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Access Silicon Valley's Best
VC's and Founders
SMART VENTURE MEDIA
Amplifies the smartest minds
Jason Fiedler
Managing Partner @ Left Lane Capital
Gary Pinkus
Senior Business Advisor at PACT Capital Partners, Chairman of McKinsey North America
Ryan Gavin
CMO at Slack
Roman Chernin
Co-Founder, Growth at Nebius
Sumit Chauhan
EVP, Office Product Group at Microsoft
Aparna Chennapragada
CPO for AI Experiences at Microsoft, former CPO of Robinhood, former VP of Google
Denise Persson
CMO of Snowflake
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
Howard Wright
VP at Nvidia
Ethan Evans
Former VP at Amazon
Chris Voss
CEO at The Black Swan Group, Ltd, WSJ Bestselling Author
Erin Egan
VP & Chief Privacy Officer, Public Policy at Facebook / Meta
Marvin Chow
VP at Google
Rob Chesnut
General Counsel, Global Head of Policy at Watershed, Former Chief Ethics Officer at Airbnb
Deepak Agarwal
Chief AI Officer at LinkedIn
Monty Moran
Former Co-CEO at Chipotle Mexican Grill
Robert Rosenberg
Retired CEO of Dunkin' Donuts, ex-Board Member @Domino's Pizza
Kevin Rose
Chairman at Digg, ex-GP at Google Ventures
Chris Koehler
CMO at Twilio
Tony Stubblebine
CEO at Medium
Henry Schuck
CEO at Zoominfo
Berent Bellm
CCO at Wave Neuroscience, Former CEO at BigCommerce
Ben Kus
CTO at Box
Matt Madrigal
CTO at Pinterest
GRACE GONG
A Top Voice
Top 1
In Investor Podcasts from GoodPods
Top 1.5%
Among 3.5 million podcasts from Listen Notes
Top 10%
In Venture Capital from FeedSpot
PODCASTS
Catch Our Latest Podcast
124
Venture with Grace
July 10, 2026
Cybersecurity, AI infrastructure, deep tech, enterprise AI, and AI-powered vertical applications
EVENTS
Top investors. Breakthrough startups.
Elite access. Meaningful partnerships.
Grace Gong x Chargebee x Nebius x Findem dinner [Venture with Grace CEO Club]
Venture with Grace CEO Club Dinner brought together AI founders, venture capitalists, and technology executives for an evening of thoughtful conversations and relationship building.
Designed as an intimate gathering for leaders across the AI ecosystem, the dinner fostered peer-to-peer discussions on company building, leadership, and collaboration, highlighting the importance of community, generosity, and meaningful connections alongside technological innovation.
Designed as an intimate gathering for leaders across the AI ecosystem, the dinner fostered peer-to-peer discussions on company building, leadership, and collaboration, highlighting the importance of community, generosity, and meaningful connections alongside technological innovation.
Grace Gong x Nebius x Escalon x Virio x Chargebee dinner [Venture with Grace CEO Club]
Founders of multiple billion-dollar startups. C-suites and VPs from companies whose products you used today without thinking about it.
Their companies are backed by a16z, Sequoia, Benchmark, Khosla, CapitalG, IVP, Kleiner, First Round, Menlo, 8VC, General Catalyst, Foundation, Madrona, PayPal Ventures, Samsung Next… and that's the short list.
Some of the hottest companies in the world. Insane talent density in one room.
We did not come to play for No. 11. Every single seat was earned.
Their companies are backed by a16z, Sequoia, Benchmark, Khosla, CapitalG, IVP, Kleiner, First Round, Menlo, 8VC, General Catalyst, Foundation, Madrona, PayPal Ventures, Samsung Next… and that's the short list.
Some of the hottest companies in the world. Insane talent density in one room.
We did not come to play for No. 11. Every single seat was earned.
Grace Gong x Play Ventures x Nebius [Venture with Grace CEO Club]
Are you on a date with a model?
AI model, obviously.
Venture with Grace CEO Club Dinner No. 10 tonight.
