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
82episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Ryan Gavin, Slack EVP & CMO on AI-Powered Enterprise Growth
3d ago00:38:33Tap to summarizeRyan Gavin is EVP and Chief Marketing Officer at Slack, where he leads global growth, go-to-market strategy, and commercial operations as the company evolves into the work operating system for the AI 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 Slack, Ryan served as Chief Growth Officer at Convoy, leading the commercial engine of a $650M+ digital freight marketplace, and previously built the AI and machine learning business at Amazon Web Services into a multi-billion-dollar category. Before AWS, he spent nearly two decades at Microsoft, where he helped bring Bing to profitability, scaled it to billions of monthly searches, and led the commercial Surface business. Across enterprise software, cloud computing, AI, and marketplaces, Ryan has built a reputation for creating new categories, scaling growth engines, and helping organizations translate technology innovation into measurable business outcomes.Topics:Microsoft Bing turnaround to profitability: 5 billion searches and Cortana 145M users playbookLessons from AWS, Microsoft, Convoy, and Slack on scaling adoptionScaling Slack 2.5x revenue with 100K+ customers and 900% AI usage growth#Slack #CMO #EnterpriseAI #AgenticEnterprise #ProductLedGrowth
Transcribe →Sasha Orloff, Puzzle, Founder & CEO on Real-Time Accounting
3d ago00:49:40Tap to summarizeSasha Orloff is Founder and CEO of Puzzle building a modern core accounting platform with real-time general ledger automation for provable accuracy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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~~~~~~~~~~~~~After founding LendUp which raised over $1 billion in venture capital and debt, he spun out Mission Lane credit card division. Inspired by Muhammad Yunus, he spent years at Grameen Foundation in Honduras, World Bank's CGAP, and Citigroup before launching fintech serving underserved markets. UCSD Applied Math and Economics graduate with Georgetown MBA, he hosts a16z Tech Finance Podcast and lectures at Stanford, Princeton, and Harvard.TopicsHow Puzzle delivers real-time accounting without 30-60 day financial reporting delaysScaling Lendup $1B capital raise through underserved market fintech innovationGrowing Mission Lane credit spinout during Lendup operational transformation#AccountingTech #Puzzle #Fintech #LendUp #RealTimeFinance
Transcribe →Pat Casey, ServiceNow CTO & EVP on AI Platforms and Enterprise DevOps
3d ago01:06:47Tap to summarizePat Casey is the Chief Technology Officer and EVP of DevOps at ServiceNow and one of the company’s founding leaders. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 joining in the company's earliest days, Pat has played a central role in building the ServiceNow platform into one of the world's leading enterprise software ecosystems. He worked alongside Fred Luddy to create the Glide platform, the foundation of what is now the ServiceNow AI Platform, led the development of the company's high-performance database technologies, and helped drive the integration of AI and large language models across ServiceNow's products. Today, he oversees a global organization spanning engineering, cloud operations, AI, developer productivity, advanced technologies, customer support, and product development, helping shape how enterprises automate and transform their operations at scale.TopicsBuilding ServiceNow AI Platform from Glide to LLM integration transforming enterprise appsFrom ServiceNow founder 2006 to CTO: scaling 7,000 to 10,000 employees across AI and DevOpsAI integration at enterprise scale: LLMs empowering users to solve complex business challenges#ServiceNow #CTO #AIPlatform #DevOps #EnterpriseAI
Transcribe →Zeynep Korutürk and Kris Naudts, Firgun Ventures on Quantum Scale-ups
1w ago00:54:18Tap to summarizeZeynep Korutürk and Kris Naudts are the Founding Managing Partners of Firgun Ventures, one of the first venture capital firms focused exclusively on Series A and B quantum technology 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~~~~~~~~~~~~~Zeynep previously spent more than a decade at Goldman Sachs, where she co-founded the firm's Technology Initiative, advised technology founders and investors, and became an early investor in pioneering quantum companies including Cambridge Quantum. Kris is a serial entrepreneur, deep-tech investor, and founder of Culture Trip, which he scaled into a global travel platform reaching millions of users and raised more than $100 million in funding. Together, they are building Firgun Ventures to help the next generation of quantum computing, sensing, and communications companies scale from breakthrough research to real-world impact.TopicsHow Firgun Ventures became first VC firm focused on Series A/B quantum scale-ups globallyFrom Goldman Sachs Tech Initiative and Culture Trip $100M raise to quantum VC partnershipWhat investors get wrong about the quantum opportunity#QuantumComputing #FirgunVentures #QuantumVC #DeepTech #CultureTrip
Transcribe →Arnav Mishra, DOSS Co-Founder and CTO on ERP for Modern Industries
1w ago01:06:19Tap to summarizeArnav Mishra is the Co-Founder and CTO of Doss, a company reinventing ERP software for modern businesses across manufacturing, logistics, construction, agriculture, and other traditionally underserved industries. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 Doss, Arnav was a founding engineer at Siteline, where he built critical infrastructure and experienced firsthand the limitations of legacy ERP systems and complex enterprise integrations. Earlier in his career, he held engineering roles at Rubrik, Uber, VMware, and AeroFS, while also serving as a venture partner at Contrary Capital. A computer science graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Arnav is focused on building flexible, AI-native operating systems that replace decades-old enterprise software and bring modern technology to the industries that power the real economy.TopicsBringing modern technology to manufacturing, logistics, and other "dusty" industriesLessons from scaling engineering teams and building products in complex enterprise marketsHow DOSS rebuilds ERP from first principles for dusty industries like construction and logistics#ModernERP #DustyIndustries #DOSS #UXRevolution #TechCommunity
