Smart Venture Podcast

Saanya Ojha is a Partner at Bain Capital Ventures where she leads growth stage investments in cloud infrastructure, cyber security, and the developer ecosystem. Previously, she was a Partner at Coatue focused on growth investments after having started her career as a Hedge Fund analyst at Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, a long/short fundamental equity fund. A career investor, she is driven by the fundamental question of what makes a good business and has experience investing across stages, verticals, and geographies. Originally from India, she now lives in San Francisco but has lived and worked across New York, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Topics: - The evolution of cloud infrastructure and its impact on businesses - Current trends and future predictions in cybersecurity investments - The developer ecosystem: Key players and emerging opportunities #VentureCapital #TechInvesting #CloudInfrastructure #Cybersecurity #WomenInVC

Brian Huber is a fund partner at Gunderson Dettmer. Brian supports venture capital and growth equity fund managers on all aspects of the fund lifecycle. Brian has significant experience advising fund managers on issues related to fundraising, GP management, and economics, including the tax and structuring aspects of fund formations and investments globally. He helps clients navigate complex issues in the evolving legal and regulatory landscape, such as the impact of recent tax reform on investment and organizational decision-making. Mr. Huber also has significant experience advising fund managers and investors in connection with secondary purchases and sales of fund interests. Brian has spoken extensively on tax reform issues affecting the fund industry, including with regard to carried interest, the impact on tax exempt U.S. and non-US investors, and international tax structuring. He is an active member of the ABA Business Law Section’s Private Equity and Venture Capital Committee and previously served as co-chair of the board of directors for the Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association. Brian has also participated as a delegate at the National LGBT Bar Association’s Affiliates Congress Annual Meeting. Topics: 1. Key considerations for fund managers throughout the fund lifecycle 2. Key legal considerations for first-time fund managers 3. Lessons learned from complex fund formations and investments #VentureCapital #FundManagement #InvestorRelations #VCLaw #FundFormation

Saaya Nath is a Partner at Jump Capital. She joined Jump Capital in 2020 and leads new venture capital investment opportunities. Prior to joining Jump, Saaya worked as a strategy consultant at Boston Consulting Group, where she spent time in the Private Equity practice and across a variety of strategy and operations projects. Saaya attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, earning a BS in Computer Engineering. Her areas of interest: Enterprise SaaS, AI Tooling, Workflow Automation, and Future of Work. Topics: 1. Trends in Enterprise SaaS 2. The evolution of AI tooling for businesses 3. Key factors in evaluating early-stage tech companies #VentureCapital #EnterpriseSaaS #AITooling #WorkflowAutomation #FutureOfWork

Ethan Evans is a retired Amazon Vice President, LinkedIn Top Voice, 70+ patents; led global teams of 800+, now Executive Coach and course creator focused on helping leaders grow to true executives. Topics: 1. Strategies for effective global team management. 2. Adapting corporate experience to entrepreneurial ventures. 3. Building a personal brand after a high-profile corporate career. #ExecutiveLeadership #AmazonAlum #LinkedInInfluencer #PatentInnovator #TechToCoach

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

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