Podcast
Venture with Grace
Hosted by Grace Gong · EN
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
69episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Chase Lochmiller, Crusoe, Co-Founder & CEO on AI Infrastructure
3d ago01:00:27Tap to summarizeChase Lochmiller is Co-Founder, CEO & Chairman of Crusoe, building AI compute infrastructure with 300+ team across engineering, manufacturing, and operations while raising $600M+ from venture/project/credit investors—after General Partner at Polychain Capital, Quantitative Trader at Jump Trading, and Managing Director of Algorithmic Trading at KCG Holdings; serial quant trader-turned-founder scaling mission-critical compute platforms for AI workloads with playbook for capital-intensive deep tech at hyperscale. Previously Chase was a quantitative researcher and trader at Jump Trading and GETCO, where he developed and managed a portfolio of algorithmic trading strategies. Chase holds undergraduate degrees in math and physics from MIT and a masters degree in computer science from Stanford, where he specialized in artificial intelligence. He is currently on the board of CSforAll, an organization whose mission is to make high-quality computer science an integral part of the educational experience of all K-12 students and teachers. As a personal interest, Chase has climbed five of the “seven summits” including Mt. Everest.TopicsHow Crusoe delivers AI compute without grid constraints or energy bottlenecksGrowing Crusoe $600M capital during rapid expansion at AI infrastructure scaleQuant trading readiness with algorithmic systems at Crusoe 300+ team scale#AIInfra #Startups #VC #Compute #Hypergrowth #Founder
Transcribe →Jim Adler, Toyota Ventures GP on Investing in Frontier Technologies
3d ago01:07:12Tap to summarizeJim Adler is the Founder and General Partner of Toyota Ventures, the venture capital arm of Toyota, where he leads investments across AI, robotics, mobility, cloud infrastructure, climate, and frontier technologies. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 also serves as Executive Advisor at Toyota Research Institute. Prior to Toyota Ventures, Jim was VP of Products and Marketing at Metanautix, a big data analytics startup acquired by Microsoft, and previously served as VP of Data Systems and Chief Privacy Officer at Intelius. Earlier in his career, he founded VoteHere, a cryptographic online voting company backed by Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, and Entrust, and began his career as a rocket engineer at Lockheed Martin. Across investing and operating roles, Jim has focused on scaling transformative technologies at the intersection of data, infrastructure, mobility, and privacy.TopicsHow Toyota Ventures invests in AI, robotics, and mobility for sustainable transportationFrom rocket engineer at Lockheed Martin to Toyota Ventures GP: frontier tech evolutionLessons from building and scaling venture-backed infrastructure companies#VentureCapital #Robotics #Mobility #DeepTech #Innovation
Transcribe →Jordan Van Horn, Monte Carlo COO on AI-Native GTM Transformation
3d ago00:58:10Tap to summarizeJordan Van Horn is the Co-Founder and COO of Monte Carlo, the data and AI observability platform helping companies like Intuit, Fox, and Roche improve the reliability of their data and AI systems. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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~~~~~~~~~~~~~Since co-founding Monte Carlo in 2020, he has focused on scaling AI-native go-to-market organizations and operationalizing data quality across enterprises. Previously, Jordan held multiple leadership roles at Segment, where he led global sales expansion across EMEA, APAC, and North America, and earlier held sales leadership roles at Dropbox and Hay Group. At Monte Carlo, he has driven internal AI adoption across GTM teams, helping the company achieve over 80% AI workflow adoption through integrated AI systems and operational transformation.TopicsHow Monte Carlo achieved 80% AI adoption across entire GTM team using unified OSBuilding world's first data and AI observability platform for Snowflake and DatabricksFrom power user AI sprawl to organizational intelligence: compound capabilities at scale#DataObservability #MonteCarlo #AIGTM #DataAI #RevenueOperations
Transcribe →Alex Triplett, You.com COO on Scaling AI Platforms Through M&A
