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. 3D AGO

    Calvin Chin, Managing Partner E14 Fund on Investing in Frontier Tech

    Calvin Chin is Managing Partner of E14 Fund, the early-stage venture fund affiliated with the MIT Media Lab, where he backs deep tech founders translating frontier research into scalable companies. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 Founder & CEO of Transist, an incubator investing across the continents in impact-driven startups, and earlier founded Qifang, China’s first online student loan platform, recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer. A World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and Fast Company “Most Creative People in Business” honoree, Calvin has spent his career operating at the intersection of research, entrepreneurship, and global capital flows, focused on turning technical breakthroughs into category-defining companies.Topics Turning frontier research into venture-scale companies from MIT and beyondInvesting across U.S.–China innovation ecosystems: lessons and shiftsWhat actually matters when backing deep tech founders (beyond the science)#VentureCapital #DeepTech #Startups #Innovation #MIT #FrontierTech

    1 hr

  2. MAY 8

    Andrew Garvin, Metronome, Co-Founder & COO on Usage Billing

    Andrew Garvin is Co-Founder and COO of Metronome~~~~~~~~~~~~~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~~~~~~~~~~~~~The usage-based billing leader acquired by Stripe enabling AI companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Confluent, and Anyscale to monetize complex SKUs, hybrid models, and sales-led motions with multidimensional metering—previously Fractional CFO to tech startups/VC funds, advisor to 8VC and Blend, Partner at Hybrid (crowd work platform), CFO at Mithril Capital ($1.4B Peter Thiel fund backing Palantir/Reddit/Auris), Director of Finance at Halcyon Molecular (EM genome sequencing), Principal at Clarium Capital ($8B macro hedge fund); Stanford GSB MBA with enterprise scale playbook.Topics How Metronome powers Stripe usage billing without complex engineering buildsGrowing Hybrid enterprise sales during crowd platform category creationAI monetization readiness with multidimensional metering at Stripe scale#UsageBilling #Metronome #Stripe #Fintech #BillingTech

    57 min

  3. MAY 8

    Darren Moffett, LangChain VP of Sales on Enterprise AI

    Darren Moffett is Vice President of Sales at LangChain, leading go-to-market for the leading agent engineering platform powering production AI agents for enterprises—previously VP Sales AMER and Area VP Regional Sales at GitLab scaling DevSecOps adoption, Area VP US High Tech at MuleSoft driving enterprise integration leadership in Western Region; UC Davis History BA with proven track record building high-performing sales teams across developer platforms from open source to $100M+ ARR commercial motions. with prior enterprise leadership at Numerify, Cloudera, and xMatters (Area VP scaling incident response communications).~~~~~~~~~~~~~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~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 20+ year track record scaling DevOps, data analytics, and integration platforms at category leaders, now applying hyperscaler go-to-market expertise to LangChain's agentic AI ecosystem.TopicsHow LangChain scales production AI agents without prototype-to-production gapsGrowing GitLab AMER sales through DevSecOps platform adoption surgeDriving MuleSoft high tech enterprise integration during Western Region expansionDeveloper platform GTM readiness at LangSmith enterprise deployment scale#EnterpriseAI #LangChain #GitLab #MuleSoft #DevTools

    55 min

  4. MAY 8

    Alex Ren, Fellows Fund, Founding Partner on AI Investing

    Alex Ren is Founding Partner at Fellows Fund ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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~~~~~~~~~~~~~Backing frontier AI infrastructure with 20+ years across engineering, recruiting, and venture—seed investor in Sycamore Labs ($65M trusted agent OS), investor in Periodic Labs (OpenAI ex-VP science AI), Replit ($3B unicorn), Corgi ($108M AI insurance carrier), Dyna Robotics (DYNA-1 robotics foundation model), Scalar Field (AI trading terminal), BOND (Chief of Staff AI), alongside Abridge, GC AI, MAI Agents, Higgsfield AI, and Evidently; previously led TalentSeer AI recruiting, founded mobile app startup, autonomous vehicle researcher—UCAS Master's operator turned SF ecosystem investor building agentic execution systems.TopicsHow Fellows Fund sources AI breakout winners without traditional VC gatekeepersGrowing Periodic Labs talent exodus from OpenAI Meta DeepMind to science AIRobotics readiness with Dyna Robotics foundation models at $120M+ scale#AIVC #FellowsFund #SycamoreLabs #Robotics #DeepTech

