Venture with Grace

Hosted by Grace Gong

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Episodes

595

Latest episode

Jun 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

June 10, 202658 min

Nikita Rudin, Flexion CEO on Reinforcement Learning for Humanoids

Nikita 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

June 10, 20261 hr 4 min

Josh Araujo, Forterra CEO on Scaling Autonomous Defense Systems

Josh 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

June 9, 20261 hr 11 min

Kevin Peterson, Bedrock Robotics CTO on Embodied AI and Autonomy

Kevin Peterson is the Co-Founder and CTO of Bedrock Robotics, where he is building advanced embodied AI systems to transform how robots operate in the physical world. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 perception for Waymo Via’s autonomous trucking division, working on large-scale real-world autonomy systems for logistics. Before that, he served as an Autonomy Architect at Caterpillar following its acquisition of Marble, a robotics company he co-founded and led as CEO, focused on automating goods movement in industrial environments. Earlier in his career, Kevin was CTO at Astrobotic, where he led engineering for lunar landers and spacecraft systems developed for NASA missions. He holds an MS from Carnegie Mellon University and has spent his career building perception, control, and autonomy systems across self-driving vehicles, robotics, and space exploration.TopicsHow Bedrock Robotics combines deep Embodied AI with safety for real-world autonomyLessons from Waymo on perception at scale in autonomous truckingDesigning robotics systems for industrial automation and logistics#Autonomy #EmbodiedAI #SelfDrivingCars #SpaceTech #DeepTech

June 9, 20261 hr 8 min

Rasmus Holst, Zensai CEO on Human Success Operating Model

Rasmus Holst is the CEO of Zensai, the Human Success platform helping organizations improve learning, performance, and employee engagement in the age of AI. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 becoming CEO in 2022, he has led the company's transformation from LMS365 into Zensai, growing revenue from roughly $14 million ARR to more than $30 million, completing multiple acquisitions, launching the Human Success category, and scaling the business toward the $100 million milestone. Prior to Zensai, Rasmus served as CRO at Wire, where he led the company's enterprise go-to-market expansion from zero to hundreds of customers, and previously held COO, GM, strategy, and product leadership roles across Huddle, Syniverse, MACH, and Oracle. Over a global career spanning Europe and the United States, he has helped build and scale technology businesses across SaaS, communications, enterprise software, and workforce technology.TopicsHow Zensai Human Success replaces traditional HR with learning and performance at AI scaleScaling Zensai from 14 million to 30 million ARR through three acquisitions and category creationLeadership lessons from operating across countries and Silicon Valley#Leadership #FutureOfWork #HumanSuccess #Startups #EnterpriseSoftware

June 9, 20261 hr 0 min

Ben Cera, Polsia Founder on Autonomous AI Companies

Ben Cera is the Founder of Polsia, an autonomous AI platform designed to run companies around the clock by planning, building, and promoting products with minimal human involvement. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 Polsia, he was Employee #2 at CloudKitchens, where he co-founded Future Foods alongside Travis Kalanick and helped scale the business across product, operations, strategy, and market expansion. Earlier, Ben co-founded Hutch, a venture-backed 3D rendering and interior design startup backed by Founders Fund and Zillow, and founded multiple consumer technology companies spanning social, location, and mobile products. With a background that spans entrepreneurship, engineering, product development, and quantitative finance, Ben is focused on pushing the boundaries of autonomous AI systems capable of building and operating businesses at scale.TopicsHow Polsia runs 8700+ plus companies autonomously with one founder and zero employeesLessons from scaling Future Foods at CloudKitchens with Travis KalanickFrom Hutch 17 million raised to AI agents: 20 year founder journey to autonomous companies#Startups #Automation #Entrepreneurship #FutureOfWork #SaaS

June 1, 20261 hr 0 min

Chase Lochmiller, Crusoe, Co-Founder & CEO on AI Infrastructure

Chase 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

May 31, 20261 hr 7 min

Jim Adler, Toyota Ventures GP on Investing in Frontier Technologies

Jim 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

May 31, 202658 min

Jordan Van Horn, Monte Carlo COO on AI-Native GTM Transformation

Jordan 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

May 31, 202659 min

Alex Triplett, You.com COO on Scaling AI Platforms Through M&A

Alex 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

May 23, 20261 hr 2 min

Anand Kannappan, Patronus AI CEO on Frontier AI Simulations

Anand 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