Smart Venture Podcast

Craig Newmark - Founder of Craigslist
Jim McKelvey - Co-founder of Square 
Justin Osofsky - COO of Instagram 
Chris Slowe - CTO of Reddit
Todd Kaplan - CMO of Kraft Heinz, ex- CMO of Pepsi
Suzanne Kounkel - CMO of Deloitte
Elizabeth Jarvis-Shean - Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of DoorDash
Daniel Kan - Co-founder & CPO of Cruise 
Matt Madrigal - CTO of Pinterest
Ben Kus - CTO of Box
Berent Bellm - ex CEO of BigCommerce 
Henry Schuck - CEO of Zoominfo 
Tony Stubblebine - CEO of Medium 
Chris Koehler - CMO of Twilio 
Kevin Rose - Partner at True Ventures, ex-GP at Google Ventures
Robert Rosenberg - 35-Year CEO of Dunkin' Donuts, ex-Board Member @Domino's Pizza 
Monty Moran - ex-CO-CEO Chipotle Mexican Grill
Jeetu Patel - CPO of Cisco, ex-CPO & CSO @ Box
Paul Madera - Co-founder & General Partner at Meritech Capital. Portfolio: Facebook, Salesforce
Rob Chesnut - ex Chief Ethics Officer @Airbnb, SVP @eBay & Chegg
Olivia Nottebohm - CRO of Notion, ex COO of Dropbox, ex VP at Google 
Marvin Chow - VP of Google 
Erin Egan - VP & Chief Privacy Officer, Public Policy at Facebook / Meta
Ethan Evans - VP of Amazon
Howard Wright - VP of Nvidia 
David Cowan - Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners Portfolio: LinkedIn, Twitch
Kim Scott - NYT&WSJ Bestselling Author of Radical Candor, ex-CEO coach of Dropbox &Twitter  
Chris Voss - WSJ Bestselling Author 
Bob Muglia - ex CEO of Snowflake, ex President of Microsoft
Aparna Chennapragada CPO @ Microsoft AI for Work, ex CPO of Robinhood, ex VP of Google
Sumit Chauhan - CVP of Microsoft
Roman Chernin - Co-Founder of Nebius 
Gary Pinkus - Chairman of McKinsey North America 

+more

Ranked by Listen Notes as one of the top 1.5% most popular shows globally
Listenership 100 + countries 
Nominated by Asian American Podcasters Association for Golden Crane Awards

Apple:https://apple.co/3d6bGea
Spotify: http://bit.ly/gracegong
Website: https://www.smartventurepod.com
YouTube: https://bit.ly/gracegongyoutube

Founder, CEO & Host

Venture with Grace

I go LIVE with a VC/ LP/ founder daily here on LinkedIn. Past guests:

Co-Founder & Managing Partner @ Greycroft - Ian Saginaw
Partner @ Sequoia - James Flynn
Partner @ Sapphire Ventures - Rajeev Dham
Partner @ NEA - Aaron Jacobson
General Partner @ IVP - Somesh Dash
Partner @ Lightspeed - Hemant Mohapatra
Partner @ Bessemer - Mike Droesch
Managing Director @ Insight Partners - Nikhil Sachdev
Partner @ a16z - Emily Bennett 
Partner @ Pear VC - Vivien Ho
General Partner @ Gradient Ventures - Darian Shirazi 
General Partner @ Lux Capital - Shahin Farshchi 
Partner @ Upfront Ventures - Aditi Maliwal
Partner @ Primary Ventures - Emily Man 
Partner @ Menlo Ventures - Steve Sloane
Partner @ M13 - Brent Murri 
Partner @ Madrona - Vivek Ramaswami 
Partner @ Craft Ventures - Bryan Rosenblatt  
Partner @ Bain Capital Ventures - Saanya Ojha
Partner @ True Ventures - Tony Conrad 
Co-Founder and Partner @ Tribe Capital - Arjun Sethi
Managing Partner @ Eclipes Venture - Lior Susan 
Managing Partner @ Left Lane Capital - Jason Fiedler 
Founder & Managing Partner @Ahoy Capital - Chris Douvos 
Partner @ Vintage Investment Partners - Shira Eting
Founder & General Partner @ Boldstart - Ed Sim
Founder & Partner @ Defy VC - Neil Sequeira
Partner @ Cendana Capital - Kelli Fontaine 
Founder & CEO @Techstars - David Cohen
Partner @ Redpoint Ventures - Jordan Segall 
Partner @ Wing Venture Capital - Chris Zeoli 
Founding Partner @ NewView Capital - Ravi Viswanathan 
General Partner @ DCVC - Alan Cohen 
Managing Partner & Co-Founder at 645 Ventures - Nnamdi Okike
General Partner @ Foundation Capital - Ashu Garg 
Managing Partner @ Base 10 - Adeyemi Ajao 
Partner @ Lead Edge Capital - Emila Damjanovic 
General Partner @ Headline - Jett Fein
General Partner @ AlleyCorp - Abe Murray 
Partner @ 500 Global - Clayton Bryan
General Partner @ Polaris Partners - Gary Swart
Founding Partner @Acrew Capital - Mark Kraynak
Chief Investment Strategist @ Ark Invest - Charlie Roberts 

