Greg Schwartz

Grit Ventures is pleased to announce that Honda Innovations has joined the Grit Labs Industry Membership Program. Through the program, Grit Ventures provides technology insights and curated access to a broad network of Deep Tech relationships including early-stage founders emerging from the nation’s top labs. We are excited to partner with Honda Innovations Silicon Valley on developing opportunities in potential investments and partnerships in mobility, robotics, manufacturing, and carbon neutrality. “We are thrilled to collaborate with the dynamic and energetic team at Grit Ventures to pursue strategic opportunities that align with Honda’s 2050 vision: Zero Traffic Collision Fatalities and Net Zero CO2 Emissions. We understand that the challenges are numerous, which is why we are eager to engage with innovative founders and startups from national labs and universities, leveraging their unique technologies and talent to overcome these obstacles,” said Raymond Zheng, Senior Managing Director at Honda Innovations Silicon Valley. About Grit Labs Industry Membership Program Grit Ventures is investing at the root of innovation bringing game changing technology out of the labs at schools like Stanford, University of Texas at Austin, Carnegie Mellon University, MIT and other schools. Grit Ventures built Grit Labs to bring innovators in the university and government labs together with industry partners, entrepreneurial talent and investors to build impactful solutions to the world’s biggest challenges and to explore market opportunities and commercialization. We connect early-stage technologists and startups to these important strategic partners through Grit Labs strategic initiatives. About Honda Innovations Located in Japan, Silicon Valley and operating globally, Honda Innovations drives corporate transformation within all areas of Honda. Its strategic investment and open innovation program, Honda Xcelerator Ventures, is a catalyst to accelerate new businesses by backing innovative startups. From direct investments and co-development to strategic partnerships, Honda Innovations is focused on building a better world by supporting the Honda goal to realize carbon neutrality and zero fatalities involving Honda vehicles by 2050.

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Did you see the news? Excited to have TechCrunch announce that in addition to acquiring three new companies, Capacity is continuing our transformational growth with a Series D round. I sat down with TechCrunch to give a little more insight on our roadmap: “Our growth strategy reflects what our customers are asking for: an all-in-one AI platform that delivers across all communication channels.” As we keep pursuing our goals, we’ll keep expanding our AI offerings and growing our team to become a leading provider of AI-powered support solutions. Read the full interview with TechCrunch -> https://lnkd.in/gTWagawR #supportautomation #artificialintelligence #customersupport #automation

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I'm excited to reshare this timeless episode of #Supermanagers featuring David O. Sacks, a member of the PayPal Mafia, founder of Yammer, Inc., and General Partner at Craft Ventures. David offers invaluable advice for CEOs, managers, founders, and anyone looking to elevate their organization. In this episode, David dives into:  - Introverted leadership - Managing hyper-growth - Knowing when to throw out processes  - And so much more. Don't miss out on his unique perspective and leadership journey. Tune in to learn from one of the best in the business! 🎧 Link in comments 👇

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We've smashed through 2 million listeners of The Exit Podcast - brought to you by Flippa.com and the stories we are sharing are beautiful and brilliant. This is the story of Luke Cooper, Founder at Latimer Ventures From humble beginnings to selling his tech firm Fixt for 11x its revenue, Luke's journey is nothing short of inspirational. 🎙️✨ 🌟 About Luke Cooper: Founder & Managing Partner at Latimer Ventures: A venture capital firm dedicated to empowering Black and Hispanic tech entrepreneurs. Serial Entrepreneur: Successfully exited multiple tech startups, including Fixt and Caldwell Technology Solutions. Investor & Mentor: Committed to raising $50 million to support minority-founded enterprise SaaS startups. Notable investments include Pienso, AI Squared, Meter Feeder, and CyDeploy. 🌍 Impactful Mission: Luke founded Latimer Ventures to bridge the gap in venture capital for Black founders, inspired by the innovative spirit of Lewis Latimer. He believes in creating wealth through tech entrepreneurship and demonstrating the power of diverse perspectives in building cutting-edge products. 🎧 Tune In: Discover Luke's insights on navigating the challenges of the venture capital world, his vision for Latimer Ventures, and his commitment to uplifting underrepresented founders. Don't miss this episode filled with wisdom and motivation! 🔗 Listen now on The Exit Podcast. #Entrepreneurship #VentureCapital #TechInnovation #LatimerVentures #TheExitPodcast #Inspiration #DiversityInTech #BlackExcellence

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I enjoyed going on Nick Telson-Sillett’s podcast, Pitch Deck by Forward Pursuit. Nick is a serial founder and investor (founded and exited DesignMyNight) so knows both sides of the table which always makes for an enriching chat. Some things we discussed: - The perceived power dynamic between VCs and founders can hinder productive conversations. - A compelling product demo can significantly influence investor interest. - Founders must focus on solving real customer problems to succeed. - Hiring standards are crucial for building a successful startup team. - Behavioural roadblocks can prevent the adoption of new solutions. - Validation from potential customers is key for pre-revenue startups. - The early-stage funding landscape has become more efficient and selective. - Pace of execution is a critical factor in attracting investment.