3d ago00:59:14Tap to summarizeAlex Triplett is Chief Operating Officer at You.com. Before joining You.com in 2026, he served as COO & CFO at Appfire, where he led corporate strategy, product positioning, partnerships, PLG systems, and operational scaling across a 200+ person organization. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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~~~~~~~~~~~~~Earlier, at ION, he helped drive revenue growth from $150M to $3B, leading 23 acquisitions totaling $11.7B in enterprise value alongside large-scale financing and integration efforts. Across his career, Alex has focused on scaling complex software platforms through operational rigor, inorganic growth, and product-led expansion.TopicsHow You.com scales AI search and assistant through enterprise GTM motionProduct-led growth, pricing strategy, and GTM execution at scaleLessons from leading multi-billion-dollar corporate development initiatives#AIOperations #YouCom #GTM #MergersAndAcquisitions #EnterpriseAI
Transcribe →Anand Kannappan, Patronus AI CEO on Frontier AI Simulations
2w ago01:02:02Tap to summarizeAnand Kannappan is the Co-Founder & CEO of Patronus AI, a frontier AI research company building simulation infrastructure and evaluation systems for advanced AI models and 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~Patronus AI is known for influential benchmarks and research projects including FinanceBench, Lynx, SimpleSafetyTests, and CopyrightCatcher, focused on improving AI reliability, alignment, and performance. Before founding Patronus AI, Anand led applied machine learning and causal inference initiatives at Meta Reality Labs, helping shape experimentation, explainability, and AI platform strategy across large-scale teams. Earlier in his career, he co-founded Kyber Technologies, an AI-driven quant fund later acquired by Dark Forest Technologies. Backed by investors including Lightspeed, Notable Capital, Stanford, and Datadog, Anand focuses on the future of AI agents, simulations, reinforcement learning, and the infrastructure powering frontier AI systems.TopicsHow Patronus AI simulations train frontier models through digital workflow predictionMeta Reality Labs causal inference driving multimillion-dollar strategy shiftsLessons from Meta Reality Labs and applied AI experimentation#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning #Startups #AGI
Transcribe →João Moura, CrewAI CEO on Scaling Multi-Agent AI Systems
2w ago00:54:50Tap to summarizeJoão (Joe) Moura is the Founder & CEO of CrewAI, an open-source platform for orchestrating multi-agent AI systems and autonomous workflows. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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~~~~~~~~~~~~~With nearly two decades of engineering and leadership experience, João previously served as Director of AI Engineering at Clearbit, where he helped turn AI initiatives into a major revenue driver through large-scale vector databases, AI infrastructure, and production ML systems. Earlier in his career, he led distributed engineering teams at companies including Toptal and Packlane, specializing in remote collaboration, developer productivity, and scalable software systems. A longtime builder across AI, data science, and developer infrastructure, João is now focused on advancing practical agentic AI systems that enable enterprises and developers to deploy collaborative AI agents in real-world production environments.TopicsHow crewAI multi-agent orchestration enables enterprise AI workflows at scaleScaling Clearbit AI from zero to profit driver through vector DB innovationBuilding 40+ engineer remote teams across time zones with 70% efficiency gains#AgenticAI #OpenSource #MachineLearning #DeveloperTools #EngineeringLeadership
Transcribe →Ali Tamaseb, DCVC General Partner on Backing Deep Tech Super Founders
2w ago00:56:08Tap to summarizeAli Tamaseb is a General Partner at DCVC, a deep-tech venture firm managing billions in assets and investing across AI, robotics, biotech, crypto infrastructure, energy, materials, cybersecurity, and frontier science. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 founder, investor, and author, Ali previously built and scaled a hardware startup to millions in revenue before joining DCVC, where he has backed category-defining companies including MosaicML, Chainlink, Freenome, Rigetti, Recursion, and Planet. He is also the founder of Super Founders Club, a network of accomplished entrepreneurs behind more than $100B in enterprise value, and the author of the bestselling book Super Founders, which analyzes the patterns behind billion-dollar startups. With a background spanning machine learning research, patents, and deep technical entrepreneurship, Ali focuses on identifying exceptional founders building highly technical, world-changing companies.TopicsDeep-tech investment rulebook: rockets, quantum, AI infra, biomed at frontierFrom hardware startup CEO to VC: lessons scaling millions in revenueThe future of compute, infrastructure, and industrial innovation#VentureCapital #DeepTech #Entrepreneurship #FrontierTech #Innovation