AI founders with backing from a16z, Founders Fund, Menlo, Khosla, YC & more, plus the investors behind some of the most interesting AI deals this year.
The best business conversations never look like “meetings” on the calendar.
AI model, obviously.
Venture with Grace CEO Club Dinner No. 10 tonight.
AI founders with backing from a16z, Founders Fund, Menlo, Khosla, YC & more, plus the investors behind some of the most interesting AI deals this year.
The best business conversations never look like “meetings” on the calendar.
Grace Gong x Alcor [Venture with Grace CEO CLUB)
15+ founders at one table. Series A through D, backed by top VC firms like A16z, Khosla, Lightspeed.
One of them on TIME's 10 Most Influential Software Companies of 2026. Plus VCs from Midas List firms, actively writing checks into the next unicorn.
One of them on TIME's 10 Most Influential Software Companies of 2026. Plus VCs from Midas List firms, actively writing checks into the next unicorn.
Grace Gong x Auth0 x Nebius [Venture with Grace CEO Club]
In the room: AI founders from seed to Series C, second-time founders who sold companies to Stripe and others, former engineering leaders from top AI labs like Cohere and Google DeepMind who left to start their own frontier AI companies, the founder who created Google Wallet, the founder of a $3.5B company, early-stage founders backed by a16z and YC, and a selection of top AI investors.
Three things from the conversation:
Pure coding jobs are going away. The engineers who matter going forward are the ones who can sit with a customer and translate their pain into product.
Forward-deployed is becoming a real market. Anthropic and OpenAI are both standing up billion-dollar vehicles with Wall Street to embed their engineers inside portfolio companies. AI is moving to outcome-based pricing and services-led GTM, and forward-deployed engineers are at the center of it.
Technical differentiation isn't enough anymore. Every technical founder at the table is putting real time into fundraising, design partners, and investor narrative. It's the job now.
Three things from the conversation:
Pure coding jobs are going away. The engineers who matter going forward are the ones who can sit with a customer and translate their pain into product.
Forward-deployed is becoming a real market. Anthropic and OpenAI are both standing up billion-dollar vehicles with Wall Street to embed their engineers inside portfolio companies. AI is moving to outcome-based pricing and services-led GTM, and forward-deployed engineers are at the center of it.
Technical differentiation isn't enough anymore. Every technical founder at the table is putting real time into fundraising, design partners, and investor narrative. It's the job now.
Grace Gong x SVB x WilmerHale [Venture with Grace CEO Club]
A private founder and investor dinner bringing together AI founders and venture capitalists for candid conversations on company building, investing, and navigating the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
The gathering focused on adaptability, product strategy, and founder decision-making, creating a space for entrepreneurs and investors to exchange practical insights, share experiences, and build meaningful relationships within the AI ecosystem.
The gathering focused on adaptability, product strategy, and founder decision-making, creating a space for entrepreneurs and investors to exchange practical insights, share experiences, and build meaningful relationships within the AI ecosystem.
Smart 100 Leadership
The Smart AI Leadership Summit brings together a curated community of AI founders, Fortune 500 technology leaders, enterprise buyers, and leading venture capitalists for a full day of discussions, networking, and collaboration.
Designed as an intimate, invitation-driven event, the summit features expert panels, keynote conversations, and opportunities for meaningful connections among executives, investors, and startup founders shaping the future of artificial intelligence. Unlike traditional conferences, the summit is intentionally curated to encourage lasting conversations, peer learning, and business relationships that continue beyond the event.
Designed as an intimate, invitation-driven event, the summit features expert panels, keynote conversations, and opportunities for meaningful connections among executives, investors, and startup founders shaping the future of artificial intelligence. Unlike traditional conferences, the summit is intentionally curated to encourage lasting conversations, peer learning, and business relationships that continue beyond the event.
Smart AI leadership Summit speaker dinner
Venture with Grace Dinner brought together founders, executives, investors, and Smart AI Leadership Summit speakers and partners for an evening of conversations on the future of AI and enterprise technology.