And more …

Founder, CEO, Host 

Grace Gong

Investor in AI startups, portolios including Generative Alpha, Emancro Robotics, LD Talent, Vantager, Hyperspell (YC F25), Hyperbolic, AgentHub (YC S25) among others. Advisor to Quill.

Angel Investor

Smart Venture Media

​My first conference: https://www.smartventuremedia.com

Speakers include: 

​Grace Gong (Founder & CEO of Smart Venture Media) 
​Shravan Narayen (Partner of IVP)
​Dave Zilberman (General Partner of Norwest Venture Partners)
​Shomik Ghosh (Partner of Boldstart Ventures)
​Casber Wang (Partner of Sapphire Ventures)
​Bala Sathiamurthy (former CISO of Atlassian & Nerdwallet)
​Anna Sarnek (Cyber BD at AWS)
​Jake Flomenberg (Partner of Wing VC)
​Nikhil Sachdev (Managing Director of Insight Partners)
​Eugene Lee (Partner of OMERS Ventures)
​James da Costa (Partner of Andreessen Horowitz)
​Anna Patterson (Founder of Ceramic. ai, Formerly VP of Google & Managing Partner of Gradient Ventures)
​Miloni Madan Presler (Partner at IVP)
​Timur Yarnall (Head of AI/ML Startups Business at Amazon Web Services)
​Anna Barber (Partner of M13)
​Brandon Yahn (Partner of Convivialite Ventures)
​Aditi Maliwal (Partner of Upfront Ventures)
​Henry Yin (Co-Founder of AGI House)
​Eylul Kayin (Partner of Gradient Ventures)
​Tejas Manohar (Co-CEO of Hightouch)
​Sydney Sykes (NVIDIA VC Partnerships)
​Kevin Novak (Managing Partner of Rackhouse Ventures)
​Phil Boyer (Partner of Crosslink Capital)
​Alan Cohen (General Partner of DCVC)
​Aidan Madigan-Curtis (Partner of Eclipse)
​Megh Gautam (Chief Product Officer of Crunchbase)
​Meagen Eisenberg (Chief Marketing Officer of Samsara)
​Tim Shi (Co-Founder of Cresta)
​David Yarbrough (Business Consultant at Sequoia)
​Cris Cafiero (Business Consultant at Sequoia)
​John Benetti (Managing Director of Silicon Valley Bank)
​Andrei Meganov (Head of GTM at Nebius AI)
​Simon Lee (Business Development at VESSL AI)
​Ben Bergman (Senior Correspondent at Business Insider)
​Vanessa Larco (Formerly Partner at NEA)
​Samantha Wu (Chief Marketing Officer of Eventbrite)
​Simon Wu (Partner at Cathay Innovation)
​Many thanks to our amazing sponsors:

​AWS
​SVB
​Sequoia
​Nebius
​VESSL AI
​Rackhouse Ventures
​Wayo

Founder & CEO

Alumni Ventures

America’s Largest Venture Firm for Individual Investors
Top 20 Venture Firm (CB Insights ’24)
#1 Most Active Venture Firm in the US (PitchBook ’22 & ’23)
World’s Most Innovative Companies (Fast Company ’22)

Alumni Ventures collaborates with elite angel investors — a select group of co-investors chosen for their track record, sector expertise, and community connections.

The AV Venture Scout Program is an extensive network of independent angels, entrepreneurs, and connectors. Venture Scouts share attractive investment opportunities with AV.

Super Angel + Venture Scout

Berkeley SkyDeck

Honored to have joined Berkeley SkyDeck as an advisor, alongside an incredible group of tech leaders—like the co-founders of YouTube, Tesla and Synopsys Inc, the VP of Robinhood, Box and others from top tech companies.

