Venture with Grace

Hosted by Grace Gong

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Episodes

641

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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EN-US

About the show

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

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60 recent

September 12, 202659 min

Ajay Kulkarni, TigerData CEO on Postgres, AI Agents and Data Infra

Ajay Kulkarni is the co-founder and CEO of TigerData, the company behind TimescaleDB and a high-performance PostgreSQL platform for transactional, analytical, and AI workloads. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 Timescale in 2017 and has since helped grow the company to more than 2,000 customers and a 200-person fully remote team. TigerData has raised $180 million and serves organizations including Mistral, Hugging Face, NVIDIA, Toyota, NASA, and Schneider Electric. Ajay previously studied computer science at MIT and worked at early-stage startups, focusing on infrastructure, developer products, and AI-augmented engineering.Topics: How PostgreSQL is evolving to support real-time analytics, transactional workloads, and AI agents on a unified data infrastructure Building TigerData from Timescale into a company serving 2,000+ customers, with a 200-person team and $180 million raised How AI agents are changing software development, data infrastructure, and the interfaces developers use to build the next generation of applications #ArtificialIntelligence #PostgreSQL #AIInfrastructure #Database #AIEngineering

September 11, 20261 hr 3 min

Bryant Chou, Ploy CEO on AI Agents, Marketing and Web Growth

Bryant Chou is the founder of Ploy, an AI-powered growth platform that turns company websites into active growth engines. Prior to that he was the Co-Founder and CTO of Webflow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ploy launched out of stealth in 2026 with a $27 million seed round backed by First Round Capital and Y Combinator. The platform uses autonomous AI agents for web design, copywriting, SEO, CRM data syncing, advertising, and site optimization. Previously, Bryant co-founded Webflow, where he served as CTO for more than 12 years and architected the technology platform that powers more than 1% of the most active websites on the internet. Webflow grew to more than 600,000 users.Topics How AI agents are transforming marketing from a collection of manual tasks into an autonomous growth system Has AI made software execution cheap enough that strategy is now the real bottleneck? Lessons from more than 12 years building Webflow #ArtificialIntelligence #AIAgents #MarketingAI #Webflow #GrowthTech

September 9, 20261 hr 2 min

Rissa Cao, Fish Audio CEO on Building AI Voice Infrastructure

Rissa Cao is the Co-Founder and CEO of Fish Audio, an AI voice generation and text-to-speech company building audio infrastructure for the next generation of AI-native applications. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 Fish Audio, she co-founded PixAI at Mewtant, helping scale the platform to more than 10 million creators and 1 billion artworks generated. She previously worked on the product team at Meta Reality Labs and held earlier roles at Amazon Alexa. At Fish Audio, Rissa has helped scale the company to more than 8 million users and $21 million in ARR in its first year, with a focus on multilingual voice generation, low-latency inference, voice cloning, and a large community-driven voice library.Topics How AI voice is evolving from text-to-speech into a foundational layer for AI-native applications. Building Fish Audio from zero to $21 million in ARR and more than 8 million users in one year, and the product and growth decisions that enabled that pace of scale The technical challenges behind voice AI, including inference cost, training efficiency, latency, and accent preservation. #ArtificialIntelligence #VoiceAI #GenerativeAI #AIAgents #AIInfrastructure

August 31, 20261 hr 2 min

Boris Sofman, Bedrock Robotics CEO on Autonomous Construction

Boris Sofman is the co-founder and CEO of Bedrock Robotics, an SF-based company building fully self-operating heavy machinery to improve the cost, schedule, safety, and predictability of construction projects. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 Bedrock, Boris spent five years as an engineering executive at Waymo, where he led the company’s autonomous trucking efforts and technology teams that helped launch and scale the Waymo One autonomous network. Earlier, he spent a decade as co-founder and CEO of Anki, a consumer robotics company that shipped more than 3.7 million devices and robots across entertainment and smart-home categories and reached as much as $100 million in annual global revenue. His experience spans taking robotics from consumer products to large-scale autonomous systems operating in the real world.TopicsHow autonomous heavy machinery can transform construction by improving project cost, schedule, safety, and predictabilityWhat it takes to move autonomous robotics from controlled environments into real-world commercial operations, and the lessons Boris brought from Waymo to BedrockThe path toward fleets of autonomous machines that can coordinate, plan, and execute complex construction projects with less human intervention #ArtificialIntelligence #Robotics #AutonomousVehicles #ConstructionTech #PhysicalAI