    59 min

  5. MAY 2

    Zach Lloyd, Warp Founder & CEO on Terminals for AI-Native Developers

    Zach Lloyd is the Founder & CEO of Warp, the modern terminal reimagined for how developers actually work today—bringing structure, collaboration, and AI into a tool that has remained largely unchanged since the VT100 era. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 Warp, Zach was a Principal Engineer at Google, where he led engineering for core products like Google Sheets and contributed to the broader Docs ecosystem used by billions globally. He later served as CTO of TIME and co-founded SelfMade, a venture-backed startup focused on empowering creators. Across roles, his throughline has been clear: building tools that meaningfully improve how people create and operate. With Warp, Zach is tackling one of the last untouched surfaces in the developer stack—transforming the terminal from a static interface into an intelligent, collaborative environment designed for speed, clarity, and AI-native workflows.Topics Reinventing the terminal: from VT100 emulation to AI-native developer workflowsWhy developer tools stagnate—and how Warp rethinks interface, speed, and usabilityEmbedding AI directly into core dev environments vs. layering on copilots#DevTools #Warp #GoogleSheets #DevEx #Terminal

    1h 2m

  6. MAY 1

    Noam Schwartz, Alice CEO & Co-Founder on Securing AI Systems at Scale

    Noam Schwartz is the CEO & Co-founder of Alice, a trust, safety, and security platform purpose-built for the AI era—protecting models, autonomous agents, and user-generated ecosystems from emerging threats. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 is also closely associated with ActiveFence, where he has led efforts to safeguard digital platforms for major technology companies and Fortune 500 enterprises, helping protect billions of users globally. Previously, Noam was VP of Business & Corporate Development at SimilarWeb, where he drove M&A and strategic partnerships, including the acquisition of his own startup, TapDog. Across his career—from founding early UGC platforms to scaling enterprise-grade safety infrastructure—Noam has consistently operated at the intersection of data, platforms, and risk. With Alice, he is now focused on a critical frontier: building end-to-end security and governance layers for AI systems, where model integrity, content safety, and agent behavior must be managed cohesively in real time.Topics How Alice secures AI models without fragmented trust safety toolingGrowing ActiveFence client protection during GenAI UGC threat expansionAI safety readiness with serial founder frameworks at enterprise platform scale#AISecurity #Alice #TrustSafety #SimilarWeb #DeepTech

    54 min

  7. MAY 1

    Shawn Razek, Matterhaul Founder & CEO on AI-Driven Distribution

    Shawn Razek is the Co-Founder and CEO of Matterhaul.~~~~~~~~~~~~~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~~~~~~~~~~~~~Where he leads the development of AI agents that automate distribution and manufacturing workflows. Matterhaul’s platform empowers teams to streamline complex processes, reduce friction, and accelerate operations without requiring new software systems. Prior to Matterhaul, Shawn co-founded Xoba, a B2B SaaS startup focused on workplace information discovery, growing the product from 0→1 with paying customers within six months and successfully exiting in 2023. He also served as Product Lead and Product Manager at Stripe, Verkada, and Cisco Meraki, driving full-stack product strategy, cloud platform development, and SaaS licensing models that scaled to millions of users and $30M+ in revenue gains. Shawn blends technical product expertise with startup leadership, helping teams design scalable solutions, launch products globally, and optimize operational efficiency.Topics How Matterhaul's AI agents cut distributor costs by automating procurement chaosScaling Stripe Terminal and Verkada sensors through enterprise GTM motionsBuilding Xoba from zero to exit while PM-ing at Verkada full-time#AI #SupplyChain #Matterhaul #StartupLeadership #B2BTech

    1 hr

  8. MAY 1

    Dr. Chenxi Wang, Rain Capital GP on Cybersecurity, AI, & Venture Scaling

    Dr. Chenxi Wang is Founder and Managing General Partner of Rain Capital~~~~~~~~~~~~~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~~~~~~~~~~~~~A cybersecurity thought leader, investor, and board director, backing early-stage security startups including Claroty, ProjectDiscovery, Ox Security, and JupiterOne. Chenxi has held senior strategy roles at Intel Security and served as Chief Strategy Officer at Palo Alto Networks (Twistlock). She currently serves on boards including MDU Resources Group, advises Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science, and founded the Forte Group to advance women in cybersecurity.Topics: ​​Evaluating cybersecurity startups: signals that predict enterprise adoptionWhy cybersecurity VC thrives amid market chaos with unbreakable enterprise demandDesigning AI & ML security products for reliability and market fit#VentureCapital #VC #Cybersecurity #AI #WomenInTech

    1h 5m
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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
    577
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Grace Gong
  • Show Website
    Venture with Grace

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