Advisor

Intro

Book me: https://intro.co/gracegong

Need startup advice? 👉  Book a 1:1
Let’s chat all things AI 👉  Book a 1:1
Let’s chat fundraising from VCs 👉  Book a 1:1

Expert on Intro | Book a 1:1 Session Now ⬇️

Floodgate

Building Breakthroughs Cohort Member 

Sigma Delta Partners Investment

Capital Markets Analyst

Summit Investment Management Consulting Co., Ltd

Investment Manager

Grace Gong is the founder of Smart Venture Media and the host of two well-known VC podcasts: Smart Venture Podcast (SVPpro.com) and Venture with Grace, a daily show. She is an angel investor in the AI sector, a super angel & venture scout for Alumni Ventures, Advisor at Berkeley SkyDeck. 

Her podcasts have featured high-profile guests such as C-level executives and VPs from companies like Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, Sephora, Dunkin' Donuts, Chipotle, Adidas, Pepsi, Instagram, Deloitte, Reddit, DoorDash, Pinterest, Cisco, NVIDIA, Snowflake and more. Additionally, she has interviewed Managing Partners from top funds, many of whom have appeared on the Forbes Midas List, as well as unicorn founders from companies like Craigslist, Square, Loom, and Glean. Grace regularly posts about technology, venture capital, and entrepreneurship and has been recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice in Finance. She is also a #1 Bestselling author in the VC category on Amazon New Release. Before founding Smart Venture Media, she worked in venture capital and private equity. If you share her interests, feel free to connect with her on LinkedIn @GraceGong.


2025: Spoke at AWS, Seattle Startup Summit, event collab w/ various funds. Hosted Smart AI Leadership Summit, Hosting Smart AI 100 Summit SmartVentureMedia.com (10M+ impressions/ yr)
2024: Venture with Grace daily live podcast (top 10%) features top GPs, LPs, execs, and founders. Angel investing in the AI space. Companies/ funds we have worked with including LG, Microsoft, Convivialité Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Amazon AWS, among others. 1.5M+ impressions in 7 days end of 2024.
2023: Spoke at LinkedIn HQ, ads clients: VC funds, startups, big tech.
2022: LinkedIn Top Voice in Finance, LinkedIn's creator accelerator fellow; clients including big tech & unicorn startups, speaking engagements: Dell, Microsoft
2021: CEO of Smart Venture Media (monetized, joined VC fellowship)
2020: Podcast - Smart Venture Podcast (top 1.5% among 3.4M podcasts globally, listeners in 100+ countries)
2019: PE 
2018: VC  
2017: Book 2 - How To Be A VC (No.1 new release on Amazon VC category; ft. 22 investors on the Forbes Midas List - investors who invested in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Apple, etc) 
2016: Book 1 - The Last Key To Success (ft. 21 founders on Forbes 30 under 30)
2014: Master's + PE
2013: UIUC

🤓 svppro.com
🚀 Stay connected: https://linktr.ee/gracegong115
💼 Book an ad on my podcast | Book me to speak at your conference/ events: 
grace@smartventurepod.com
💰Book to chat with me: https://intro.co/gracegong

People ask how I ship so fast. Here's my AI stack:

I'm constantly testing AI tools to see what actually moves the needle.

My current stack:

→ Make + Clay: Automate the repetitive stuff running in the background 
→ Notion AI: Draft ideas in seconds, not hours 
→ Gamma: Build decks without the design headache 
→ Lovable: Prototype new concepts fast 
→ HubSpot Breeze: Understand customer activity across everything

This stack takes me from idea → automation → output at speed.

For early-stage founders, your AI stack IS your competitive advantage. The right tools let you punch above your weight.

HubSpot for Startups put together a free playbook breaking down how to use these tools step-by-step.


Get the AI Tech Stack + Free Playbook at https://lnkd.in/gwct_HTM

Build at AI speed.

#Ad #Startups #Founder #TechStack #HubSpot #ProductivityHacks

Hosted another Venture with Grace dinner Wednesday night.

Founders backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator, OpenAI Startup Fund, Amazon Alexa Fund, Greycroft, Pear VC + top partners from leading funds showed up.

Here's what actually happens at these dinners:

- You meet people who make you think differently. Every founder at the table has figured out something you haven't. You pick up their playbook in real time.

- WhatsApp groups form before dessert. People vibe, numbers get swapped, and suddenly there's a new group chat planning the next move.

- You hear what's really happening, not the polished version. The trends discussed at dinner become the moves everyone's making 6 months later.

- Sharing a meal just hits different. You can't fake chemistry over food. Trust gets built here in ways a coffee chat never will.

Real moves happen. Investments close. Co-founders meet. Friendships form that change trajectories.

Playing the long game matters.

