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
109episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Dr. Chenxi Wang, Rain Capital GP on Cybersecurity, AI, & Venture Scaling
May 101:05:18Tap to summarizeDr. 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
Transcribe →Belsasar Lepe, Cerby, Co-Founder & CEO on Identity Security
May 100:54:46Tap to summarizeBelsasar (Bel) Lepe is Co-Founder and CEO of Cerby~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 drives identity security innovation by extending SSO and lifecycle management to nonstandard apps, eliminating password managers and enabling passwordless auth for 100+ global customers with 10x growth post-$40M Series B in 2025. Previously Head of Product at Impira, he led product lifecycle, support, and marketing to deliver 4x revenue growth while pivoting from DAM strategy; before that, as Co-Founder/CTO at Ooyala, he oversaw global tech/product strategy, led 300+ teams across 5 countries managing $70M+ revenue lines in 170+ countries, integrated acquisitions, and achieved $440M+ exits including Telstra's $420M buyout. Starting as a Google Software Engineer on enterprise collaboration and Stanford CS alum, Lepe transitioned from engineering to founder/operator roles, advising Yalo/Impira and investing in LatAm startups.TopicsHow Cerby extends identity security to shadow IT apps without manual offboarding or password sprawlGrowing Ooyala to $420M Telstra exit during late-stage scaling at $440M+ total valuationHow workforce identity platforms are becoming the central control layer for enterprise applications.#Cybersecurity #IdentitySecurity #EnterpriseSaaS #Founders #StartupLeadership
Transcribe →Nicole LeBlanc, Partner at Woven Capital on Climate & Mobility VC
Apr 2401:01:47Tap to summarizeNicole LeBlanc is a Partner at Woven Capital, based in Tokyo, where she invests in climate technology and mobility transformation across Europe and North America, with a thesis focused on sustainability, urban innovation, and the industrial transition toward a decarbonized economy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 leads investments in companies such as Corvus Energy, Eleven Labs, Intuition Robotics, and WeaveGrid, and serves on multiple boards supporting the scale-up of next-generation energy and mobility infrastructure. Prior to Woven Capital, she held leadership roles at 2150, Sidewalk Labs (Alphabet’s urban innovation initiative), and BDC Capital, where she built deep expertise in early-stage investing, corporate venture strategy, and portfolio development. Nicole is also a founder and investor in sandpiper.vc, a women-led venture fund, and holds a CPA designation, bringing a disciplined financial lens to her climate-focused investment work.TopicsHow Woven Capital accelerates climate mobility without fragmented supply chainsScaling Sidewalk Labs urban innovation through Alphabet ecosystem partnershipsDecarbonization readiness with Toyota infrastructure at Partner portfolio scale#UrbanInnovation #Hypergrowth #Partner #RenewableEnergy #DeepTech
Transcribe →John Forbes, Deep Checks General Manager on Deep Tech Fundraising
Apr 2401:00:10Tap to summarizeJohn Forbes is General Manager of Deep Checks, the world's largest deep tech founder-investor matching platform facilitating $10s of millions and 1000s of meetings—and Principal at Julian Capital writing $750K first checks for deep tech founders (chips, robotics, energy, medtech).~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 venture, John operated across sales, product, and early-stage growth, helping companies reach product-market fit. Through Deep Checks, he has built one of the largest deeptech deal flow networks, enabling thousands of founder–investor connections and accelerating capital formation in highly technical markets.TopicsHow Deep Checks matches deep tech founders without scattered investor outreachScaling Julian Capital $750K first checks through proprietary deal flow advantageProving market pull in deeptech through switching costs and sales signals#DeepTech #VentureCapital #Startups #Fundraising #SeedStage
Transcribe →Shamin Walsh, BAM Ventures Managing Director on Consumer Investing
Apr 2201:02:01Tap to summarizeShamin Walsh is a Managing Director at BAM Ventures and a longtime angel investor with over 17 years of experience backing breakout consumer companies like Sweetgreen, Flexport, and Sir Kensington’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~~~~~~~~~~~~~With a background spanning venture investing, operations, and law, she brings a full-stack perspective to early-stage consumer businesses—combining insight into supply chain infrastructure, manufacturing, and brand building. Previously a partner at an early-stage firm with deep exposure to logistics and fulfillment, she has managed portfolios, served on boards, and helped shape fund strategy, drawing on her foundation as a transactional attorney.TopicsHow BAM Ventures scales consumer startups without supply chain bottlenecksGrowing portfolio companies through 3PL manufacturing operational supportConsumer readiness with legal-operational diligence at MD portfolio scale#ConsumerVC #Investing #Brands #SupplyChain #EarlyStage
Transcribe →Pedro Paulino, Tavrn Founder & CEO on Medical AI Automation