Hosted in partnership with Nebius, Snowflake, SVB, and Factory, the dinner created an intimate setting for industry leaders to exchange insights on AI go-to-market strategies, product innovation, fundraising, and the relationships driving the next generation of AI companies.
Hosted in partnership with Nebius, Snowflake, SVB, and Factory, the dinner created an intimate setting for industry leaders to exchange insights on AI go-to-market strategies, product innovation, fundraising, and the relationships driving the next generation of AI companies.
Grace Gong x CIBC x HubSpot x Virio dinner [Venture with Grace CEO Club]
A private founder and investor dinner held during GTC week, bringing together startup founders, venture capitalists, and technology executives for an evening of meaningful conversations and relationship building.
Hosted in partnership with HubSpot for Startups, CIBC, and Virio, the gathering was designed to foster authentic connections, candid discussions, and collaboration among leaders building the future of AI.
Hosted in partnership with HubSpot for Startups, CIBC, and Virio, the gathering was designed to foster authentic connections, candid discussions, and collaboration among leaders building the future of AI.
Grace Gong x Lightfield x Sequoia dinner x SVB [Venture with Grace CEO Club]
Brought together more than 20 founders, C-level executives, and investors for an evening of conversations on the future of AI and entrepreneurship. Spanning Seed through Series F, the gathering connected founders building across AI agents, robotics, autonomous systems, infrastructure, and enterprise software in an intimate setting designed for meaningful knowledge sharing and lasting relationships.
Hosted in partnership with Lightfield, Sequoia, and SVB, the dinner also welcomed the first G Fellows participant, reinforcing the community's commitment to connecting emerging founders with experienced operators and investors.
Hosted in partnership with Lightfield, Sequoia, and SVB, the dinner also welcomed the first G Fellows participant, reinforcing the community's commitment to connecting emerging founders with experienced operators and investors.
Auth0 x Nebius x Grace Gong Founders & VC dinner [Venture with Grace CEO Club]
Brought together more than 20 AI-native founders and investors spanning Seed to Series D for an evening of candid discussions on building and scaling AI companies.
The conversation focused on vertical AI opportunities, the rising importance of product differentiation, and why distribution has become a key competitive advantage. Designed as an intimate gathering, the dinner created a space for founders and investors to exchange practical insights, share experiences, and build lasting relationships.
The conversation focused on vertical AI opportunities, the rising importance of product differentiation, and why distribution has become a key competitive advantage. Designed as an intimate gathering, the dinner created a space for founders and investors to exchange practical insights, share experiences, and build lasting relationships.
Grace Gong x Fidelity Private Shares x Sequoia Founders & VCs dinner [Venture with Grace CEO Club]
A curated founder and investor dinner bringing together startup founders, venture capitalists, and technology leaders for an evening of meaningful conversations and relationship building. The gathering featured founders across multiple stages and sectors, experienced operators, and active investors, creating opportunities to exchange ideas, build lasting connections, and strengthen the startup ecosystem through authentic, peer-to-peer discussions.
Grace Gong x Vanta x WilmerHale: Founders & VCs dinner
CEO Club is a curated dinner series that brings together a small group of founders, investors, and technology leaders for meaningful conversations and relationship building. Each gathering is designed to connect high-growth startup founders with leading venture capitalists and experienced operators in an intimate setting that encourages collaboration, knowledge sharing, and lasting connections beyond the dinner table.
Grace Gong x Eragon x WilmerHale: Founders & VCs holiday dinner
The final Venture with Grace founder dinner of the year brought together founders, investors, and technology executives for an evening of meaningful conversations and community. Created as an extension of the Venture with Grace podcast, the dinners are designed to foster authentic relationships, facilitate knowledge sharing, and connect ambitious entrepreneurs building the future of technology.
Over the past year, these gatherings have led to fundraising opportunities, new partnerships, co-founder connections, and a growing community of founders and investors supporting one another beyond the dinner table.