Huge thanks to Rho and Turing for the amazing partnership!

Comment "dinner" if you wanna come to future dinners. 

#founders #venturecapital #startups #networking #sanfrancisco

Last night I hosted our Friendsgiving Founder x VC dinner in partnership with the amazing HubSpot For Startups and Lightyear.

40+ founders and VCs showed up. We kept expanding the table. Adding chairs. Moving things around. Way more people came than expected.

I think back to when I started—just me in my bedroom launching the podcast. The first event I ever hosted. To now, 17 dinners and 2 conferences in one year.

But you're only as good as your last episode. Your last event. That day one mentality never leaves because it can't. Every time I'm fighting to make it count.

In a world obsessed with pedigree and pattern recognition, hustle and grind still beat 50% of the game. The rest is luck and timing—being able to move with the trend when it hits.

Life isn't perfect. Every day you live and learn. Answers aren't handed to you—it's on you to figure out the next steps and follow your gut.

I couldn't be more thankful for every founder and investor I've met along the way. You all inspire me to keep pushing.

Somewhere in the chaos, you start to see the lights.

#FounderLife #VentureCapital #StartupCommunity #BuildInPublic #Entrepreneurship

Last night I was honored at the ETHIS AI and Sustainability Global Awards at Amazon Web Services (AWS) Loft alongside incredible founders, builders and investors in the AI community.

During my panel, I shared something personal: when I started my podcast a few years ago, I had one mission—impact how 1 million people make better business decisions.

This year on LinkedIn alone? 10M+ impressions in 365 days, reaching over 4M+ members. And that's not counting the podcast and other channels.

People kept reaching out for advice, wanting to connect with others in the community. 

So I started hosting dinners. 18 dinners later, we've sold out 2 conferences featuring the President of Cisco, VP of Microsoft, SVP of Vercel, partners from Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue Management, Insight Partners, and founders of the hottest AI startups in Silicon Valley like Cresta, Higgsfield AI and Genspark—90+ top speakers.

Everyone asks: "How do you build an engaging community?"
My #1 tip? Listen.

Building anything meaningful—whether it's a community or a business—comes down to creating value for others. The fastest way to grow something isn't asking what you can get out of it, but what you can provide to others. Whether that's inspiration, connection, or information.

Next year's goal? Help 1 billion people make better business decisions.
One million was just the beginning.

Many thanks to Ann (Xiaoran) C. for hosting this amazing event! :) 

#AIcommunity #VentureCapital #CommunityBuilding #SiliconValley #Entrepreneurship

Just spoke in front of 1,000+ people at the AI Investment Summit 2025@ UC Berkeley. 

The line wrapped around the building. The room was packed with influential VCs, founders, and world-class ML researchers from top tech companies 🤯

What we actually discussed on stage:
- AI investing trends shaping 2025 and beyond
- The skills and talent needed to dominate in AI
- Agent-to-agent orchestration and why it matters
- The context layer everyone's building toward
- Open vs. closed source models 
- The unthinkable question: Does the future of AI sit in consumer or enterprise? (Hot take: Silicon Valley loves enterprise … yet OpenAI and Anthropic are consumer plays 👀)

The lineup was absolutely stacked:
- Chancellor of University of California, Berkeley Rich Lyons - Opening
- Partners from Sequoia Capital
- Leaders from OpenAI and Anthropic
- Top-tier VCs shaping the future of AI

I closed out the summit on a panel with some absolute legends (many of them past podcast/conference guests!):

🔹 Aaron Jacobson, Partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA)
🔹 Chon Tang, Founding Partner of Berkeley SkyDeck Fund
🔹 Matt Vail, VC Partnerships at OpenAI
🔹 David Hefter, Director at BlackRock

Huge shoutout to the incredible student organizers at UC Berkeley—Hongbo Li, Jiaru LIU, Young Ji, Junyao-Estelle Zhang, Daniel (Yihao) Y., Leo Chng, Cindy(Mingxi) Tang, David (Xinyang) Han, Yufu Chen, Eason Xu and more—for making this happen 🙏

The best is yet to come 🚀

#ai #VC #ucberkeley

It was such a blast to attend The Wall Street Journal Tech Live during my birthday week! 🎂

I got a front-row seat in an intimate room with some of the most influential leaders shaping the future of AI: 

Sarah Friar (CFO, OpenAI), Assaf Rappaport (Co-founder & CEO, Wiz), Michael Intrator (Co-founder & CEO, CoreWeave), my good friend Wen S. (COO, Genspark), Laela Sturdy (Managing Partner, CapitalG), Jai Das (Co-Founder & President, Sapphire Ventures), Enrique Salem (Partner, Bain Capital Ventures (BCV), Jennifer Tejada (Chairperson & CEO, PagerDuty), Alan Murray (President, WSJ Leadership Institute), and more.

