in AI by VentureBeat, and a 2023 Datanami Person to Watch. Building Monte Carlo’s agent trust platform and the infrastructure enterprises needsThe emerging challenges of agent observability, reliability, and trust across business-critical workflowsLessons from building emerging AI infrastructure, data, and application companies#ArtificialIntelligence #AgenticAI #AIInfrastructure #DataEngineering #EnterpriseAI

  2. 1d ago

    Alex Ratner, Snorkel AI CEO on Data-Centric AI and AI Development

    Alex Ratner is the co-founder and CEO at Snorkel AI, and an affiliate assistant professor of computer science at the University of Washington. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~This episode is brought to you by Nebius — the ultimate cloud for AI innovators.Nebius provides AI infrastructure you can count on, combining reliability and speed with flexibility and engineering support unmatched by hyperscalers.AI leaders like Meta, Shopify, and Higgsfield already partner with Nebius to run their AI workloads. Plus, venture-backed startups can save up to $150,000 on compute costs when they apply for access. Visit nebius.com or nebius.com/startups to learn more~~~~~~~~~~~~~Prior to Snorkel AI and UW, he completed his Ph.D. in computer science advised by Christopher Ré at Stanford, where he started and led the Snorkel open source project. His research focused on data-centric AI, applying data management and statistical learning techniques to AI data development and curation.Topics How data-centric AI is changing the way enterprises build and improve AI systemsThe role of synthetic data, data curation, and labeling in developing reliable AI modelsBuilding Snorkel AI from an open-source research project into an enterprise AI company#ArtificialIntelligence #DataCentricAI #MachineLearning #GenerativeAI #EnterpriseAI

  3. 2d ago

    Hariharan Kolam, Findem CEO on AI Agents and the Future of Hiring

    Hari Kolam is Co-Founder and CEO of Findem, an AI-powered people intelligence and talent acquisition platform that helps companies source, manage, and analyze talent using 3D data. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~This episode is brought to you by Nebius — the ultimate cloud for AI innovators.Nebius provides AI infrastructure you can count on, combining reliability and speed with flexibility and engineering support unmatched by hyperscalers.AI leaders like Meta, Shopify, and Higgsfield already partner with Nebius to run their AI workloads. Plus, venture-backed startups can save up to $150,000 on compute costs when they apply for access. Visit nebius.com or nebius.com/startups to learn more~~~~~~~~~~~~~He co-founded Findem in 2019 after serving as Founder and CTO of Instart, where he helped build an application delivery platform combining machine learning, virtualization, APIs, and CDN technology. Hari has co-authored more than 50 technology patents. Under his leadership, Findem launched Findem Studio, exposing real-time talent graphs as MCP tools for autonomous AI agents, and expanded its platform through integrations with Glider AI and Getro. Findem brings sourcing, talent CRM, and analytics together in a single platform for talent teams.Topics: How AI agents are transforming talent acquisition and the future of recruitingWhy real-time people intelligence could replace traditional resumes and fragmented talent dataWhat it takes to build reliable AI systems for sourcing, evaluating, and engaging talent#Findem #AI #TalentAcquisition #AIAgents #FutureOfWork

  4. 3d ago

    Fabiola Quinzanos, Monashees Partner on Fintech, Climate and Consumer

    Fabiola Quinzanos is a Partner at Monashees, where she focuses on fintech, climate tech, and consumer-oriented companies across Latin America and the U.S. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~This episode is brought to you by Nebius — the ultimate cloud for AI innovators.Nebius provides AI infrastructure you can count on, combining reliability and speed with flexibility and engineering support unmatched by hyperscalers.AI leaders like Meta, Shopify, and Higgsfield already partner with Nebius to run their AI workloads. Plus, venture-backed startups can save up to $150,000 on compute costs when they apply for access. Visit nebius.com or nebius.com/startups to learn more~~~~~~~~~~~~~She joined Monashees in 2021 and works closely with portfolio companies including Yuno, Slope, Gigi, Latu, Gaus, Felix, Fintoc, Spot2, and Nowports. Fabiola launched Monashees’ operations in Mexico and now leads the firm’s presence in San Francisco. Prior to Monashees, she worked in private equity in the United States, focusing on technology and sustainability investments, and in Mexico with a generalist mandate. She has been recognized by LAVCA as a Top Woman Investor in Latin America in 2024 and 2025 and as an Emerging Woman Investor in Latin America in 2023. Fabiola holds an MBA and an MS in Environmental Resources from Stanford University, where she was an Arbuckle Fellow and co-president of the Latin American Student Association.Topics: How fintech is evolving across Latin America and where the next major opportunities are emergingWhat makes climate tech companies compelling investments as sustainability markets matureHow consumer startups in Latin America can build defensible businesses at the seed and Series A stages#Monashees #Fintech #ClimateTech #ConsumerTech #VentureCapital

  5. 4d ago

    George Hu, Fireworks AI President on AI Inference and Enterprise

    George Hu is President of Fireworks AI, an enterprise AI inference platform enabling companies to build, fine-tune, and deploy specialized AI models at production scale. He joined Fireworks AI after more than a decade in leadership roles at Salesforce and Twilio, where he helped scale products, teams, and revenue. Fireworks AI, founded by engineers from Meta’s PyTorch team, serves more than 10,000 enterprise customers including Uber, Shopify, Samsung, GitLab, Cursor, Harvey, and MongoDB, processing more than 40 trillion tokens daily. The company raised $1.505 billion in Series D funding in July 2026 at a $17.5 billion valuation. Hu also serves as a Venture Partner at Benchmark and sits on the boards of Airtable and World Relief.Topics: Why specialized AI models and inference are becoming critical to enterprise AIHow Fireworks AI is building an enterprise platform for 40+ trillion tokens of daily inferenceLessons from scaling Salesforce and Twilio that applies to building AI companies at hypergrowth#FireworksAI #AIInference #EnterpriseAI #AIAgents #ArtificialIntelligence

