Venture with Grace

Will Lehmann, Founder and General Partner at Step Function, shares his journey from Bain Capital Ventures to launching his own early-stage fund focused on infrastructure software. He discusses unconventional founder support, highlighting tailored mentorship alongside traditional methods. Will emphasizes the importance of security in the age of AI, detailing investment trends in AI-security and agentic threat hunting. He also offers insights on the fundraising process, stressing the need for investor fit and securing strong lead investors.

Clayton Petty is a Partner at Gradient. Prior to Gradient, Clayton helped build the Cyber Security practice at McKinsey & Company, advising founders, operators, and investors across the cyber ecosystem. He also worked closely with vertical software, automation, and cloud infrastructure businesses to scale their go-to-market efforts. Before McKinsey, Clayton was a software engineer and studied computer science at Texas A&M University, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude.Topics: Shifts in Cybersecurity and Developer Tools InvestingThe Rise of Enterprise AI Agents and No-Code AutomationVertical SaaS and Applied AI

Jeff Wang is the CEO of Windsurf, where he leads product and business innovation in AI and software. He has held leadership roles at Salesforce, Cisco, Tonkean, TomoCredit, and Workplay Labs, and is also a General Partner at RNR Capital. Jeff co-founded RocketFuel Education, an education platform focused on cryptocurrencies, economics, AI, and venture capital, and is an active angel investor in multiple startups that have scaled to unicorn status. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.Topics: The evolution of AI-powered development toolsBuilding products in the AI eraAI investment landscape

Minjae Ormes is a Forbes World’s Most Influential CMO and Goldhouse A100 honoree, celebrated for building iconic brands and transformative teams at global companies including YouTube, Visible, and most recently as VP of Marketing at LinkedIn. Renowned for driving innovation in social media, the creator economy, and now AI, she leads with curiosity and courage, fostering inclusive, high-accountability cultures. In her free agent era, Minjae actively mentors, engages a global community, and relentlessly pursues what’s next in technology and positive societal impact.Topics: Building iconic brands at scale: Lessons from YouTube to LinkedInHow AI is transforming the CMO role and marketing organizationsBuilding transformative teams: Hiring, developing, and retaining top talent

Arif Damji is a Partner at Conductive Ventures with deep experience in software and tech-enabled services. He focuses on achieving an efficient Go-To-Market strategy, leveraging his background in both B2B and B2C marketing and sales. Arif believes that scrappy founders deserve hands-on investors who provide practical support rather than buzzwords or generic advice.Topics: How AI is reshaping B2B and B2C GTM playbooksHow traditional software businesses should add AI capabilitiesWhen to build vs buy AI solutions as a startup

Joanne Chen is a General Partner at Foundation Capital, where she invests in AI-first B2B applications and data platforms that power the automated enterprise. A technologist at heart who built her first webpage business at age nine, she launched her career as an engineer at Cisco before co-founding a mobile gaming company and later advising tech companies on IPOs and M&A at Jefferies, as well as venture firms on fundraising at Probitas Partners. Prior to joining Foundation in 2014, she was an active angel investor with Hyde Park Angels. Joanne has invested in and served on the boards of companies including Jasper.AI, SafelyYou, Tonkean, Tennr, Arcade, CaptivateIQ, and previously TubiTV (acquired by Fox), Mya (acquired by Stepstone), and EraDB (acquired by ServiceNow). A recognized thought leader on the societal and enterprise impact of AI, she has spoken at TED, CES, SXSW, and WebSummit. Joanne earned her B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from UC Berkeley and her MBA from Chicago Booth. Topics: Building AI-First B2B Companies: Trends and ChallengesNo-Code Automation for Enterprises:Key Lessons from Successful AI Startup Exits

Wen Sang is the Co-Founder and COO of Genspark.ai, a Palo Alto-based AI company building agents for knowledge workers, which reached 2 million users and $36M in ARR within 45 days of launching in April 2025, securing $160M in funding and partnering with top AI labs to advance agentic work solutions. Previously, he was the founder and CEO of Smarking Inc., a Y Combinator and Khosla Ventures-backed SaaS company for parking analytics, which was acquired by JustPark in 2022. Wen holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and has received industry recognition for both technical innovation and entrepreneurial leadership.Topics: From 0 to $36M ARR in 45 days: Hypergrowth playbook for AI startupsSecond-time founder lessons: From parking analytics acquisition to AI unicornRaising $160M in a tough funding market: What AI investors really want

Nick Evans is the Co-Founder and CEO of Avocado, a restaurant point-of-sale system integrated with an AI assistant designed to transform restaurant operations. He previously co-founded and served as CEO of Tile, a leading consumer technology company specializing in Bluetooth tracking devices, which was successfully acquired by Life360. Nick has deep technical expertise across hardware and software engineering, including embedded systems, real-time operating systems, machine vision, and web development. He holds a Master’s degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and is an alumnus of Y Combinator. Nick is passionate about building impactful products that solve real-world problems and has over a decade of entrepreneurial experience leading hardware-software tech startups.Topics: How AI is revolutionizing restaurant operations beyond just orderingThe unique challenges of hardware vs. software startup scalingCompeting with established POS systems as a startup

Ganesh Bell joined Insight Partners as a Managing Director to invest in and help entrepreneurs build great software & data companies that will define modern enterprise and digital business. He is a profound student of the enterprise software market and industries reimagined by data. Ganesh has over 25+ years of rare experience as a builder and operating executive across startups, high-growth scaleups, global conglomerates, unicorns, successful exits, IPO, and M&A.Before joining Insight Partners, he ran Uptake, an AI/ML platform & applications company, was Corporate Officer at General Electric, and CEO of its largest IoT & Analytics software business. Previously he held senior leadership roles at market-defining enterprise software companies including SAP, PeopleSoft, and J.D.Edwards. He started as a developer and has led corporate strategy, engineering, product management, marketing, and sales teams over his career. He has keynoted large conferences, been featured in business books, leading media, and recognized for his work, including being named #11 in Fast Company’s list of 100 Most Creative People in Business World. Ganesh Bell holds a B.S in Mathematics from the University of Madras, India, and an M.S in Computer Science from North Dakota State University. Topics: Leveraging AI and data to transform traditional industriesIdentifying durable software and data companiesScaling enterprise software from startup to IPO

Sri Batchu, most recently Chief Marketing Officer at The RealReal, the leading luxury luxury resale platform in the U.S, is a seasoned leader in growth and operations, with a proven track record of scaling hyper-growth tech companies through pivotal roles at Ramp, Instacart, and Opendoor. In addition to his growth and marketing expertise, Sri is an active investor and advisor to over 50 startups. A graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Business School, Sri is known for leveraging data-driven marketing strategies and operational excellence to drive transformative growth in fast-paced industries.Topics:Scaling operations from $50M to $5B+ revenue Building cross-functional growth teams across marketing, product, and operationsInsights for founders on fundraising and overcoming early-stage growth challenges