The real talk nobody's saying out loud:

→ Most AI innovation today? Impressive demos. But the path to scalable, repeatable solutions isn't clear yet.
→ Enterprise buyers are hedging their bets—buying multiple AI solutions while simultaneously building their own. Everyone's still figuring out what actually works.
→ Vertical AI companies are charging significant premiums for what's essentially an AI wrapper. The question is whether that premium is justified.

But here's what matters:
Every single company—from Fortune 500 to scrappy startups—has AI on their roadmap. Not because it's trendy. Because efficiency and productivity gains are non-negotiable in 2025.

The companies that will win aren't the ones with the fanciest models. They're the ones solving real problems with solutions that actually scale.

The AI wave is real. The question isn't whether AI will transform business—it's who will build the solutions that last.

Are we building something people will still pay for in 3 years?

Super grateful to Wen S. for the invite—your friendship means the world to me, and I can't wait to keep watching you win.

#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #EnterpriseAI #VentureCapital #TechLeadership

was gonna keep this a secret but...

I'm hosting another private founder + investor dinner TONIGHT

yes I just did one last week but the demand was insane

oh and this one's at a mansion 👀

the RSVPs? founders backed by Y Combinator, Berkeley SkyDeck, and top VCs

when you get this caliber of people saying yes within 24 hours, you know something's working

shoutout to HubSpot For Startups and Lightyear for making this happen
the energy at these dinners >>> any other networking

real conversations. no pitch decks. just founders who get it connecting with people who can actually help them scale

comment "fries" if you want to be considered for the next one 👇

#startups #founders #venturecapital #networking #YCombinator

Another month, another absolutely insane dinner lineup.

The Venture with Grace Dinner Series keeps leveling up — and honestly, I’ve stopped being surprised.

Tonight’s RSVP list:

• Founders who’ve raised $100M+ (we somehow have these every month now)
• The breakout AI tool creators won’t shut up about
• YC’s current batch — the ones flooding your feed with launch videos
• Top + up-and-coming investors actually backing the real AI winners

Huge thanks to Rho and Turing for powering this month’s dinner.

Want a shot at joining the next Venture With Grace Dinner Series event —
we’re hosting it at a mansion —drop “invite” in the comments.

I’ll add you to the exclusive waitlist.

#VentureWithGrace #FounderCommunity #AIDinners #StartupEcosystem #AIFounders

so flattered to be interviewed by Zachary Chang from Conduit AI on a Y Combinator yacht party! Is this the peak? Do I retire now?

#askingforafriend #yc #ai #linkedin

Just spoke at ReasonOS's event with the legendary Henry Shi (founder of Super.com) and Brad Garsten (Managing Principal at Quanta) about something that's been keeping me up:

Your AI moat? Gone in 6 months.

When AI talks to AI, your clever UI doesn't matter. Your "unique" features become table stakes. Every AI startup starts looking identical.

I'm watching enterprise buyers hedge their bets—buying YOUR solution, your COMPETITOR'S solution, while building in-house. Your recurring revenue isn't as recurring as you think.

Here's the tension: There's real power in building lean. But Fortune 500 buyers?
They want three people on-site, white-glove service, someone picking up at 2am.

The real moat isn't your algorithm.

It's distribution. Relationships. Trust. The things that don't scale are the only things competitors can't copy.

In a world where technology is abundant, human reliability becomes the scarcest asset.

The startups winning in 2025 won't have the best models. They'll have customers who trust them enough to bet their careers on them.

Build relationships like your revenue depends on it. Because it does.

Thanks to the amazing Jordan Lyndsay M. for moderating and Vamsi Pandari and Shannon Miller, MSOD (she/her) for the invite and great presentation.

What are you building that can't be replicated?

#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Startups #VentureCapital #EnterpriseSales

Every week I talk to founders who’ve sent their deck to 200 investors…

and can’t figure out why no one replies.

Here’s the truth:
Fundraising isn’t about volume. It’s about fit.

So before you hit send, do this:

Month 1 – Research
Find 20 investors who actually fund your stage and your space.
Use Crunchbase, NFX Signal, or look up who funded companies like yours.

Month 2 – Warm up
Comment on their posts.
Reply to their newsletter.
Show up where they are.
They should recognize your name before you ever pitch.

