Venture with Grace

Aditya Naganath joined Kleiner Perkins’ investment team in 2022 with a focus on artificial intelligence, enterprise software applications, infrastructure and security. Prior to joining Kleiner Perkins, Aditya was a product manager at Google focusing on growth initiatives for the next billion users team. He previously was a technical lead at Palantir Technologies and formerly held software engineering roles at Twitter and Nextdoor, where he was a Kleiner Perkins fellow. Aditya earned a patent during his time at Twitter for a technical analytics product he co-created.Originally from Mumbai India, Aditya graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, and an MBA from Stanford University. Outside of work, you can find him playing guitar with a hard rock band, competing in chess or on the squash courts, and fostering puppies. He is also an avid poker player.Topics:

• From Palantir to KP: What Real Technical Rigor Looks Like in AI Startups
• How AI Infrastructure Is Being Rewritten — and What Founders Keep Getting Wrong
• Lessons from Google’s Next Billion Users Team: Building for Massive, Global Scale

#VentureCapital #AI #EnterpriseSoftware #TechInfrastructure #StartupFounders

Rachel Holt is Co-founder and General Partner of Construct Capital, an early stage focused venture firm that invests in extraordinary founders who are transforming the most foundational industries of our economy. Sectors such as manufacturing and supply chain to logistics and transportation drive half our economy’s GDP yet lack advanced technology and are failing to meet customer expectations. Before Construct, Rachel spent nearly 8.5 years at Uber and was a long time member of the company’s Executive Leadership Team. Rachel began as one of the company’s first 30 employees, and her role quickly expanded to running the US & Canada Rides business in addition to Global Marketing and Brand, and Customer Support, which represented nearly half of Uber's bookings, and just under half of the team. Most recently, Rachel led the company's New Mobility organization, which includes the eBike and eScooter businesses as well as running Uber's Incubator which funds and develops new products and services on Uber platform. Topics:

• Scaling Uber: Lessons from Building a Global Mobility Giant
• Why Construct Bets on the Real Economy’s Biggest Broken Markets
• AI & Automation: The Future of Manufacturing and Supply Chain

#VentureCapital #Founders #SupplyChainTech #Mobility #IndustrialAI

Karen Ng is the executive vice president of product at HubSpot, where she leads product strategy and execution across product management, design, and partnerships with a mission to help millions of organizations grow better.Prior to HubSpot, Karen held head of product roles at Common Room, Google, and Microsoft. At Common Room, a customer intelligence platform, she founded and scaled the product and data science teams, taking the product from 0–1 and driving its first revenue milestones. At Google, she served as director of product management for Android, creating core developer frameworks like Jetpack and Jetpack Compose that power leading mobile apps worldwide. During her decade-plus tenure at Microsoft, she led the company's .NET programming language strategy, developed enterprise collaboration tools and reporting, and led the groundbreaking Roslyn compiler platform. Karen is a recognized industry leader, named a Product 50 Winner for "Best Digital Native Product Leader" and recipient of the 2023 PM Award for "Technical Strategist" by Products That Count. She is an active advisor and investor in high-growth technology companies. Karen holds a master's degree from MIT, where she focused on machine learning, and a bachelor's degree in computer science from Wellesley College. Topics:

• Designing AI that truly helps GTM teams
• What AEO Means for Businesses
• CRM as a training source for AI agents

#AEO #SEO #AIExperience #SmartCRM #ProductLeadership

Kourosh Zamani is a co-founder of Laurel, the first company to apply AI to time in professional services. Kourosh has experience in various roles in business development, investment, and entrepreneurship. Zamani also founded and served as the Executive Director of Young Professionals of San Francisco, a networking organization with over 8,000 members. Kourosh holds an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business, along with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration.Topics:

• Why AI for Time Is the Biggest Unlock in Professional Services
• The Future of Automated Timekeeping and Workflows
• How to Sell a New AI Category to Traditional Industries

#AI #LegalTech #ProServices #StartupLife #WorkflowAutomation

Anish Srivastava is a seasoned venture capitalist and innovation leader, currently a Venture Partner at Swisscom Ventures, where he focuses on Series A and later-stage investments in enterprise SaaS, AI, cybersecurity, next-gen IT, cloud technologies, and telecom. Anish also leads Telosity Ventures, investing in early-stage startups focused on digital wellness and mental health. In addition, he is the Founder and CEO of Vinaj Ventures, an innovation firm that helps Fortune 500 companies develop strategies and partnerships in the startup ecosystem.His previous roles include leadership positions at Citi Ventures, where he managed a global innovation fund, and JP Morgan Chase, where he played a key role in driving digital transformation. He also gained valuable entrepreneurial experience at tech startups like Egreetings, Geodesic, and Lexy, and led mobile innovation for Orange in Silicon Valley and London. Anish’s entrepreneurial experience includes executive roles at several technology startups such as Egreetings, Geodesic, and Lexy, where he focused on pioneering new consumer-facing mobile services. Topics:

