Venture with Grace

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.Topics

• How Polsia runs 8700+ plus companies autonomously with one founder and zero employees
• Lessons from scaling Future Foods at CloudKitchens with Travis Kalanick
• From Hutch 17 million raised to AI agents: 20 year founder journey to autonomous companies

#Startups #Automation #Entrepreneurship #FutureOfWork #SaaS

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.Topics

• How Crusoe delivers AI compute without grid constraints or energy bottlenecks
• Growing Crusoe $600M capital during rapid expansion at AI infrastructure scale
• Quant trading readiness with algorithmic systems at Crusoe 300+ team scale

#AIInfra #Startups #VC #Compute #Hypergrowth #Founder

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.Topics

• How Toyota Ventures invests in AI, robotics, and mobility for sustainable transportation
• From rocket engineer at Lockheed Martin to Toyota Ventures GP: frontier tech evolution
• Lessons from building and scaling venture-backed infrastructure companies

#VentureCapital #Robotics #Mobility #DeepTech #Innovation

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.Topics

• How Monte Carlo achieved 80% AI adoption across entire GTM team using unified OS
• Building world's first data and AI observability platform for Snowflake and Databricks
• From power user AI sprawl to organizational intelligence: compound capabilities at scale

#DataObservability #MonteCarlo #AIGTM #DataAI #RevenueOperations

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.Topics

• How You.com scales AI search and assistant through enterprise GTM motion
• Product-led growth, pricing strategy, and GTM execution at scale
• Lessons from leading multi-billion-dollar corporate development initiatives

#AIOperations #YouCom #GTM #MergersAndAcquisitions #EnterpriseAI

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.Topics

• How Patronus AI simulations train frontier models through digital workflow prediction
• Meta Reality Labs causal inference driving multimillion-dollar strategy shifts
• Lessons from Meta Reality Labs and applied AI experimentation

#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning #Startups #AGI

João (Joe) Moura is the Founder & CEO of CrewAI, an open-source platform for orchestrating multi-agent AI systems and autonomous workflows. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 nearly two decades of engineering and leadership experience, João previously served as Director of AI Engineering at Clearbit, where he helped turn AI initiatives into a major revenue driver through large-scale vector databases, AI infrastructure, and production ML systems. Earlier in his career, he led distributed engineering teams at companies including Toptal and Packlane, specializing in remote collaboration, developer productivity, and scalable software systems. A longtime builder across AI, data science, and developer infrastructure, João is now focused on advancing practical agentic AI systems that enable enterprises and developers to deploy collaborative AI agents in real-world production environments.Topics

• How crewAI multi-agent orchestration enables enterprise AI workflows at scale
• Scaling Clearbit AI from zero to profit driver through vector DB innovation
• Building 40+ engineer remote teams across time zones with 70% efficiency gains

#AgenticAI #OpenSource #MachineLearning #DeveloperTools #EngineeringLeadership

Ali Tamaseb is a General Partner at DCVC, a deep-tech venture firm managing billions in assets and investing across AI, robotics, biotech, crypto infrastructure, energy, materials, cybersecurity, and frontier science. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 founder, investor, and author, Ali previously built and scaled a hardware startup to millions in revenue before joining DCVC, where he has backed category-defining companies including MosaicML, Chainlink, Freenome, Rigetti, Recursion, and Planet. He is also the founder of Super Founders Club, a network of accomplished entrepreneurs behind more than $100B in enterprise value, and the author of the bestselling book Super Founders, which analyzes the patterns behind billion-dollar startups. With a background spanning machine learning research, patents, and deep technical entrepreneurship, Ali focuses on identifying exceptional founders building highly technical, world-changing companies.TopicsDeep-tech investment rulebook: rockets, quantum, AI infra, biomed at frontierFrom hardware startup CEO to VC: lessons scaling millions in revenueThe future of compute, infrastructure, and industrial innovation#VentureCapital #DeepTech #Entrepreneurship #FrontierTech #Innovation

Jerry Liu is the Co-Founder & CEO of LlamaIndex, the AI infrastructure company building tools that help developers connect LLMs with enterprise data, documents, and knowledge 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~~~~~~~~~~~~~Under his leadership, LlamaIndex has become a leading framework for retrieval, agentic workflows, and production AI applications, including LlamaParse, its advanced document parsing and OCR platform for transforming complex enterprise files into LLM-ready context. Prior to founding LlamaIndex, Jerry was a Machine Learning Engineering Manager at Robust Intelligence and a Research Scientist at Uber AI, following earlier machine learning roles at Quora and Two Sigma. With a background spanning applied AI research, ML systems, and developer infrastructure, Jerry focuses on enabling reliable, scalable AI agents powered by real-world enterprise data.TopicsHow LlamaParse achieves agentic OCR for complex enterprise documents at scaleBuilding LlamaIndex from open-source RAG framework to enterprise AI platformUber AI residency to LlamaIndex CEO: document intelligence for LLMs journey #AI #LlamaIndex #AgenticAI #MachineLearning #DeveloperTools #LLMs #Startups

Siadhal Magos is the Co-founder and CEO of Metaview, the AI company focused on recruiting. Metaview’s Agentic Recruiting Platform uses AI agents to handle sourcing, application review, interview notes, reporting, and the admin recruiters hate — helping 5,000+ companies including Brex, ElevenLabs, Affirm, Airtable, and Replit hire more effectively.~~~~~~~~~~~~~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 Metaview, Siadhal was a product leader at Uber, where he experienced the challenges of hiring at scale firsthand. His background spans product leadership, operational scale, and building consumer technology products.Topics

• Why “superpowered recruiters” don’t automatically create superpowered recruiting organizations and why orchestration is the next mission.
• Insights from the AI Hiring Alignment Report on improving hiring decisions
• Building great products from Uber to Metaview

#Hiring #Recruiting #HRTech #ProductManagement #FutureOfWork