Month 3 – Meet
Now reach out.
You’re not cold anymore.
You’re familiar.
You’re not pitching. You’re catching up.

I get a ton of DMs from founders who only need a few small tweaks like this to unlock their first investor meetings, and it’s totally doable.

I’m offering 20% off 1:1 advisor sessions on @Intro until December 15 to help founders build their investor outreach plan.

Comment “Interested Intro” and the team will DM you a private code to book.

The link to book is in the first comment.

#intro

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Week 91 of Venture with Grace (two weeks ago) 🚀

Two weeks ago was another loaded week — founders and investors breaking down how AI is transforming sales, analytics, decision-making, and early-stage investing.

Highlights from Week 91:

Connor Heggie, CTO of Unify — AI-powered Sales & GTM Automation
Jamie Davidson, Founder of Omni — BI, AI Analytics & Data Freedom
Moritz Sudhof, CEO of Bigspin AI — Coaching AI behavior with human feedback
Soham Mazumdar, CEO of WisdomAI — Turning raw data into instant insights
Adam D'Augelli, Partner at True Ventures — Backing founders from Day One
Vivek Krishnamurthy, Partner at Commerce Ventures — Fintech, insurtech & new AI wedges
Tony Conrad, Partner at True Ventures — Community, AI & founder ecosystems that scale

Week 91 captured how fast AI workflows are evolving across GTM, analytics, and early-stage company building.

Catch all replays on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts — just search “Venture with Grace.”

#VentureWithGrace #AI #Startups #VC #Founders #GTM

Week 93 of Venture with Grace 🚀

A week packed with leaders shaping the future of AI, cybersecurity, GTM, and early-stage investing — from seed fund strategy to AI video creation, CVC, and enterprise agents.

Ross Fubini, Managing Partner at XYZ Venture Capital — Anduril, seed bets & what it takes to scale a venture fund

Jon Callaghan, Managing Partner at True Ventures — Early-stage VC, founder relationships & AI innovation

Laura Burkhauser, CEO of Descript — AI video creation, storytelling & the next era of content tools

Ernie B., Managing Director at Forgepoint Capital — Cybersecurity, defense tech & where AI strengthens national security

Anish Srivastava, Venture Partner at Swisscom Ventures — CVC strategy, corporate innovation & supporting startup growth

Kourosh Zamani, Co-Founder of Laurel — Scaling AI products, sales motion & critical early partnerships

Karen Ng, EVP of Product at HubSpot — AI agents, AEO & the future of GTM for modern companies

Week 93 brought together operators and investors building across defense, AI tools, enterprise GTM, cybersecurity, and venture — a full snapshot of where AI is pushing industries forward.

Catch all replays on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts — just search “Venture with Grace.”

#VentureWithGrace #AI #Startups #VC #Cybersecurity #GTM #AIagents

Week 92 of Venture with Grace (two weeks ago) 🚀

Two weeks ago, we covered everything from generative media to AI agents, Gen Z consumer behavior, cloud security, and enterprise AI strategy.

Highlights from Week 92:

Mahi de Silva, Co-Founder & CSO, Higgsfield AI — Generative Media, Creator AI & the future of personalized content (smart ai 100)

Allen Wang, CEO of Ditto — Gen Z dating, virality & how products spread across campuses (smart ai 100)

Lari Hamalainen, Sr Partner at McKinsey & Company — GenAI, agentic workflows & enterprise tech strategy

Conor Brennan-Burke, Founder of Hyperspell (YC F25) — AI agent memory & building reliable agent systems (smart ai 100)

Manmeet Singh Bhasin, CEO of WMC Global — AI, data intelligence & the evolving cloud security landscape

Natalie Dillon, Partner at Maveron — Consumer trends, modern brands & what today’s founders should pay attention to

Week 92 touched consumer, AI infra, enterprise, and security — a real snapshot of where tech is moving right now.

Catch all replays on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts — just search “Venture with Grace.”

#VentureWithGrace #AI #Startups #VC #GenAI #Consumer #Security

Honored to be judging the Scoop AI Hackathon this weekend 

- hosted by University of California, Berkeley & Stanford University, backed by SpoonOS, Google Cloud, ElevenLabs, OpenRouter & more 🚀

$60K+ prize pool.

We're looking at the next generation of agentic AI infrastructure and fintech innovation - the kind of builds that actually push the industry forward.

Can't wait to see what these hackers create.

#AI #SiliconValley #AgenticAI #FinTech #Startups

Nick Martin

I’m Nick—an educator, technologist, and social entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in global development, tech for good, and social innovation.