Over the past year, these gatherings have led to fundraising opportunities, new partnerships, co-founder connections, and a growing community of founders and investors supporting one another beyond the dinner table.
Grace Gong x HubSpot for Startups x Lightyear: Founders & VCs Mansion dinner
A private founder and investor dinner bringing together startup founders backed by Y Combinator, Berkeley SkyDeck, and leading venture capital firms for an evening of meaningful conversations and relationship building.
Hosted in partnership with HubSpot for Startups and Lightyear, the gathering was designed to create an intimate environment where founders and investors could exchange ideas, share experiences, and build connections beyond traditional networking.
Hosted in partnership with HubSpot for Startups and Lightyear, the gathering was designed to create an intimate environment where founders and investors could exchange ideas, share experiences, and build connections beyond traditional networking.
Grace Gong x Rho x Turing: Founders & VCs dinner
An intimate founder and investor dinner bringing together entrepreneurs backed by leading firms including Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator, OpenAI Startup Fund, Amazon Alexa Fund, Greycroft, and Pear VC, alongside partners from top venture capital firms.
Designed to foster meaningful conversations and lasting relationships, the dinner created a space for founders and investors to exchange ideas, share candid insights, and build connections that extend well beyond the event.
Designed to foster meaningful conversations and lasting relationships, the dinner created a space for founders and investors to exchange ideas, share candid insights, and build connections that extend well beyond the event.
Grace Gong x Auth0 x JPMorgan: Smart AI 100 CTO Dinner
The inaugural Smart AI 100 CTO Dinner brought together technical founders and engineering leaders from leading AI startups for an evening of candid discussions on the future of AI infrastructure and product development.
Hosted in partnership with Auth0 and J.P. Morgan, the dinner featured CTOs and technical leaders from companies including Genspark, LlamaIndex, Anyware Robotics, Hyperbolic, Stackpack, Generative Alpha, Composio, Emancro, Hostie, Arcade, ScaleAgentic, and Higgsfield AI.
Conversations explored identity and permissions for agentic AI, integrating modern AI stacks with legacy systems, infrastructure priorities following fundraising, and the technical and strategic challenges of building AI-native products. Designed as an intimate, peer-to-peer gathering, the dinner created space for meaningful knowledge sharing and connections among AI engineering leaders.
Hosted in partnership with Auth0 and J.P. Morgan, the dinner featured CTOs and technical leaders from companies including Genspark, LlamaIndex, Anyware Robotics, Hyperbolic, Stackpack, Generative Alpha, Composio, Emancro, Hostie, Arcade, ScaleAgentic, and Higgsfield AI.
Conversations explored identity and permissions for agentic AI, integrating modern AI stacks with legacy systems, infrastructure priorities following fundraising, and the technical and strategic challenges of building AI-native products. Designed as an intimate, peer-to-peer gathering, the dinner created space for meaningful knowledge sharing and connections among AI engineering leaders.
Grace Gong x Brex x Fondo SF Agentic Ai dinner
An intimate founder dinner focused on the next wave of AI agents, bringing together startup leaders building across AI productivity, robotics, AI risk monitoring, customer engagement, and other emerging applications.
The evening centered on candid discussions about building AI-native companies, product strategy, and lessons learned from scaling ambitious startups. Designed to foster meaningful peer-to-peer conversations, the gathering gave founders the opportunity to exchange practical insights, share challenges, and explore where the AI ecosystem is headed next.
The evening centered on candid discussions about building AI-native companies, product strategy, and lessons learned from scaling ambitious startups. Designed to foster meaningful peer-to-peer conversations, the gathering gave founders the opportunity to exchange practical insights, share challenges, and explore where the AI ecosystem is headed next.
Smart AI 100 Speaker Dinner
The Smart AI 100 Summit brought together leading AI founders, investors, operators, and enterprise executives for a full day of discussions on the technologies and trends shaping the future of artificial intelligence.
The event featured speakers and attendees from companies including Cisco, Nebius, OpenAI, Microsoft, Snowflake, Vercel, Coatue, Index Ventures, Pear VC, Insight Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, and more, alongside founders from emerging AI startups such as Pylon, Unify, Genspark, and Horizon3.ai.
