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Darian Shirazi is a general partner at Gradient Ventures, Google’s AI fund. Gradient Ventures invests in companies that are “developing AI technologies that have the potential to make a significant impact on the world”.

Darian is a serial entrepreneur and investor. He co-founded and served as CEO of Radius, a leading customer data platform, for over 7 years. Under his leadership, the company grew to over 100 employees, raised over $100 million in venture capital, and served dozens of Fortune 500 customers.

Darian is also an early investor in many successful companies, including Lyft, Udemy, Carbon Health, and Palantir. At Gradient, he has invested in  Seed and Series A rounds in prominent companies such as Mural, SecureFrame, Chili Piper, Writer, Stairwell, Gigs, FlutterFlow, and Oura.

He started his career working at Facebook as a Software Engineer reporting to Mark Zuckerberg.

In this episode we discuss his path to becoming an investor in Gradient.  We also dive into the topic of the moment: Investing in artificial intelligence (“AI”).  A lot of people believe AI is a more significant technology evolution than the internet.  Many people believe AI is just a lot of hype. Some believe AI is a threat to our existence. 

We unpack what Darian sees from his unique vantage point at Gradient about how to think about and invest in companies driven by AI.  We discuss what is real, what is probably hype, and what you should be most excited about.

Darien Shirazi

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Anthony Soohoo is a Venture Advisor at AI Fund.  It is a role he took on after building and selling the company he built (Dot & Bo).

Rather than start another company, Anthony became the head of Walmart’s Home Division.  It’s the largest US retailer for home goods, and one of six business units at Wal-Mart.  Anthony discusses what it’s like going from a startup to operating at the scale of, essentially, a Fortune 500 CEO.

Anthony also begins the “AI Series” – where we begin discussing what is happening as AI technology begins to emerge.  Anthony advises “AI Fund”, a venture studio that works with entrepreneurs to bring their AI companies to market.

A note on the “AI Series”:  A lot of people have expressed interest in the emergence of AI as a technological force driving the next wave of innovation.  Many believe it is significant as the emergence of the Internet or mobile phones.   So I’m beginning a series with Something Ventured where I talk to people who are experts in the field, and can bring insight as to what is happening, what to understand and what to look forward to as AI starts to…eat the world.

AI Fund https://www.aifund.ai/

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Nnamdi Okike is rapidly becoming a prominent figure in the venture capital industry. He is the co-founder of 645 Ventures, along with his partner Aaron Holiday. Recently, 645 Ventures successfully raised its fourth fund, of about $350 million.

Nnamdi’s background includes his education at Harvard, his membership on the prestigious NVCA board (with former Something Ventured Guest Charles Hudson serving as the chair), and his time at Insight Partners.

Additionally, he co-founded 645 Ventures, a venture capital firm that recently secured a substantial $350 million fund. In this episode, we delve into Nnamdi’s journey and gain his insights into the world of venture capital.

We discuss Nnamdi’s path to finding a partner and establishing 645 Ventures. He shares why he left Insight to start his own fund, how he determined Aaron was the right partner, and the challenges they faced while raising funds from Limited Partners (“LPs”).

Nnamdi also discusses how he applied his experience at Insight to 645 Ventures, their decision-making process for investments, and his perspective on the current state of the venture market.

We conclude with a moment on how he manages to be a Boston sports fan living and working in…New York.

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David Z. Morris is part of the Coindesk reporting team that was critical in bringing to light the (apparently) massive fraud at FTX, the now bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange.  FTX Trading Ltd., commonly known as FTX, abruptly collapsed in 2022, after having grown to become the world’s third largest crypto exchange with over a million users. 

While still unfolding, the FTX story so far has more layers, complexities and characters than a spy novel. David provides a thoughtful, nuanced explanation of what is known so far.

We discuss what happened at FTX, how the events unfolded, and what Bankman-Fried’s role was in the multi-billion dollar collapse. 

David Z. Morris is CoinDesk’s Chief Insights Columnist. He has written about crypto since 2013 for outlets including Fortune, Slate, and Aeon. He is the author of “Bitcoin is Magic,” an introduction to Bitcoin’s social dynamics. He is a former academic sociologist of technology with a PhD in Media Studies from the University of Iowa. He holds Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and small amounts of other crypto assets.

David Z. Morris https://www.coindesk.com/author/david-z-morris/

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It is not a stretch to call Elad Gil one of Silicon Valley’s best investors.  In a world where one big hit can make a venture capitalists’ career, Elad has invested in…Well, here’s a partial list Airbnb, Airtable, Anduril, Brex, Checkr, Coinbase, Deel, Figma, Flexport, Gitlab, Gusto, Instacart, Notion, Opendoor, PagerDuty, Pinterest, Retool, Rippling, Samsara, Square, Stripe, TripActions, Wish.