  6. 6d ago

    Cheryl Cheng, M12 Managing Partner on AI, Healthcare and SaaS

    Cheryl Cheng is a Managing Partner at M12, where she invests in early-stage companies from seed through Series B across enterprise AI, applications, and vertical SaaS. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~This episode is brought to you by Nebius — the ultimate cloud for AI innovators.Nebius provides AI infrastructure you can count on, combining reliability and speed with flexibility and engineering support unmatched by hyperscalers.AI leaders like Meta, Shopify, and Higgsfield already partner with Nebius to run their AI workloads. Plus, venture-backed startups can save up to $150,000 on compute costs when they apply for access. Visit nebius.com or nebius.com/startups to learn more~~~~~~~~~~~~~She has spent 16 years investing in early- to growth-stage software companies spanning healthcare, enterprise applications, developer tools, and consumer opportunities. Before M12, Cheryl founded and ran Vive Collective, a healthcare investment platform, and previously served as a General Partner at BlueRun Ventures. Earlier in her career, she worked in brand management and marketing at The Clorox Company and The Sharper Image, as well as technology mergers and acquisitions at Broadview International, covering enterprise software and semiconductors. Cheryl holds a B.A. in Public Policy from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.Topics Evaluating early-stage enterprise AI, applications, and vertical SaaS companies from seed through Series BHow AI is changing healthcare and creating new opportunities for foundersWhat Cheryl looks for in technical founders building enduring companies#ArtificialIntelligence #Healthcare #VentureCapital #SaaS #DigitalHealth

  7. 6d ago

    Saurabh Sharma, You.com CPO on AI Search, Agents and Enterprise

    Saurabh Sharma is the Chief Product Officer at You.com, where he leads product strategy for enterprise AI tools and Web Search APIs designed to power AI agents. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~This episode is brought to you by Nebius — the ultimate cloud for AI innovators.Nebius provides AI infrastructure you can count on, combining reliability and speed with flexibility and engineering support unmatched by hyperscalers.AI leaders like Meta, Shopify, and Higgsfield already partner with Nebius to run their AI workloads. Plus, venture-backed startups can save up to $150,000 on compute costs when they apply for access. Visit nebius.com or nebius.com/startups to learn more~~~~~~~~~~~~~Previously, he was Head of Search Products at OpenSea, leading search, discovery, trust and safety, web, and mobile platforms. Before that, he spent more than a decade at Google, rising to Group Product Manager and leading products across Google Assistant, Gmail, Google+, Family Link, identity, and monetization, while managing teams of 12+ PMs and 100+ engineers. He also led strategic seed and Series A investments in voice, AI, and assistance companies and holds both a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon.Topics How AI agents are changing the future of search and discoveryWhat it takes to build search products for the agent eraLessons from scaling AI products at Google to building enterprise AI at You.com#Youcom #AISearch #AIAgents #EnterpriseAI #ProductManagement

  8. 6d ago

    Jonathan Pearce, AheadComputing Co-Founder on AI Chips and CPU

    Jonathan Pearce is Co-Founder and Microprocessor Architect at AheadComputing, where he is developing new approaches to processor architecture for AI and high-performance computing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~This episode is brought to you by Nebius — the ultimate cloud for AI innovators.Nebius provides AI infrastructure you can count on, combining reliability and speed with flexibility and engineering support unmatched by hyperscalers.AI leaders like Meta, Shopify, and Higgsfield already partner with Nebius to run their AI workloads. Plus, venture-backed startups can save up to $150,000 on compute costs when they apply for access. Visit nebius.com or nebius.com/startups to learn more~~~~~~~~~~~~~He spent 22 years at Intel across computer architecture, research, and CPU architecture roles, most recently serving as a Principal Engineer focused on advanced CPU microarchitecture. During his time at Intel, he worked across multiple generations of Intel Core SoCs in both pre-silicon and post-silicon roles and led research into novel microprocessor architectures for AI, ML, and HPC workloads. He has authored more than 19 patents spanning CPU, AI, and GPU architecture and previously served as a Research Scientist at Intel Labs focused on accelerator architecture. Jonathan holds both an MS and BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.Topics Why AI workloads are forcing a rethink of traditional CPU architectureWhat the next generation of processors needs to deliver for AI and HPCHow startups can challenge decades of assumptions in semiconductor architecture#AheadComputing #AIChips #CPUArchitecture #Semiconductors #AI

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4.8
out of 5
22 Ratings

About

I host a top VC podcast called Smart Venture Podcast (SVPpro.com). Past guests include C-level/VPs of Google, Meta, Amazon, Sephora, Dunkin' Donuts, Chipotle, Pepsi, Instagram, Deloitte, Reddit, Lyft, etc. Managing Partners of top funds (many were featured on the Forbes Midas List) and unicorn founders (founders of Craigslist, Square, Loom, Cruise, etc.) Venture with Grace is my new spin-off series that features top LPs, GPs, solo GPs, Angel Investors, top AI founders, and other experts in tech and business to cover specific domain expertise. Watch this Live on LinkedIn/ YouTube: Grace Gong

Information

  • Creator
    Grace Gong
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    656
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Grace Gong
  • Show Website
    Venture with Grace

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