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Hey folks, I think you might be aware that what we're building at DeepCast includes a podcast discovery and exploration platform for listeners at www.deepcast.fm. We also recently unveiled www.deepcast.pro -- a promotions, marketing, and monetization platform for podcasters (and folks like networks and agencies who support them). "You make the shows, let us help you with what comes after." Shows claimed and processed via DeepCast Pro are also published for listener consumption on DeepCast. High value all around! If you're a podcaster, claim your show at www.deepcast.pro to get started. Free speaker-labeled transcripts for all your episodes as well as generated insights for each (key takeaways, quotes, topic & keyword sets, summaries, and more) plus many more features—and growing daily! We're shipping fast over here! (Thanks to Rachel Perez Hosna Qasmei Kim Burgaard Benjamin Moon Rachel Magana Hari Ramachandran!)

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DeepCast shipped a number of really cool new features recently in advance of a broad outreach push to podcast listeners. One new feature is our new Daily DeepDigest tool that sends you a concise daily email including any new episodes from the trailing 24 hours from any podcasts you Subscribe to (on DeepCast). Think daily podcast cliff notes or podcast news ticker tape, with a hint of Morning Brew various brews or PitchBook News—it's increasing information throughput when you're pressed for time. And this feature is rapidly evolving to distill other key extractions from shows you're already interested in, but also exposing you to other shows you might be unfamiliar with that also have nuggets to share—and thus increasing your aperture yet still conscious of your time. Want to go deeper on any given episode? Click the episode detail and you're off to an episode on DeepCast, where you can subsequently read a longer form distillation of that episode or go straight to the source and listen to the episode. (And podcaster friends, these pages are definitely increasing indexing and thus Google entry points to your shows!) I'm loving this feature as a user, personally. Can't wait to see what others think! #BuildingInPublic #Podcasts #AllTheWorldsInformation #HowYouWantIt

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🗞️ Breaking News: Red Ventures Selling CNET at a huge Loss❗️ Context: Red Ventures, the privately held digital media and marketing juggernaut based in Fort Mill, South Carolina, is selling CNET, one of the largest tech publishers on the web, to Ziff Davis for just $100 million. For context: Red Ventures bought CNET for approximately $500 million. Reason for the Sale: Total traffic to CNET has dropped by a staggering 50% over the last three years. The main driver behind this decline is a 68% drop in organic traffic (loss off Google rankings and traffic). Tables turned: This sale is a stunning turn of events for CNET, which once bought Ziff Davis (then a tech magazine firm) in a deal worth roughly $1.6 billion - more than two decades ago. Catch Up: - Ziff Davis trades publicly with a market value of $1.94 billion. The company lost about half of its marketcap over the course of the last 48 months. Strategic rationale: If Ziff Davis is able to ink a content licencing deal with Google, Bing/Microsoft or ChatGPT (or else e.g. X.AI) - like Reddit did - it might turn out to be a very smart deal …

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If you’re looking for a distraction from political content this week… look no further… allow me to introduce: VC podcast content :) I was so excited to finally be on Minnie Ingersoll and TenOneTen Ventures’ LA Venture Podcast. She grew this platform massively while I was on the operating side and it was such an honor to have this be my first interview since returning to VC. Minnie and I chatted poolside in her backyard in Pasadena and covered a lot of ground: - 🚀Why I think distribution and GTM is potentially a greater early moat than product in an AI-native world - 1️⃣ Is first mover advantage still a thing?! -🕵🏽‍♂️ How I think about channel vs integrated product partnership dynamics and why most of them dont work! -💰 What is (and isn’t) exciting to me and Fika Ventures in marketplaces, supply chain, commerce enablement, and more - 🧐 Why we love investing in subject matter and domain experts at Fika more than technology experts learning new domains - 🤝 What makes our partnership and team special at Fika Ventures and how we think about working with founders - 🪢 and finally, why Pejman Nozad and I have more in common than I do with most VCs! Shout outs to friends and colleagues like Tianxiang (TX) Zhuo, John Chen, Gabriella Brignardello, Route, Michael Tam, Troy Henikoff, and more in this one. And most importantly, thanks for having me, Minnie Ingersoll!

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Giannis Antetokounmpo launches venture capital fund for investments in sports and entertainment - The Milwaukee Bucks superstar announced the launch Thursday of Build Your Legacy Ventures, a venture capital fund that will focus on investments in sports, entertainment and technology. - “This fund is not just about capital; it’s about forging partnerships and opening my network to accelerate the growth trajectory for companies,” Antetokounmpo said. - The fund has already invested in Unrivaled, the new women’s 3-on-3 basketball league. - Antetokounmpo is also an investor in the Milwaukee Brewers, Nashville SC and LA Golf Club. - The move underscores a trend where athletes are increasingly engaging in strategic investments to secure their financial future and engage with global audiences. #GiannisInvestments #SportsBusiness #SoccerInvestment Read more: [https://buff.ly/4fDLHM3

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No one wants spoiled fish, melted ice cream sandwiches, or insulin gone bad. Cold chain innovator Artyc is busy making sure goods that need to be cold, stay cold during shipping. Without spending too much energy to do it. (Right now we spend ~5% of our global energy generation on temperature controlled logistics.)  The Artyc team has created a reliable, eco-friendly shipping solution that ensures your goods remain at the perfect temperature while also providing real time data and tracking to help verify the quality of the shipment. It's an industry ripe for innovation of the best kind: new technology like Artyc’s will not only improve profitability for all parties involved by reducing spoilage losses, but also help decarbonize the journey it takes for some of our most vital goods to reach us. Solving how we move stuff from point A to point B in a fast, reliable, and sustainable manner has one of the largest potentials to improve human life. And there is a exciting opportunity to build a massive, profitable business.  These are the kinds of companies that we love at Lowercarbon and it's been a privilege to work with the Artyc team as they build the future of cold shipping.