Apr 2101:00:21Tap to summarizePedro Paulino is Founder and CEO of Tavrn.~~~~~~~~~~~~~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~~~~~~~~~~~~~Delivering AI-powered medical record retrieval, chronologies, and demand letters streamlining legal/insurance workflows—after Product Manager at PearPop and Kalshi (regulated prediction market); Harvard University alumnus with product expertise scaling complex user acquisition and data workflows across social commerce and fintech.TopicsHow Tavrn automates PI case prep from records to demands without manual paralegal workflowsScaling Tavrn Series A $15M through 45-state adoption at contingency fee firmsReplacing manual workflows with AI-native legal automation at $3B VC market scale#LegalTech #Tavrn #MedTech #LegalAI #Startups #Product
Transcribe →Alysaa Co, Bain Capital Ventures, Partner on Healthcare & AI Apps
Apr 1800:54:37Tap to summarizeAlysaa Co is an early-stage investor backing world-class founders building the next generation of healthcare and AI products. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 focuses on partnering at the earliest stages with teams creating category-defining, best-in-class solutions, and plays a key role in leading healthcare investments across companies like Tandem, Silna, Charta, Loyal, Simile, and MagicSchool. Before venture, Alysaa built and scaled a multi-million-dollar consumer food business during her college years—an experience that shaped her perspective on founder grit and execution. She also writes Cracking the Codes, a Substack exploring themes like scaling student-led businesses and navigating the evolving AI landscape in healthcare.TopicHow BCV backs fintech category leaders without crowded seed competitionHealthcare tech readiness with Charta Health partnerships at Partner scaleGrowing multi-million college business during student entrepreneurship phase - AI landscape in healthcare#FintechVC #HealthcareTech #Startups #VC #EnterpriseSaaS
Transcribe →Sandhya Venkatachalam, Axiom Partners Founder on Early-Stage AI
Apr 1801:05:31Tap to summarizeSandhya Venkatachalam is the Founder of Axiom Partners, an early-stage venture firm backing AI-native, category-defining startups before they become obvious. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 former Partner at Khosla Ventures, she has invested in companies like Groq, Fireflies.ai, Forethought, and Helm.ai, and raised a $52M debut fund to double down on high-conviction, non-consensus bets. Known for her contrarian approach, Sandhya focuses on founders with unique visions of how AI will reshape industries—combining deep technical insight with a willingness to move early, often ahead of market consensus.TopicsHow Axiom Partners finds category-defining AI without crowded infrastructure/application consensusScaling Groq inference leadership through earliest Khosla Ventures infrastructure convictionGrowing Fireflies.ai board tenure during enterprise meeting intelligence expansion#AIVC #Startups #VC #EarlyStage #CapacityCrunch #Hypergrowth
Transcribe →Iren Reznikov, Vintage Investment Partner on Cybersecurity Investing
Apr 1701:04:45Tap to summarizeIren Reznikov is a Partner at Vintage Investment Partners~~~~~~~~~~~~~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~~~~~~~~~~~~~Specializing in enterprise infrastructure and cybersecurity. She previously led Corporate Development and Venture Investments at SentinelOne, managing its $100M venture arm across Israel and EMEA, and held investment roles at Cisco and YL Ventures. Her portfolio includes category-defining companies like Medigate, Axonius, Vulcan Cyber, and Guardz. Recognized by Fortune and Forbes Israel, Iren brings deep expertise in identifying and scaling high-impact startups across cybersecurity, AI, and enterprise software.TopicsHow Vintage accelerates cyber/AI startups without fragmented LP-GP alignmentScaling SentinelOne $100M venture arm through Israel EMEA infrastructure betsEnterprise cyber readiness with M&A expertise at Vintage $4B portfolio scale#CyberVC #Startups #VC #Cybersecurity #EnterpriseAI #HypergrowthHow this was made
Transcribe →Tyler Carlson, Salesforce, SVP Head of AppExchange on Partner Ecosystems
Apr 1700:29:56Tap to summarizeTyler Carlson is SVP and Head of Product for AppExchange & Ecosystem at Salesforce.~~~~~~~~~~~~~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~~~~~~~~~~~~~Driving the product vision for AppExchange 2.0 as a modern SaaS marketplace where customers discover, try, buy, and securely install apps, integrations, and agents extending Salesforce products. With over 10 years at Salesforce, he progressed from Principal Solution Engineer to leading strategic partnerships with Amazon, Google, Meta, Apple, Stripe, OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks, and Snowflake for Data Cloud and Generative AI initiatives. Previously spent 5+ years at Model N rising from Associate Consultant to Principal Solutions Consultant in revenue management for life sciences, technology, and manufacturing companies.TopicsHow AppExchange 2.0 enables agent discovery without integration silosScaling Salesforce partnerships with OpenAI Anthropic through GenAI launchesGrowing Agentforce 360 ecosystem during AI-native partner expansion#AppExchange #Salesforce #Agentforce #Ecosystems #Startups
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