Transcribe →Jerry Liu, LlamaIndex CEO on Building Agentic AI Data Systems
2w ago01:01:03Tap to summarizeJerry Liu is the Co-Founder & CEO of LlamaIndex, the AI infrastructure company building tools that help developers connect LLMs with enterprise data, documents, and knowledge systems. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 his leadership, LlamaIndex has become a leading framework for retrieval, agentic workflows, and production AI applications, including LlamaParse, its advanced document parsing and OCR platform for transforming complex enterprise files into LLM-ready context. Prior to founding LlamaIndex, Jerry was a Machine Learning Engineering Manager at Robust Intelligence and a Research Scientist at Uber AI, following earlier machine learning roles at Quora and Two Sigma. With a background spanning applied AI research, ML systems, and developer infrastructure, Jerry focuses on enabling reliable, scalable AI agents powered by real-world enterprise data.TopicsHow LlamaParse achieves agentic OCR for complex enterprise documents at scaleBuilding LlamaIndex from open-source RAG framework to enterprise AI platformUber AI residency to LlamaIndex CEO: document intelligence for LLMs journey #AI #LlamaIndex #AgenticAI #MachineLearning #DeveloperTools #LLMs #Startups
Transcribe →Siadhal Magos, Metaview CEO on AI for Modern Hiring Teams
2w ago00:59:32Tap to summarizeSiadhal Magos is the Co-founder and CEO of Metaview, the AI company focused on recruiting. Metaview’s Agentic Recruiting Platform uses AI agents to handle sourcing, application review, interview notes, reporting, and the admin recruiters hate — helping 5,000+ companies including Brex, ElevenLabs, Affirm, Airtable, and Replit hire more effectively.~~~~~~~~~~~~~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~~~~~~~~~~~~~Before founding Metaview, Siadhal was a product leader at Uber, where he experienced the challenges of hiring at scale firsthand. His background spans product leadership, operational scale, and building consumer technology products.TopicsWhy “superpowered recruiters” don’t automatically create superpowered recruiting organizations and why orchestration is the next mission. Insights from the AI Hiring Alignment Report on improving hiring decisionsBuilding great products from Uber to Metaview#Hiring #Recruiting #HRTech #ProductManagement #FutureOfWork
Transcribe →Junghee Ryu & Carl Choi, RLWRLD on AI Robotics Infrastructure
2w ago01:06:27Tap to summarizeJunghee Ryu is the Founder & CEO of RLWRLD, and Carl Choi is President of U.S. operations, together leading the company’s mission to build robotics foundation models and the infrastructure required to bring physical AI into real-world industrial environments. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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~~~~~~~~~~~~~RLWRLD is developing vision-language-action systems and robotics foundation models designed for dexterous manipulation, enabling robots to perceive, reason, and execute complex tasks across manufacturing and logistics. Junghee, a KAIST PhD and serial deep-tech founder of Olaworks (acquired by Intel) and FuturePlay, brings deep expertise in AI systems, venture building, and robotics research. Carl, a former Partner at Alumni Ventures with prior operating roles across enterprise strategy and corporate development, leads U.S. expansion, partnerships, and go-to-market execution across robotics, AI, and industrial automation. Together, they are building the full stack for physical AI—from foundation models to real-world deployment infrastructure—bridging research breakthroughs with scalable industrial adoption.TopicsBuilding robotics foundation models and vision-language-action systemsTurning physical AI into deployable industrial infrastructureHow RLWRLD RFM achieves human dexterity for factory automation#Robotics #AI #PhysicalAI #DeepTech #Automation #IndustrialAI #Startups
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