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Summary: Trucks Venture Capital has announced a new $70 million fund to support early-stage startups in the transportation industry. Led by co-founder Reilly Brennan, the firm plans to invest in a diverse range of companies, including those working on autonomous vehicle tech, electric air taxis, and mobility data platforms. This is the firm's largest fund to date and its investment strategy has evolved to focus on great founders rather than specific sectors or ideas. Key takeaways: Trucks VC has a new $70 million fund to invest in early-stage transportation startups. The firm's investment strategy has shifted to focus on great founders rather than specific sectors or ideas. Previous investments from the new fund include charger installation-as-a-service startup Treehouse and zero-emissions jet aircraft company JetZero. Counter arguments: Some may argue that focusing on great founders rather than specific sectors or ideas may limit the firm's potential for success. The transportation industry is constantly changing and evolving, making it a risky investment for any venture capital firm. #startups #venturecapital #transportation

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Kudos to aifleet on its $16.6M raise to fund growth in tech-enabled trucking. Its investors include Heron Rock Volvo Group Venture Capital, Obvious Ventures, Ibex Investors, Compound, Winthrop Square Capital and Cooley LLP. Aifleet is doing something different. Most other startups in this field are focused on pure technology. They have 204 drivers and power units. Will they be able to make it work with a combination of trucking and technology? https://lnkd.in/ePytPHx7

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How do you build meaningful partnerships as a founder? I know I've been guilty of sending partnership agreements in hopes of the best In this episode of How I'm Building This podcast, Alex Witcpalek, the founder of Continuum AI, shares his unconventional path from playing football at the University of Louisville to working in commercial real estate and eventually joining the tech industry. Here are some sound bites from our conversation: ✔️"I'm going to build something on my own and I'm going to build it so that not only do I have a better life, but there's families that don't have to go through what we're going through." ✔️"We have so much pipeline that if we close this, I need to build a team to be able to go deliver it." ✔️"You need to be very upfront and transparent with your partner and have a plan together to cross pollinate your go-to-market motions." ✔️"We became thought leaders and our content now drive sour partner channel." ✔️"I don't think you can silo outbound partner and marketing, because we do a lot of partner marketing together too." ‍ Listen now: Youtube: https://lnkd.in/g5P3nkWZ Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gXUYA_ZF Other episodes as they release: https://lnkd.in/gkxQsmwH #startup #entrepreneurship

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It was great to be back on #NYSEFloorTalk with Judy Khan Shaw to discuss Impel’s vision for the automotive industry, and how our recent acquisition of Outsell brings us closer than ever to making that a reality. As Impel’s universal AI platform expands to every channel and touchpoint of the customer lifecycle, the opportunities to drive greater value for consumers, auto retailers, and OEMs alike are immense. We’ve only scratched the surface of what’s possible.

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Congratulations to Abnormal Security on raising a $250M Series D financing at a $5.1B valuation, led by Wellington Management. We at Greylock are proud to be investing in Abnormal for the fifth time since Evan Reiser, Sanjay Jeyakumar and team started Abnormal in Greylock's offices. Abnormal's built the world's first AI-native cybersecurity platform that leverages AI to protect organizations most important vulnerability: humans and human behavior. Abnormal is also announcing today that they have crossed $200M ARR with 100% YoY revenue growth and is now used to secure nearly 20% of the Fortune 500. An important milestone as Abnormal advances its mission to protect humans using AI. CC: Asheem Chandna, Venky Ganesan, Stephen Ward, Rob Mazzoni https://lnkd.in/g4G4PRf9

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This is spot on for how #AI will very quickly change the #retail industry and how quickly it will happen over the next 3-5 years.

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A big reason to be bullish for any tech hub: communities of technical builders. Some great communities launched by Landon W. Campbell and Drive Capital in #Chicago in 2024, in addition to all the other technical communities thriving in Chicago today - The Compute Collective, ETHChicago, AI 2030, Chicago Innovation, 1871, Omaxn: 1. AI Tinkerers Chicago: a monthly meetup that brings technical builders to discuss the latest models and use cases for LLMs. They reached over 900 members in 2024. 2. Chicago Data Night: a partnership with University of Chicago, where they bridge academia and industry in monthly speaker series. 3. The Chicago Futurist Meetup: a new meetup connecting local energy experts to discuss the technical implications of AI, data centers, and nuclear. Other reasons to be bullish Chicago in 2025, from Landon: https://lnkd.in/ebS39QEK

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