Panels and keynote sessions explored AI agents, vertical AI, infrastructure, enterprise adoption, and emerging technologies, while the summit provided opportunities for networking, knowledge sharing, and collaboration among leaders across the AI ecosystem.
The event featured speakers and attendees from companies including Cisco, Nebius, OpenAI, Microsoft, Snowflake, Vercel, Coatue, Index Ventures, Pear VC, Insight Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, and more, alongside founders from emerging AI startups such as Pylon, Unify, Genspark, and Horizon3.ai.
Panels and keynote sessions explored AI agents, vertical AI, infrastructure, enterprise adoption, and emerging technologies, while the summit provided opportunities for networking, knowledge sharing, and collaboration among leaders across the AI ecosystem.
Grace Gong x Fidelity Private Shares x Fondo SF Founders & VC dinner
An intimate Series A founders dinner.
The caliber of founders confirmed is exceptional.
We're at capacity.
The caliber of founders confirmed is exceptional.
We're at capacity.
Grace Gong x Rho x Presidio Legal SF Founders & VC dinner
Hosted another incredible founders dinner last night 🤖
We had:
- AI dating agents (finding your perfect match)
- Chatbot engineering agents (helping businesses build better AI chatbots)
- Debugging agents (finding those bugs that hide at 2am)
- Travel agents (saving your travel points)
- On-call engineer agents (because 3am alerts hit different)
- Hardware testing agents (finding bugs before your users do)
And yes... an agent agent (we've officially gone full inception)
At this point I'm convinced my next startup should be an "Agent Marketplace" just to keep track of all the agents these brilliant founders are building.
But here's what struck me: every single founder at that table saw a different slice of the future. Same AI revolution, completely different applications.
Some are automating the mundane. Others are augmenting human creativity. A few are solving problems we didn't even know we had.
The diversity of thinking in one room was incredible Y Combinator alums and current batch, top VC-backed teams, Z Fellows, serial entrepreneurs and amazing VCs – all united by this shared belief that we're just scratching the surface of what's possible.
Sure, we might be living in the "everything is an agent" era, but watching founders take genuine initiative to innovate across wildly different categories?
That never gets old.
We had:
- AI dating agents (finding your perfect match)
- Chatbot engineering agents (helping businesses build better AI chatbots)
- Debugging agents (finding those bugs that hide at 2am)
- Travel agents (saving your travel points)
- On-call engineer agents (because 3am alerts hit different)
- Hardware testing agents (finding bugs before your users do)
And yes... an agent agent (we've officially gone full inception)
At this point I'm convinced my next startup should be an "Agent Marketplace" just to keep track of all the agents these brilliant founders are building.
But here's what struck me: every single founder at that table saw a different slice of the future. Same AI revolution, completely different applications.
Some are automating the mundane. Others are augmenting human creativity. A few are solving problems we didn't even know we had.
The diversity of thinking in one room was incredible Y Combinator alums and current batch, top VC-backed teams, Z Fellows, serial entrepreneurs and amazing VCs – all united by this shared belief that we're just scratching the surface of what's possible.
Sure, we might be living in the "everything is an agent" era, but watching founders take genuine initiative to innovate across wildly different categories?
That never gets old.
Grace Gong x JPMorgan x Fondo SF Founders & VCs dinner
Hosted another SF dinner yesterday - invited some of my favorite VCs and founders from seed to Series D companies.
Everyone shared their vibe coding side projects on top of their main companies - loved seeing that creative side.
The AI agent showcase was really impressive:
- AI agents handling customer service (goodbye support tickets)
- AI agents literally replacing lead engineers
- AI agents predicting your legal case success rate
And so much more...
The question that kept coming up: What CAN'T AI agents do at this point? 🤔
We also dove deep into the biggest AI red flags and myths that everyone's seeing in the space. The insights were 🔥🔥🔥
Everyone shared their vibe coding side projects on top of their main companies - loved seeing that creative side.
