Venture with Grace

Arjun Pillai, CEO and Co-Founder of DocketAI, an SF-based AI startup transforming revenue enablement. He previously served as Chief Data Officer at ZoomInfo after it acquired his second company, Insent.ai, and is widely recognized as a thought leader in data strategy and revenue operations. With clients like ZoomInfo, DocketAI has raised $20.3M to pioneer the world’s first AI Sales Engineer, helping B2B sales teams instantly access insights from their documents (Slack, Salesforce, Google Drive, etc.) and drive revenue efficiency (delivering results like a 22% increase in revenue per seller). Arjun is a serial entrepreneur with two successful exits. Topics: AI-Driven Sales InnovationExpert Insights on AI & Sales EnablementBuilding AI sales Engineer #ai #sales #engineer #saas #zoominfo

Maryam Banikarim served as the CMO at major brands including Nextdoor, Hyatt Hotels, Gannett, NBCUniversal (SVP), and Univision. Known for her mission-driven approach and cultural fluency, she has consistently transformed legacy companies by revitalizing their brands and deepening community engagement. Beyond the corporate world, Maryam is the co-founder of NYCNext and The Longest Table, grassroots initiatives fostering connection and creativity in public spaces. A proud New Yorker and daughter of immigrants, Maryam uses her platform to champion empathy and the power of storytelling.Topics: From Corporate CMO to Founder & Top StorytellerCommunity Building as a Competitive EdgeBuilding Brands with Purpose#PurposeDrivenLeadership#BrandStorytelling#CommunityBuilding#MarketingInnovation#Entrepreneurship

Brendan Baker is a Partner at Rackhouse VC. ~~~~~This episode is brought to you by Verivend. If you’re a GP or LP looking to simplify the capital raising and deployment process, Verivend is here to help. Trusted by over 800 funds and managing more than $2 billion in transactions, Verivend offers a secure, streamlined payments platform designed specifically for private capital markets. Say goodbye to manual reconciliation and repeated follow-ups - raise and deploy capital faster and with greater transparency. Ready to make your fund operations smoother? Visit Verivend.com and see how easy it can be.~~~~~Brendan began his career as a materials and civil engineer before joining AngelList as its second employee to manage most of the platform’s first 10,000 deals. After that he joined Greylock, where he built systems to systematize venture with data, process, and code. Brendan has since worked with top firms to build venture systems, including one of the first algorithmic capital auto-deploy platforms, before spending six years as a Partner at Ridge Ventures investing in companies tackling massive, unglamorous problems like ERP, supply chain, and finance. He has advised over 1,000 founders on their fundraising, including as a formal advisor to companies like Aumni (acq. By JP Morgan), Valence, and Passport. Topics: Data-Driven Venture Systematizing Investment DecisionsInvesting in Boring Why Unsexy Markets WinVenture Operations Beyond Deal Making#VentureCapital #AngelList #SystematicInvesting #DataDrivenVC #EnterpriseInvesting

Simon Kim is a principal at SK Telecom Americas, where he focuses on strategic investments and partnerships across AI, data center infrastructure, and next-gen connectivity. SK Telecom Americas' portfolios includes high-growth startups like Anthropic, Perplexity AI, Lambda Labs, TwelveLabs, Together AI, Inworld AI, and GGWP. Prior to this, Simon managed direct and LP investments at SK Group, backing companies such as DataRobot, Republic, and Consensys. With deep experience across venture, strategy, and operations—including time at CLO Virtual Fashion and a Coinbase-backed crypto startup—Simon brings a cross-border, cross-sector perspective to frontier tech investing. He holds an economics degree from UC Berkeley.Topics:Strategic investing at the edge of AI, cloud, and telcoHow global corporates identify breakout frontier techLessons from backing Anthropic, Lambda, and Inworld AI early#AI #CorporateDevelopment #DataCenters #5G #FrontierTech #VCInsights

Aparna Chennapragada is the Chief Product Officer at Microsoft AI for Work, where she leads the development of AI-powered productivity experiences across Microsoft 365, including Copilot and Designer. With over 25 years of experience in tech, Aparna previously served as CPO at Robinhood and spent more than a decade at Google, where she led groundbreaking efforts in visual and voice computing—including launching Google Lens and working on Google Assistant. A product visionary with deep technical roots, she holds degrees from IIT Madras, the University of Texas at Austin, and MIT. Aparna also serves on the board of eBay and was named one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Rising Executives. Her work sits at the intersection of AI, product design, and reimagining how people interact with technology to work smarter and more creatively.Topics: The Next Interface Shift: How AI Agents Are Reshaping WorkScaling Product at Every Stage: Lessons from Microsoft, Google, and RobinhoodFrom Zero to Impact: Building Iconic Products That Define New Behaviors#AIProductLeadership#FutureOfWork#GenerativeAI#StartupStrategy#WomenInTech