August 23, 202653 min

Paul Lee, Patlytics Co-Founder & CEO on AI, Patents and IP Strategy

Paul Lee is the CEO and Co-Founder of Patlytics, an AI-powered patent workflow platform built to help IP professionals drive innovation and strategic value through intellectual property. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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~~~~~~~~~~~~~Paul co-founded Patlytics with Arthur Jen, whom he first met while studying engineering at the University of Waterloo. Their shared experiences showed them how a strong IP strategy can fuel innovation and create lasting business value, leading them to build Patlytics around the mission of giving IP professionals more powerful tools to manage and maximize intellectual property.Before founding Patlytics, Paul built a career in venture capital, where he developed a deep understanding of how companies grow, how market leaders emerge, and how innovation can be cultivated within organizations. He served as a Partner and later Board Partner at Tribe Capital, and previously advised 8VC. His experience working closely with founders and technology companies gave him a perspective on the relationship between innovation, business strategy, and long-term value creation. Today, he brings that investor and operator perspective to Patlytics, where he is focused on applying AI to one of the most important but traditionally complex areas of innovation: patents and intellectual property.Topics How AI is transforming patent workflows, intellectual property strategy, and the way companies manage innovation Building Patlytics around the intersection of AI, patents, and strategic decision-making for IP professionals From venture capital to building a company: lessons from investing in technology #ArtificialIntelligence #Patents #IntellectualProperty #AI #Innovation

August 23, 202654 min

Ankit Jain, Infinitus CEO on AI Voice Agents in Healthcare

Ankit Jain is the Co-Founder and CEO of Infinitus, the AI company building voice agents and copilots that automate administrative workflows across healthcare. Infinitus leverages safe large language models to help healthcare organizations address workforce shortages by automating phone-based tasks, improving operational efficiency, and enabling providers to spend more time on patient care.~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 Infinitus, Ankit founded Quettra, a mobile intelligence platform acquired by Similarweb, and Cuil, a search engine later acquired by Google. He also served as Director of Engineering at Google and was a founding partner at Gradient Ventures, Google's AI-focused venture fund, where he helped launch the firm's investment strategy and backed some of the industry's leading AI startups. Drawing on his experience as a founder, operator, and investor, Ankit is helping shape the next generation of AI infrastructure for healthcare through intelligent voice automation.Topics How AI voice agents are transforming healthcare operations and reducing administrative burden Building safe, reliable AI systems for enterprise healthcare Lessons from founding AI companies, building at Google, and launching Gradient Ventures #ArtificialIntelligence #Healthcare #VoiceAI #GenerativeAI #HealthTech

August 19, 202655 min

George Bonaci, Ramp VP on AI-First Growth and Demand Generation

George Bonaci is the VP of Growth & Demand Generation at Ramp, where he leads growth, demand generation, and marketing strategies for one of the fastest-scaling financial 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~~~~~~~~~~~~~Previously, he led Growth and Demand Generation at Gong and served as Senior Director of Growth Marketing & Campaigns at Samsara, where he helped scale ARR more than 6x while growing the growth organization through the company’s IPO and sourcing more than half of all new business. Across these roles, George has focused on finding unconventional ways to unlock growth, from building direct mail into more than 10% of Samsara’s pipeline to identifying additional upside in established channels at Gong. At Ramp, George is building an AI-first growth organization, using agents, data, and automation to transform how marketing teams execute. He has also supported AI-driven systems for launching growth campaigns across entirely new verticals, while increasing investment in events and other high-trust channels that become more valuable as AI automates traditional marketing functions.Topics How AI is transforming growth and demand generation through agents and automation. Lessons from scaling Samsara, Gong, and Ramp through direct mail, established channels, and new market expansion Why human-driven marketing, events, and high-trust customer relationships become more valuable as AI automates traditional growth functions #ArtificialIntelligence #GrowthMarketing #DemandGeneration #B2B #Marketing

