At Shakti’s 2025 Annual Meeting, clarity emerged from uncertainty—on AI, venture capital, and the decade ahead.Beyond the fogOn a fog-swept spring morning in San Francisco’s Presidio, with the Golden Gate Bridge flickering in and out of view, founders, investors, and friends gathered at the Golden Gate Club to take stock of the present and squint toward the future. “Investing in early-stage startups,” said founding partner Keval Desai, “is like launching rockets to Pluto. You won’t know how i...

At Shakti’s 2025 Annual Meeting, clarity emerged from uncertainty—on AI, venture capital, and the decade ahead.Beyond the fogOn a fog-swept spring morning in San Francisco’s Presidio, with the Golden Gate Bridge flickering in and out of view, founders, investors, and friends gathered at the Golden Gate Club to take stock of the present and squint toward the future. “Investing in early-stage startups,” said founding partner Keval Desai, “is like launching rockets to Pluto. You won’t know how i...

From TV producer to Amazon exec, Andrew Bennett shares lessons on partnerships, trust, and scaling globally. 1) Can you share a bit about your professional background and current role? I'm a former television producer who pitched/wrote/edited news and sports programming for the NBA and HBO while living in New York. I had a bit of a premature mid-life crisis in my late 20s when I realized I did not have the constitution for a purely creative career (I still have nightmares about staring at an .

From TV producer to Amazon exec, Andrew Bennett shares lessons on partnerships, trust, and scaling globally. 1) Can you share a bit about your professional background and current role? I'm a former television producer who pitched/wrote/edited news and sports programming for the NBA and HBO while living in New York. I had a bit of a premature mid-life crisis in my late 20s when I realized I did not have the constitution for a purely creative career (I still have nightmares about staring at an .

From a moment of empathy to a movement—Madhav Krishna built Vahan.ai to be the vehicle for upward mobility in India’s gig economy. "How do I improve people’s lives?" For Madhav Krishna, Founder and CEO of SHAKTI portfolio company, Vahan.ai, this question sparked a lifelong mission. During a visit home to Delhi from New York, Madhav joined his parents in handing out food to passersby. While serving daal and rice, a young boy in tattered clothes approached. After receiving his meal, the boy’s f.

From a moment of empathy to a movement—Madhav Krishna built Vahan.ai to be the vehicle for upward mobility in India’s gig economy. "How do I improve people’s lives?" For Madhav Krishna, Founder and CEO of SHAKTI portfolio company, Vahan.ai, this question sparked a lifelong mission. During a visit home to Delhi from New York, Madhav joined his parents in handing out food to passersby. While serving daal and rice, a young boy in tattered clothes approached. After receiving his meal, the boy’s f.

Anna Guerrero shares how Clove is simplifying how we plan, shop, and cook — from importing favorite recipes across TikTok and Instagram to an AI meal planner that understands your week. 1) What is Clove? Who is it for? What does it do for them? Cooking is a universal need, but day-to-day, it often feels difficult and time consuming. Clove is an AI recipe platform that helps busy home cooks streamline the process of discovering and cooking with recipes, and build the confidence and motivation ...

Anna Guerrero shares how Clove is simplifying how we plan, shop, and cook — from importing favorite recipes across TikTok and Instagram to an AI meal planner that understands your week. 1) What is Clove? Who is it for? What does it do for them? Cooking is a universal need, but day-to-day, it often feels difficult and time consuming. Clove is an AI recipe platform that helps busy home cooks streamline the process of discovering and cooking with recipes, and build the confidence and motivation ...

Rehaan Ahmad is revolutionizing how researchers collaborate. Read below how AlphaXiv is transforming academic discourse.1) What is alphaXiv? Who is it for? What does it do for them? AlphaXiv is a platform for researchers to discuss, discover, and read new research. Academia is notoriously known for being siloed; while many researchers are interested in discussing their own research, besides yearly conferences, there is no real place to discuss research in a productive, centralized setting. Ad...