As founder and CEO of TechChange (techchange.org), I lead a mission-driven team that designs hybrid courses, training programs, and convenings for organizations tackling global challenges—from digital health to climate resilience to financial inclusion.

I’m also a LinkedIn Top Voice, posting 6x/week about jobs, fellowships, coaching resources, scholarships, and tools for the social impact space.

In 2025, my goal is to help 100,000+ people and organizations connect meaningfully through learning, leadership, and community.

Stay connected:
• impactsource.ai – 7,000+ curated social impact jobs with salary info, filters, and a talent network to match with hiring orgs
• impactcoach.com – 50+ vetted executive and career coaches for global development, philanthropy, and mission-driven leadership
• nickatnoon.substack.com – Weekly newsletter with curated jobs, fellowships, and tools—sent Sundays at noon ET
• bit.ly/3vlXnkF – LinkedIn Learning course: “Build a Social Impact Career” (30-minute crash course)
• getkolab.ai – Kolab: A new platform for immersive, collaborative digital convenings.  Get early access now. 

***

What we do at TechChange:
We help leading organizations scale learning and build community. Our team delivers high-impact hybrid experiences—live cohort courses, leadership journeys, on-demand programs, and global forums.

We specialize in complex, high-touch learning programs that blend tech, facilitation, and storytelling. Services include instructional design, platform hosting, video production, translation, and participant engagement.

Flagship projects:
• Global Digital Health Forum – gdhf.digital
• FinTech Impact Forum – ftif.org
• Digital Health Training Program – digitalhealthtraining.org
• Custom programs for USAID, CRS, WHO, the World Bank, and more

We also advise on strategy and innovation for training and convening models.

*** 

Outside of Work
I spend time birdwatching in Costa Rica, surfing the Pacific, or working on my vocal range in singing lessons. These passions keep me grounded and curious.

Let’s Connect
If you’re hiring, building, learning—or just exploring ideas—send a message. Always happy to help or collaborate.

Founder and CEO

TechChange builds beautiful and engaging online learning and convening experiences on topics that matter.

Affected by layoffs and looking for a new job in nonprofit, social impact, or humanitarian work?

Here are 40 PEOPLE TO FOLLOW this holiday season who post regular job updates and career resources on LinkedIn. (Updated 12/12)

1. Caroline Ouwerkerk: working on Impact Coach with me! 
2. Wayan Vota - Global Dev and ICT4D Jobs
3. Mandy Van Deven: Regular opps in social impact and philanthropy
4. Beatrice Chioccioli Job board for human rights/social impact jobs
5. Ludovica Anedda: Gender jobs
6. Gail Rego (She/Her): Social impact jobs
7. Satyam Vyas: International and India social impact jobs / climate asia
8. Jenny K. Wright: Europe, migration, impact content
9. Elisabeth Roura Bosch: Comms jobs for social impact
10. Stephanie Mansueto - Social impact jobs that pay 100K+ 
11. Scott Beale - social impact jobs and opportunities
12. Mark Horoszowski: social impact jobs, transitions. MovingWorlds
13. Trish Kenlon: Sustainability jobs and tips
14. Jessica Marati Radparvar: social impact resources and newsletter
15. Ed Carley: Climate and sustainability jobs
16. Kelsi Kriitmaa, PhD: social impact transitions
17. Marco Morawec: Climate change transition coach and content
18. Kelli Poole: Equity, hiring and inclusion coaching and opps
19. Renan Araujo , AI and policy jobs 
20. Rose Ronoh: For everything and anything Africa jobs
21. Bernhard Kowatsch: Innovation and food security jobs/funding
22. Julia Firestone,- social impact career coach extraordinare 
23. Craig Zelizer: PCDN social impact and peacebuilding roles
24. Rafa Achondo: LATAM impact jobs
25. kyle dietrich - Coaching and facilitation match resources
26. Lígia Gomes - sustainability and social impact jons
27. Juliette Sanchez-Lambert (she/her)-Lambert: Job board for social impact jobs (Europe/remote)
28. Claudia Guerreiro: conscious marketing, remote jobs
29. Sujani Sivanantharajah MPH, MPH,: public health jobs
30. Katie Latham: changemaker careers
31. servane mouazan ICF PCC ACTC 🍉 ICF PCC ACTC 🌳: for social impact and social finance
32. Jennifer Bangoura,: edtech social innovation content and jobs
33. Kristy Drutman: Great openings in sustainability and content around equity as well.
34. M S Mahala: Social impact content and jobs in india
35. Daniel Hill: Green jobs, great podcast (degrees), and networking community
36. Jasmine Anouna: The Bloom Newsletter and community- so good!
37. Spencer Campbell: talent agent for social impact jobseekers
38. David Felson: tech for good jobs 
39. Molly Schultz Hafid Hafid: great philanthropy and impact roles
40. ??? WHO ELSE should we add to this list? Comments always have lots more great suggestions.

