Venture with Grace

Ron Levin is a Managing Partner and Head of AV Super Angel Partner Program. He has spent his career in a variety of entrepreneurial, leadership, and business development roles. He has been an angel investor and advisor to over a dozen technology startups. Ron was Co-Founder and CEO of TravelPerk, a VC-backed travel management platform that is now a “unicorn” company with thousands of employees and customers across the globe. Prior to TravelPerk, he started the B2B division of Booking.com and before that was a consultant with McKinsey & Co. Ron began his career at Lycos, one of the web’s pioneer search engine and web portals. Ron graduated from Babson College and received his MBA from Harvard Business School. He is the author of the impact-focused Higher Purpose Venture Capital Blog. Topics: 1. The evolution of travel tech 2. Building a unicorn company: Challenges and strategies 3. Identifying promising startups #VentureCapital #AngelInvesting #TechStartups #TravelTech #Entrepreneurship

David Hornik is a Founding Partner with Lobby Capital. For more than 25 years, David has helped technology entrepreneurs build transformative businesses. Prior to founding Lobby Capital, he spent 20 years as a general partner at August Capital. David invests in a broad range of software companies, including enterprise application, infrastructure, and SaaS businesses (Splunk, Fastly, GitLab), financial technology companies (Bill.com, WePay, PayNearMe), and consumer services (Evite, Ebates, Remix AI). David has spent the last two decades building technology communities – along with starting the first venture capital blog, VentureBlog, and the first venture capital podcast, VentureCast, David served as the Tech Curator for the TED Conference in Vancouver, co-created and hosted TEDxStanford, and founded and produces the Lobby Confrences. David received Deloitte’s Venture Capitalist of the Year award and has been honored by Forbes Magazine as a member of its Midas List of top Venture Capitalists. David has an eclectic educational background. He received a BA from Stanford in Computer Music, a Masters of Philosophy in Criminology from Cambridge University, and a JD from Harvard Law School. He teaches courses in entrepreneurship and venture capital at Stanford Business School and Harvard Law School, and serves as a VC Partner at the Harvard Business School. David lives in Palo Alto and Chelsea with his wife Pamela and their dog Teddy. He has four grown children. Along with serving on the board of GLAAD, a leading LGBTQ rights organization, David is a commissioner of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and is a member of the board of the Stanford Alumni Association. Topics: - Building a winning portfolio for long-term success - Insights from backing billion-dollar startups - Opportunities for entrepreneurs in enterprise software #VCInsights #StartupSuccess #TechInvesting #EntrepreneurshipTips #FintechFuture

Vivek Ramaswami is a Partner at Madrona. He joined Madrona in 2022. As part of the Madrona investment team based in California, Vivek partners with ambitious founders across enterprise software, cloud infrastructure, data tools, intelligent applications, and fintech. He focuses on helping founders who have achieved product-market fit scale to the next level. Vivek has spent his career investing in high-growth companies across software and fintech. Prior to Madrona, Vivek helped launch the venture capital arm of Steadfast Capital, where he led investments in Zapier, Klaviyo, Lucid, Forethought, Sendbird, Jumpcloud, Algolia, Wealthsimple, and other high-growth companies. Prior to Steadfast, Vivek was a Principal at Redpoint for five years, where he helped source or work on investments in SentinelOne, Nubank, Bright Health, Cockroach Labs, Hashicorp, and others. Vivek started his career in technology investment banking at Goldman Sachs, advising clients on M&A and IPO opportunities in the software and consumer internet sectors. Vivek was named to the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for Venture Capital in 2021. Vivek is originally from Alberta, Canada, and holds a bachelor’s from the Ivey Business School at Western University. Topics: - Open Source Models and AI Development - Deepfakes and AI Ethics - Cross-Cloud Data Sharing #AI #OpenSource #GenerativeAI #Deepfakes #DataPrivacy

John Simon is the Co-Founder and Board Chair of GreenLight Fund and Managing Director of Sigma Prime Ventures. John is an active entrepreneur, creator and investor in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. He is currently a managing director at Sigma Prime Ventures where he focuses on software-based businesses and disruptive technology businesses, often getting involved in businesses at their formation or earliest stages. Prior to joining Sigma Prime, John was a co-founder and managing director of General Catalyst Partners, where he was responsible for investments in both new and existing technology businesses. Before co-founding General Catalyst Partners, John was founder, chairman and CEO of UroMed Corporation. UroMed completed its initial public offering in 1994 and was subsequently merged to form Alliant Medical Technologies. While at General Catalyst Partners, portfolio companies of General Catalyst Partners for which John served on the board of directors or that John was otherwise involved with include: Jumptap, Paydiant, OwnCloud, SignalDemand, BetterLesson, Mocospace, Thumb, Swirl, Swoop, CyPhy Works, iWalk, Aidin, Tear Science, Fractyl, DC Devices, and OvaScience (OTC BB:OVSC), Taleo (NASDAQ:TLEO, acquired by Oracle), m-Qube (acquired by VeriSign), ProfitLogic (acquired by Oracle), Maven Networks (acquired by Yahoo!), Bullhorn Software (acquired by Vista Equity), Quickplay Media (acquired by Madison Dearborn), BzzAgent (acquired by Dunn Humby/Tesco), and Outstart (acquired by Kenexa/IBM). In addition, John co-founded the GreenLight Fund and serves as Board Chair of the organization. GreenLight Fund partners with local communities to match unmet needs for individuals and families navigating barriers to economic mobility with innovative nonprofits that have a track record of success elsewhere. The national organization is scaling measurable impact in 12 sites across the country including Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Kansas City, Greater Newark, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area, and the Twin Cities. John is a member of the World Presidents’ Organization (WPO). He’s a co-founder and current trustee of The Steppingstone Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides educational opportunities to deserving inner-city students. John was honored with the 2015 Lewis Family Foundation CEO Social Leadership Award at the Boston Business Journal’s annual Corporate Citizenship Summit. John is a graduate of Harvard University, earning a BA in History and Science and Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar and received his MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. Topics: 1. The evolution of venture capital 2. Early-stage investing strategies 3. Impact investing: measuring social impact alongside financial returns #VentureCapital #TechInvesting #StartupLife #ImpactInvesting #InnovationInsights