Rehaan Ahmad is revolutionizing how researchers collaborate. Read below how AlphaXiv is transforming academic discourse.1) What is alphaXiv? Who is it for? What does it do for them? AlphaXiv is a platform for researchers to discuss, discover, and read new research. Academia is notoriously known for being siloed; while many researchers are interested in discussing their own research, besides yearly conferences, there is no real place to discuss research in a productive, centralized setting. Ad...

“When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary ...”– First line of the Declaration of Independence of the United States (July 4th, 1776)Thirty two years after its founding, Nvidia has become the world’s most valuable company. A semiconductor company has never before occupied that position. Why now? Because everything is up for grabs starting with the most basic building block of computing. In the course of human events, this was necessary and inevitable. This is the age of AI. Earl...

“When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary ...”– First line of the Declaration of Independence of the United States (July 4th, 1776)Thirty two years after its founding, Nvidia has become the world’s most valuable company. A semiconductor company has never before occupied that position. Why now? Because everything is up for grabs starting with the most basic building block of computing. In the course of human events, this was necessary and inevitable. This is the age of AI. Earl...

From startup scrappiness to leading iconic brands such as DVF and Ralph Lauren—SHAKTI Titan and PetMeds® CEO Sandra Campos shares what it really takes to build from day zero, drawing on lessons from both sides of the table as 2xfounder and 4x CEO.

From startup scrappiness to leading iconic brands such as DVF and Ralph Lauren—SHAKTI Titan and PetMeds® CEO Sandra Campos shares what it really takes to build from day zero, drawing on lessons from both sides of the table as 2xfounder and 4x CEO.

I sat down with Celina Lee for the very first episode of Shakti’s Day One podcast. Zindi is the largest network of data scientists in Africa. With backers like Microsoft and AWS, they’ve hosted 300+ AI/ML challenges and awarded over $1 million in prize money. Celina and I spoke about being an “accidental entrepreneur,” building a purpose-driven business, and the power of unleashing talent from unexpected places. Here are a few highlights from our conversation:What is Zindi?“Zindi is a platfor...

I sat down with Celina Lee for the very first episode of Shakti’s Day One podcast. Zindi is the largest network of data scientists in Africa. With backers like Microsoft and AWS, they’ve hosted 300+ AI/ML challenges and awarded over $1 million in prize money. Celina and I spoke about being an “accidental entrepreneur,” building a purpose-driven business, and the power of unleashing talent from unexpected places. Here are a few highlights from our conversation:What is Zindi?“Zindi is a platfor...

Lowering the barrier to space innovation—Dhaval Shiyani shares how Gimbal Space is making satellite technology more accessible and affordable. 1) What is Gimbal Space? Who is it for? What does it do for them? Gimbal Space designs and builds high-performance, readily available, and affordable satellite components for modern requirements. These products are for satellite makers, satellite bus makers, or satellite sub-system aggregators. They use this to ensure their satellites can perform criti..

Lowering the barrier to space innovation—Dhaval Shiyani shares how Gimbal Space is making satellite technology more accessible and affordable. 1) What is Gimbal Space? Who is it for? What does it do for them? Gimbal Space designs and builds high-performance, readily available, and affordable satellite components for modern requirements. These products are for satellite makers, satellite bus makers, or satellite sub-system aggregators. They use this to ensure their satellites can perform criti..

From college textbooks to transit tech—Jonathan Simkin shares how a simple question led to building the largest transit data platform in the U.S.The journey to entrepreneurship often begins with a good question. For Jonathan Simkin this has been the case twice over. In college, he wondered, why are textbooks the second-highest expense for students after tuition? He ended up building a “Kayak for textbooks” platform out of his dorm room, to help students find the best prices on books. That ven...

From college textbooks to transit tech—Jonathan Simkin shares how a simple question led to building the largest transit data platform in the U.S.The journey to entrepreneurship often begins with a good question. For Jonathan Simkin this has been the case twice over. In college, he wondered, why are textbooks the second-highest expense for students after tuition? He ended up building a “Kayak for textbooks” platform out of his dorm room, to help students find the best prices on books. That ven...