It seems almost impossible.  But there it is. 

Elad’s career includes working at Google, founding a company acquired by Twitter, and founding Color Genomics (you probably heard about them during the COVID response).

He is also author of the book High Growth Handbook: Scaling Startups from 10 to 10,000 People.

In this wide-ranging discussion, Elad shares his thoughts on everything from building companies to crypto, AI, and more.

Elad’s home page:      https://eladgil.com/

Elad on Twitter:          https://twitter.com/eladgil

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There are a few – very few –non-traditional paths into venture capital.  Adrian Fenty may have one of the most unusual ones.  Adrian was the Mayor of Washington D.C., winning that post at the age of 35 (making him Washington D.C.’s youngest mayor ever).

In this episode we discuss his path to becoming mayor and his refreshing style for governing in that office.  But being mayor of a major US city was just the beginning.

Adrian became a special advisor to the venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, where he had the chance to observe its founders in action.

Today, Adrian is a Managing Director of the venture firm he founded, MaC Venture Capital.

MaC Venture Capital

Something Ventured

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Michelle is an entrepreneur – founder of “Growth Path”, a provider of audio courses for professional development.  Her goal is to teach soft skills and management at scale.  She previously worked at tech firms Thumbtack and Yammer, as well as the venture capital firm Trinity.

In this episode we discuss her entrepreneurial journey,. She gives us a candid look at the highs and lows of being an entrepreneur.

Michelle has also become a (fairly popular) voice of reason concerning the state of affairs in San Francisco.  She regularly poses thoughtful questions about various policies. She sheds light on the byzantine corners of San Francisco politics.  Here, she shares her thoughts on a range of issues, providing pretty thoughtful solutions, and frank explanations of various head-spinning policies.

Michelle Tandler on Substack

Michelle Tandler on Twitter

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Max Chafkin is the author of “The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley’s Pursuit of Power”.  Max is a technology reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek.  “The Contrarian” isn’t just about Thiel.  It’s about that, too, of course — from PayPal to his Facebook investment to his failed hedge fund, etc.  But it’s also about “Silicon Valley’s political coming-of-age”, as the New York Times describes it.

We discuss how Peter Thiel came to wealth, the many controversies surrounding him.  We also discuss the calculations that led him to back Donald Trump’s presidency, and ultimately take a role in Trump’s transition campaign.

Max Chafkin on Twitter

The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley’s Pursuit of Power

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Howard Morgan is one of those few – very few – people who have built multiple game-changing firms.  He is co-founder of Renaissance Technologies (sometimes known as “RenTec”).  While a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, he divined the opportunity to apply emerging computer technologies to investing.

The resulting firm – Renaissance Technologies — is one of the most famous, and successful, hedge funds.  It pioneered systematic trading using quantitative models derived from mathematical models.  It famously hires people who are incredibly smart – but don’t have previous investing experience.

While some might consider that enough of a career for one lifetime – Howard went on to co-found First Round Capital with Josh Koppelman.  First Round is one of the most respected seed venture capital firms, with investments in firms like Notion, Roblox, Uber, and Square.

At last Howard is ready to retire….wait no.  No, Howard is now the chairman of B Capital Group, the global investment firm founded by Eduardo Saverin.

In this episode we discuss how this remarkable journey unfolded, and what he sees for the future.

B Capital Group https://www.bcapgroup.com/

Renaissance Technologies https://www.rentec.com

First Round Capital https://firstround.com/

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Jenny Lefcourt is a partner at Freestyle Capital, a seed stage venture firm overseeing $450 million in seed investments. Jenny dropped out of her Stanford MBA program – before that was cool — to co-found online wedding registry startup WeddingChannel.com (with classmate, Jessica Herrin)

After The Knot acquired WeddingChannel.com, Jenny started another company – Bella Pictures – also subsequently acquired.  Today she is a partner at Freestyle Capital, and was recently named one of Barron’s “100 Women Shaping the World of U.S. Finance”.

In this conversation we discuss her path through these entrepreneurial experiences to becoming a prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist, and co-founder of All Raise. She shares what it’s like to join and then become partner of a venture firm that already has a couple high-profile partners; why she thinks entrepreneurs make great VCs, and the role of All Raise in Silicon Valley.

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Freestyle Capital

Something Ventured Podcast

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