• Building & Scaling Innovation Inside the Enterprise
• CVC Trends Across Regions (US, EU, LATAM, APAC)
• Startup Readiness: What Corporates Actually Look For

#Cybersecurity #AI #DefenseTech #VentureCapital #VentureWithGrace

Ernie is a Managing Director at Forgepoint and focuses on early stage investments. Ernie serves on the Boards of Huntress, DataBahn.ai, 1Kosmos, Synadia, RAD Security, Bishop Fox, and NowSecure. Prior to Forgepoint, Ernie served as the Chief Operating Officer of the Defense Innovation Unit. In that capacity, he was responsible for executing the organization’s strategy to identify and adopt emerging commercial technologies to solve national security challenges. Ernie helped grow the organization from roughly 20 to 80 employees across 4 offices and oversaw the approval and execution of over $250 million in contracts across cybersecurity, AI/ML, autonomy and human systems. Prior to the Defense Innovation Unit, Ernie served as the Director of the U.S. Cyber Command Point of Partnership. Ernie’s team advised U.S. Cyber Command leadership on cybersecurity technologies emanating from both the east and west coasts, which led to the acquisition and deployment of several cybersecurity technologies within the U.S. Department of Defense. Ernie began his career as an Air Force fighter pilot.Topics:

• The Future of Cybersecurity
• Global Security & Defense Tech
• AI x Cyber

#Cybersecurity #DefenseTech #AI #NationalSecurity #VentureWithGrace

Laura Burkhauser is the CEO of Descript, leading the company in developing innovative AI-powered tools for audio and video creators. She is recognized for her expertise in product leadership, with previous senior roles at Twitter, Rent the Runway, and Le Tote. Laura holds an MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago. As CEO, she is focused on making creative tools radically more accessible through AI-driven content creation.Topics:

• Leading AI-powered video editing innovation
• Championing rapid user growth and feature launches in consumer tech
• Shaping the future of media with AI

#Descript #AItools #ContentCreation #Leadership #ProductInnovation #CreatorEconomy

Jon Callaghan is a founder, an investor, and a Managing Partner of True Ventures, a leading early-stage venture capital firm he co-founded in 2005. With a foundational mission to empower entrepreneurs at the initial stages of company creation, True has partnered with over 1,050 Founders across more than 500 companies. The firm’s 12 funds have been a part of seven IPOs and over 60 acquisitions. Under Jon’s leadership, True was among the first institutional investors in now-iconic companies, including Automattic, Duo Security, Fitbit, Hashicorp, Peloton, and Ring. Jon continues to champion the next wave of innovation, currently serving on the boards of promising ventures such as Pipedream, Daydream, and Ernesta. True is also early and deep in AI, having made over 85 AI investments.A prominent voice in the venture community, Jon served as Chair of the National Venture Capital Association from 2015 to 2016. He holds a bachelor’s degree in government from Dartmouth College and an MBA, with distinction, from Harvard Business School. Topics:

• How to Spot Founders Who Build Generational Companies
• Capital Efficiency & The New Age of Company Building
• Why EQ & Integrity Still Win in a Data-Driven VC World

#VentureWithGrace #SmartVenturePodcast #TrueVentures #EarlyStageVC

Ross Fubini is the Managing Partner at XYZ Venture Capital, which he founded in 2016 after a successful career as a founder and operator. A 2025 Midas List honoree (#88) and #8 on the Midas Seed List, Ross is recognized for early investments in Anduril, the defense technology company founded by Palmer Luckey, and cloud security leader Verkada. Under his leadership, XYZ has grown to over $1.2B AUM across four funds, backing bold founders in frontier technology, AI, and enterprise innovation. Before venture, Ross founded CubeTree (acquired by SuccessFactors) and served as Director of Engineering at Plumtree Software. He also co-founded Village Global, sits on the boards of Sardine, Legion Technologies, and others. Topics:

• What it takes to scale an emerging VC firm to $1.2B AUM
• Going from engineer and founder to top investor on the Midas List
• Early bets on Anduril, Verkada, and how to spot frontier founders

#VentureCapital #MidasList #AI #DefenseTech #StartupInvesting

Natalie Dillon is a Partner at Maveron, a consumer-focused venture capital firm based in San Francisco. She joined Maveron in 2018 after working at Susa Ventures, where she helped source and diligence early-stage consumer investments. Prior to that, she was a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs and a research associate at Silicon Valley Bank, where her passion for consumer businesses and identifying market patterns flourished. A San Francisco native and Stanford graduate, Natalie is known for her hustle, relationship-building skills, and deep understanding of consumer trends. She actively invests in companies like Daring, Dolls Kill, and Peoplehood, and is committed to supporting founders with the right mix of guidance, trust, and strategic connections. Natalie combines her love of consumer insights with a collaborative approach to venture investing, helping build and scale innovative consumer brands.Topics:

• Consumer Trends and Investing
• Advice for early-stage consumer startups on product-market fit and brand building
• How AI is Revolutionizing Consumer Experiences and Shaping the Future of Brands

#AI #ConsumerTrends #TechInnovation #DigitalTransformation