The AI agent showcase was really impressive:
- AI agents handling customer service (goodbye support tickets)
- AI agents literally replacing lead engineers
- AI agents predicting your legal case success rate
And so much more...
The question that kept coming up: What CAN'T AI agents do at this point? 🤔
We also dove deep into the biggest AI red flags and myths that everyone's seeing in the space. The insights were 🔥🔥🔥
Grace Gong NYC VCs & Founders Breakfast
That's NYC energy right there. No small talk, just pure hustle mentality.
The ecosystem here isn't just strong - it's magnetic. You can literally feel the ambition in the room.
Being a founder isn't just about building products. It's about finding your tribe of people who get it. Who understands that 5 am ideas and midnight pivots aren't crazy - they're Tuesday.
When you're surrounded by people who speak your language, everything just clicks.
The ecosystem here isn't just strong - it's magnetic. You can literally feel the ambition in the room.
Being a founder isn't just about building products. It's about finding your tribe of people who get it. Who understands that 5 am ideas and midnight pivots aren't crazy - they're Tuesday.
When you're surrounded by people who speak your language, everything just clicks.
Grace Gong x Roble Ventures - VC & Seed Stage Founders Dinner
Hosted such a great founders & VCs dinner with my wonderful college friend David Perez-Hernandez from Roble Ventures and our amazing friend Mariana Gonzalez from Silicon Valley Bank.
Something about this city makes conversations and ideas flow in a way they just don't elsewhere. The food was incredible too.
Something about this city makes conversations and ideas flow in a way they just don't elsewhere. The food was incredible too.
Smart AI Leadership Summit 2025
The first conference bringing together the brightest minds in AI leadership, featuring founders, investors, and executives shaping the future of AI.
The event brought together leaders from Amazon Web Services, NVIDIA, and Nebius AI; partners from a16z, Gradient Ventures, IVP, and other leading venture firms; founders including Tejas Manohar (Hightouch), Tim Shi (Cresta), and Henry Yin (AGI House); C-suite executives from Samsara, Eventbrite, and Crunchbase; and former leaders from Google, Atlassian, and NerdWallet.
Attendees heard from five expert panels covering Enterprise AI, Security AI, Consumer AI, AI Agents, and Vertical AI/Deep Tech, along with Fortune 500 perspectives on AI adoption. The day also featured curated networking with 50+ AI leaders and investors, plus breakfast, lunch, and an evening cocktail reception.
The conversations throughout the day explored the technologies, strategies, and leadership decisions shaping the future of AI.
The event brought together leaders from Amazon Web Services, NVIDIA, and Nebius AI; partners from a16z, Gradient Ventures, IVP, and other leading venture firms; founders including Tejas Manohar (Hightouch), Tim Shi (Cresta), and Henry Yin (AGI House); C-suite executives from Samsara, Eventbrite, and Crunchbase; and former leaders from Google, Atlassian, and NerdWallet.
Attendees heard from five expert panels covering Enterprise AI, Security AI, Consumer AI, AI Agents, and Vertical AI/Deep Tech, along with Fortune 500 perspectives on AI adoption. The day also featured curated networking with 50+ AI leaders and investors, plus breakfast, lunch, and an evening cocktail reception.
The conversations throughout the day explored the technologies, strategies, and leadership decisions shaping the future of AI.
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“I’ve had the opportunity to watch Smart Venture Media evolve, and Grace has built something genuinely valuable. The platform consistently brings together investors actively deploying capital, founders scaling breakthrough companies, and executives navigating complex challenges. The depth of conversation and quality of community she's created is exceptional.”
Jeetu Patel
President & Chief Product Officer at Cisco
“Smart Venture Media brings together the investors, founders, and executives actively shaping the industry. Grace gets access to the right people, asks the right questions, and creates the space for conversations that actually matter. This is where serious players in tech and VC engage.”
Chief Revenue Officer at Nebius
REBECCA C. BERRY EXPERIENCED RESULTS DRIVEN LEADERSHIP
2035
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