August 16, 20261 hr 1 min

Guy Marion, Chargebee CMO on AI, SaaS Growth and Customer Retention

Guy Marion is the Chief Marketing Officer at Chargebee, where he leads global marketing and growth across product marketing, digital, account-based marketing, field marketing, communications, brand, BDR, and operations. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chargebee is a leading billing and monetization platform helping B2B and D2C companies launch and scale usage-based, hybrid, and credit-based business models. Guy has also led the company's retention business, Chargebee Retention, following its acquisition of Brightback, the customer retention company he founded and led as CEO. Before founding Brightback, Guy built a career focused on SaaS growth, customer retention, and revenue. As CEO of Brightback, he built an automated customer retention platform designed to help subscription businesses increase customer lifetime value. Following its acquisition by Chargebee in 2022, he led the integration of the business across product, engineering, sales, and go-to-market. Today, Guy brings that operator experience to Chargebee, where he is focused on rethinking how SaaS companies approach growth, monetization, and retention in an increasingly AI-driven market.Topics How AI Is Reshaping SaaS Marketing, Growth, and Go-to-Market Strategy Building Retention-Driven SaaS Businesses and Increasing Customer Lifetime Value Lessons from Founding Brightback, Scaling Chargebee, and Leading AI-First Marketing #ArtificialIntelligence #SaaS #CustomerRetention #B2B #Growth

August 15, 20261 hr 13 min

Ashish Kakran & Umesh Padval, Seligman Ventures MPs on AI Investing

Ashish Kakran and Umesh Padval are Managing Partners at Seligman Ventures, an early-stage venture firm investing from Seed to pre-IPO across AI infrastructure, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and modern data center 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~~~~~~~~~~~~~Together, they have backed category-defining companies including Cohere, Harness, Isovalent (acquired by Cisco), Opaque Systems, SambaNova, Cognichip, Eliyan, and Smallest.ai, partnering with technical founders building the next generation of enterprise infrastructure. Ashish brings deep technical and product expertise, having begun his career as a software engineer building cloud applications before becoming a product manager at AppNeta. Previously a Partner at Sierra Ventures and Thomvest Ventures, he has earned recognition as one of venture capital's rising stars for his founder-first approach and investments in leading AI and cloud infrastructure companies. Umesh brings more than 35 years of operating, executive, and board experience, including serving as CEO of C-Cube Microsystems before its acquisition by LSI Logic and nearly two decades as a venture investor at Bessemer Venture Partners and Thomvest Ventures. Together, they combine extensive operating experience, technical depth, and long-term investing expertise to help founders build enduring companies shaping the future of AI, cloud infrastructure, semiconductors, and enterprise technology.Topics Investing in the AI infrastructure stack: where the next generation of billion-dollar companies will be built What technical founders need to know about building and scaling category-defining enterprise startups The future of AI, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, and modern data centers #ArtificialIntelligence #VentureCapital #AIInfrastructure #CloudComputing #Cybersecurity

August 15, 202638 min

AI4 Panel: How AI Startups and VCs Are Building the Future of Industry

At AI4 in Las Vegas, Grace Gong moderates a conversation with Michael Montano, Partner at True Ventures, and Shan Reddy, Founder of Aristotle, exploring the forces shaping the next generation of AI companies. The discussion covers the state of AI funding, how AI is changing venture investing and startup building, the resurgence of consumer AI, building defensible moats as model companies move into new markets, and what the rise of AI agents means for the future of teams and work.The conversation examines where durable value will come from as AI becomes capable of doing more, and what founders and investors should be thinking about as the technology continues to reshape entire industries. #ai4 #ai #VC #startups #founders