Adil Ajmal is the Chief Technology Officer at Fandom, the world’s largest fan platform in entertainment and gaming. With over two decades of leadership across high-growth startups and tech giants, he has led engineering, product, and data teams through multiple successful exits. Before Fandom, he served as CTO of LendingHome (now Kiavi), where he scaled its fintech infrastructure to support billions in mortgage volume. Earlier, Ajmal was Vice President of Engineering at Amazon following its acquisition of TenMarks, where he helped expand Amazon's edtech initiatives. He also held senior engineering leadership roles at Intuit (post-Homestead acquisition) and was VP of Engineering at Posterous, acquired by Twitter. Throughout his career, Ajmal has built and scaled engineering organizations from early-stage to post-acquisition, bringing a product- and people-first philosophy to every company he’s led.Topics:Building high-performing engineering teams from startup to scaleHow fan engagement is evolving in the gaming and media ecosystemsLessons on leadership and product strategy from Amazon, Intuit, and Fandom#MediaTech #GamingIndustry #EngineeringLeadership #ProductStrategy #StartupToScale

Alan Du is a Partner at PayPal Ventures, where he leads investments in AI‑driven fintech, enterprise SaaS, cybersecurity, and e‑commerce infrastructure. Prior to that, he was a key investor at Revolution, a Washington‑based growth equity firm focused on scaling enterprise software and technology‑enabled services. With a global operating and investing mindset honed across markets, Du combines deep domain expertise in finance‑tech innovation and Go‑to‑Market strategy.Topics:Evaluating AI-first fintech startups: metrics, market fit & risk factorsNavigating security, compliance & trust in enterprise SaaS dealsScaling AI-powered commerce & Web3 infrastructure from pilot to adoption#VentureCapital #FinTech #AI #SaaS #Cybersecurity #ScalingStartups

Maria Zhang is the CEO and Co-Founder of Palona AI, a startup building emotionally intelligent AI agents to help consumer brands scale personalized customer experiences. She previously served as VP of Engineering at Google and Instagram, and led applied AI initiatives at Meta. Earlier in her career, she was CTO of Tinder, VP of Engineering at LinkedIn, and VP at Yahoo following the acquisition of her startup, Alike. With experience leading teams of over 1,000 engineers and building products used by hundreds of millions globally, Maria brings deep expertise in AI, product engineering, and team building. She also served as a Venture Partner at IDG Capital and was named one of the “Top 100 Women in Tech to Watch.”Topics:Building emotionally intelligent AI agents for modern brandsLessons from scaling engineering teams and consumer productsApplying practical AI to solve real customer experience problems#AI #RetailTech #CustomerExperience #SaaS #WomenInTech #StartupLeadership #EngineeringManagement #VentureCapital

Max Marchione is the co-founder of Superpower, a digital health startup pioneering a proactive, personalized approach to longevity and preventive care. Backed by leading investors including Forerunner Ventures, Day One, and Susa, along with high-profile supporters like Vanessa Hudgens, Steve Aoki, and Logan Paul, Superpower raised $30M within two years of launch. The platform combines biomarker testing, wearable data, and AI-driven insights to give users a 360º view of their health and actionable plans to live longer, healthier lives. Before Superpower, Max founded Ultraviolet Ventures, an early-stage investment syndicate backing overlooked but high-potential startups, and Next Chapter, a global private community for top young founders and creators. Across all his ventures, Max is focused on building systems that empower people to reach their full potential — in health, work, and life.Topics: Building a Personalized Longevity Platform for the MassesSpotting and Supporting the Next Generation of Breakout FoundersDesigning Human Systems for Health, Performance, and Purpose#LongevityTech#HealthInnovation#StartupLeadership#FutureOfWellness#MissionDrivenTech

Dylan Itzikowitz is a Principal at South Park Commons (SPC) in New York City, where he focuses on early-stage investments across sectors such as cloud, fintech, biotech, and consumer products (CPG). He previously spent three years as a Principal at Expa in NYC, backing startups like KnockApp and Northflank and cultivating the local startup community through meet-ups and events reaching thousands of people. Earlier in his career, he was an investor at Founders Factory in London and co-founded The Forward Movement, a social innovation initiative that earned a national leadership award for improving accessibility. He holds a Master’s from the London School of Economics and even calls himself a “habitual dot connector,” reflecting his commitment to supporting exceptional early-stage founders globally. Dylan’s investment lens spans technologies from AI and cybersecurity to fintech and consumer products, always with an eye toward innovative, founder-driven ventures.Topics:The Two-Way Street of Early-Stage Investing: How VCs and founders vet each other and build partnershipsBuilding Startup Communities: The power of networking, mentorship and “dot connecting” in founder successAI, Fintech, and the Next Big Thing: Investing across emerging tech sectors and championing diverse, global innovators#VentureCapital #Startups #EarlyStage #StartupCommunity #AI