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This is part of a series.

Follow me (Nick Martin) for more lists amazing humans and add more below.

400K people saw the last list like this I shared.

EARLY COMMENTS get the most attention/visibility.

Sharing is CARING

Bridge builder | CEO @ TechChange | Prof @ Columbia | Top Voice (325K+)

*** OPPORTUNITY ALERT ***

Introducing PIVOT FOR IMPACT from the Endless Foundation and TechChange --> a new FREE accelerator program for social impact leaders who know their organizations are in some kind of pivot moment and want real support navigating it.

The program is designed to help teams rethink their business models, clarify their value proposition, and build the skills (sales and otherwise) needed to move toward more resilient and diversified paths forward.

What you’ll work on:

--> Redefine or update your business model in ways that fit today’s funding reality
 --> Sharpen your value proposition so partners actually understand what you offer
 --> Build practical sales skills to grow revenue beyond traditional grants
 --> Develop a more adaptive mindset around partnerships, pricing, and sustainability
 --> Create a clear, realistic path forward that aligns with your mission and capacity

Learn more and register: pivot.course.tc 

Nick’s Take: Very excited about this one. With so much turmoil in the sector this year with the global aid freeze, we’ve been in close touch with our partners at the Endless Foundation and felt strongly that this was the right moment to launch something substantial.  The goal is to bring fresh, creative, and practical ideas to organizations trying to pivot, while also honoring how hard this work actually is.

Community matters here. New skills matter. New networks and access to more diverse funding options matter. And this accelerator is meant to bring all of that together.

You’ll notice the structure: an open six-week portion where as many orgs as possible can join, learn, and experiment. And then a deeper, more applied phase you can apply for orgs who want want hands-on coaching, deeper guidance, more skills training, and exposure to new funders and clients. We want this to be both accessible and genuinely useful.

Would love to have some of you join us on this journey... and would appreciate you spreading the word to anyone who might benefit.

Program kicks off in Jan. 

Sharing is CARING. Tag someone who might be ready .

Do you have someone in your world who could use a little extra job-seeking support as we head into the holiday season?

This time of year can feel rough. Budgets freeze. Hiring slows. People start questioning their next steps, their confidence, their direction. sometimes one conversation with the right person can shift things.

That’s why we set up Impact Coach (impactcoach dot com).

And this year we're making it easy to gift someone a coaching session that meets them exactly where they are.
 
Could be:
 ✔ Interview prep
 ✔ Resume + CV support
 ✔ LinkedIn strategy
 ✔ Building routines + accountability
 ✔ Or just getting unstuck long enough to feel momentum again

We’ve got 50+ incredible coaches working across global development, philanthropy, climate, tech-for-good, and more. Whether you want to help a friend, a colleague, or a team member… there’s someone in the collective who will be a great fit.

Packages start at $199, and you can gift a single session or a small bundle. 

Seen a lot of folks this year go from “I have no idea what’s next” to landing a role that feels aligned and meaningful… so yes, I’m pretty convinced this stuff works.

If you’re curious whether for someone else or for yourself take a look at the coaches and packages here:

 👉 impactcoach dot com (or DM me  or Caroline Ouwerkerk) and we’ll point you in the right direction)

Let’s make sure people aren’t going into the new year feeling alone.

Sharing is CARING.

Opportunity Alert: Relationship Building Session!!!

Trying something fun next month with my friend Caroline Ouwerkerk... a little spin on her signature Happy Hour(kerk) series, but this time we’re bringing it inside Kolab.

If you’ve never been to one of Caroline’s facilitated networking sessions, they’re honestly super fun.  No panel fatigue, no “go around and introduce yourself” chaos. Just intentional connection with people doing meaningful work.

And because we’re hosting it on Kolab, we get to play around with some of the stuff we built this year — games, movement on the canvas, spatial audio, small-group flows that feel way closer to IRL than anything you’ve used online.

Event details are in the graphic below, but here’s the quick version:

Monday, Dec 15
Noon ET / 9 AM PT
Free + open to all

If you’ve been curious about Kolab or just want to meet other folks building cool things in the social impact space… grab a spot while there’s room.
Would love to see some friendly faces.

 Sharing is CARING.

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The Battle

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Grace Gong's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreGrace Gong's LinkedIn Performance