Transcribe →Guy Arazi, Pi Security Co-Founder and CEO on AI-Powered Cloud Security
1w ago01:02:28Tap to summarizeGuy Arazi is the Co-Founder and CEO of Pi Security, a cybersecurity company building a new approach to securing AI applications and 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~~~~~~~~~~~~~Before founding Pi, Guy was a senior security researcher at Microsoft, where he led security research initiatives, discovered more than 150 vulnerabilities, founded Microsoft's ransomware detection vertical, and served as technical lead for the MSRC Vulnerabilities & Mitigations team. He was also a founding member of the XCloud Research team at Palo Alto Networks, helping develop advanced cloud threat detection capabilities. With deep expertise spanning vulnerability research, cloud security, ransomware defense, and AI security, Guy is focused on helping organizations secure the next generation of AI-powered products and infrastructure.TopicsThe emerging security risks facing AI applications and autonomous systemsLessons from discovering hundreds of vulnerabilities at MicrosoftWhy traditional cybersecurity approaches are struggling in the AI era#Cybersecurity #AISecurity #ArtificialIntelligence #CloudSecurity #Startups
Transcribe →Daisy Cai, B Capital General Partner on AI and Technology Investing
1w ago00:50:01Tap to summarizeDaisy Cai is a General Partner at B Capital, where she invests in AI and technology companies across the U.S. and Asia. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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~~~~~~~~~~~~~Her portfolio includes category leaders such as Reflection AI, Apptronik, Writer, EvenUp, and Kaon, while previous investments include Profound Bio, which was acquired by Genmab, and GeekPlus, which later went public. Prior to B Capital, Daisy was a Partner at SoftBank Vision Fund and held investing roles at Goldman Sachs and TA Associates. She began her career as a chip architect at AMD, giving her a unique perspective that spans semiconductors, AI infrastructure, enterprise software, robotics, and growth investing.TopicsInvesting in the next generation of AI, robotics, and autonomous systemsWhat separates breakout AI companies from the rest of the marketLessons from investing through multiple technology cycles at SoftBank and B Capital#AI #VentureCapital #Startups #Robotics #EnterpriseAI
Transcribe →Dan Mishin, Manifest OS CEO on Building AI-Native Legal Firms
1w ago00:57:20Tap to summarizeDan Mishin is the Founder and CEO of Manifest OS, a company building AI-native infrastructure for next-generation law firms. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 founded June Homes, a technology-driven flexible living platform that scaled to over $50M ARR, $1.3B in assets under management, and profitability while raising more than $70M from investors including SoftBank, Menlo Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, First Round Capital, and others, before its acquisition and transition to Chairman. Earlier, he founded Bear Hostels and later expanded it into a large regional hospitality business across the CIS region, which was ultimately acquired through Planet of Hostels. Across multiple ventures in real estate, hospitality, and AI, Dan has focused on building and scaling capital-efficient, category-defining companies that transform traditional industries through software.TopicsHow Manifest OS powers AI-native law firms for accessible high-quality legal representationFrom Bear Hostels CIS market leader to SoftBank-backed June Homes: hospitality to real estate techScaling marketplace and real estate platforms from 0 → $50M+ ARR#LegalTech #PropTech #Entrepreneurship #VentureCapital #Scaleups
Transcribe →Nikita Rudin, Flexion CEO on Reinforcement Learning for Humanoids
2w ago00:58:26Tap to summarizeNikita Rudin is the Co-Founder and CEO of Flexion Robotics, where he is building humanoid robots powered by large-scale simulation and reinforcement learning. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 previously spent more than four years at NVIDIA, helping advance high-performance physics simulation and AI training systems for robotics. Nikita earned his PhD from ETH Zurich, where his research focused on deep reinforcement learning for legged robots and contributed to some of the field's most influential academic work. Combining deep expertise in robotics, simulation, and AI, he is focused on making humanoid robots smarter, more capable, and commercially deployable in real-world environments.TopicsHow Flexion Robotics scales simulation and RL training for agile humanoid robots at production scaleLessons from NVIDIA on building AI infrastructure for roboticsThe path from robotic demos to commercially valuable humanoid workers#Robotics #Humanoids #AI #ReinforcementLearning #EmbodiedAI
Transcribe →Josh Araujo, Forterra CEO on Scaling Autonomous Defense Systems
2w ago01:04:01Tap to summarizeJosh Araujo is the CEO of Forterra, where he leads the company’s mission to deploy autonomous ground vehicle technology at scale.~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 joining in 2021, he helped lead Forterra’s growth from Series A through Series C while developing its Autonomy-as-a-Service business model and serving as COO before becoming CEO. Prior to Forterra, Josh was CFO of OGT Engineering & Construction and spent nearly a decade on Wall Street at Jefferies and Lazard, advising aerospace, defense, and industrial companies on M&A and capital markets transactions. Before entering finance, he served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. His career spans military leadership, investment banking, operations, and executive management, giving him a unique perspective on scaling mission-driven technology companies.TopicsLeadership Lessons Across Military Service, Finance, and Autonomous systemsHow Forterra successfully scaled from its Series A in 2021 to its Series C in 2025From Prototype to Deployment: Building Culture and Alignment in Defense Tech#DefenseTech #Autonomy #Robotics #Leadership #Startups
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