Megh Gautam if the Chief Product Officer at Crunchbase. Prior to that he was the head of product at Twilio, where he ran the Editions line of business for Twilio, owned P&L, roadmap and strategy working across the Communication businesses (SMS mostly) and Segment. Topics: - Challenges and opportunities in managing a data-centric product like Crunchbase - The role of AI and machine learning in modern product development - The future of business intelligence and data platforms #ProductLeadership #TechInnovation #DataDriven #SaaS #B2B #ProductStrategy

Ian Wang is a dynamic product leader currently serving as the Vice President and Head of Product for Adobe Express. Adobe Express empowers everyone to create standout content, including social media posts, videos, images, flyers, logos, and more. - Building and leading high-performance product teams - Enhancing creativity through technology - Aligning product development with user needs #ProductLeadership #AdobeExpress #CreativityForAll #TechInnovation #AIinDesign

Sydney Paige Thomas is the Founding General Partner of Symphonic Capital, a venture capital fund focused on empowering early-stage entrepreneurs. As the leader of Symphonic, Sydney embraces a unique philosophy of leadership, likening her role to that of an orchestra conductor whose power lies not in making sound, but in amplifying the talents of others.With nearly 15 years of diverse industry experience, including a decade working closely with founders, Sydney specializes in nurturing Pre-Seed stage startups. Her approach is hands-on and founder-centric, working alongside entrepreneurs to help them achieve their goals and realize their vision. - Trends in Pre-Seed stage investing - The importance of diversity in the startup ecosystem - Strategies for effective mentorship in the startup world #PreSeedVC #FounderEmpowerment #StartupOrchestrator #VentureBuilding #EarlyStageInvesting

Vivin Hegde is the Founding Partner at Zacua Ventures, which invests in the next generation of entrepreneurs shaping the Built World. The firm focuses on core themes of productivity, sustainability, and urbanization within the Built Environment and maintains a global presence. As a construction technologist and innovator, Vivin previously led the Trimble-Hilti JV, where he researched and developed new products and solutions in positioning technology, software integration, and field productivity. Additionally, he established and led Hilti's Corporate Venturing office in the US, seeking out new technologies to drive the next wave of innovation in construction. Throughout his career, Vivin has mentored startups and contributed to the development of the construction tech ecosystem, leveraging over a decade of experience in strategy, sales, project management, and operations across multiple continents. Topics: - The current state and future trends in construction technology - The role of urbanization in shaping future construction needs - The impact of emerging technologies (e.g., AI, IoT, robotics) on the built world #ConstructionTech #BuiltWorld #PropTech #Sustainability #UrbanInnovation

Ajay Prakash is the Co-Founder & CEO of Rinse, a company that is making trips to the dry cleaner and the washer / dryer obsolete while building the first national brand in dry cleaning and laundry. Prior to Rinse, Ajay was the COO and CFO of humble Brands, a consumer product startup in San Francisco. He also has experience at Bonobos, Berkshire Partners, the NBA, and Bain & Company. Ajay received his BA from Dartmouth College and his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Topics: - Building a national brand in a traditionally local service - Leveraging technology to disrupt traditional service industries - Scaling a startup in the home services sector #StartupLife #TechDisruption #OnDemandServices #LaundryTech #EntrepreneurJourney #VCPodcast

As the founder of Eeagli, James combines his passion for data visualization and investment writing to create compelling and engaging content for the financial industry. With over 15 years of experience in investment management, equities, and fixed income, James's mission is to transform complex data and insights into memorable stories that connect companies with their audience and communicate their brand story. Utilizing JavaScript and other tools, James designs and develops interactive and customized data visualizations that showcase the expertise and thought leadership of his clients. He also writes clear and concise content covering various topics and strategies in the investment world. James works with a diverse range of clients, from asset managers and hedge funds to private banks, delivering high-quality and timely solutions that meet their needs and expectations. - How visualizing data can improve understanding and decision-making for investors - The process of creating interactive and customized data visualizations - Emerging trends in data visualization within the financial sector #DataVisualization #InvestmentWriting #Fintech #FinancialInsights #InteractiveDesign