C.C. Gong, Menlo Ventures Principal on AI, Consumer & SaaS Bets

C.C. is a principal at Menlo Ventures focused on early-stage consumer tech and SaaS investments. Drawing on her extensive experience as a product leader and team builder, C.C. goes all in on supporting founders who optimize for impact. She believes that personalized AI will revolutionize the next generation of human-computer interaction and how humans live, work, and play. C.C. started her career at Microsoft, where she worked in product at Bing Ads and HoloLens, and ran an incubation team that shipped novel consumer experiences in mixed reality. At Meta, she led teams building the future of search and ranking in its suite of messaging apps. Guided by her passion for mission-driven impact, she left big tech when she was selected as one of 20 top technologists in the nation to serve as a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow, during which she used design thinking to advance service delivery at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Following her stint in public service, C.C. joined Bain Capital Ventures, then became NFX’s first Venture Fellow. She also helped run one of AngelList’s most prolific syndicates and scouted for multiple funds, including Menlo and Wing VC. She proceeded to delve deeper into the startup world, leading product and growth at multiple early-stage companies from seed to Series A, as well as launching her own company in the AI video editing space. She knows firsthand how hard it is for founders to get from zero to one, so she created a community and resources for entrepreneurs and hosted five AI hackathons in 2023. C.C. received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and her MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. In her free time, she loves performing standup comedy, dancing salsa, and hosting poker nights. She grew up in Anaheim, CA next to Disneyland, and went to Disney Elementary School, so theme parks have a special space in her heart. An adventure aficionado, she’s traveled to 80+ countries and has infinite travel hacks to share.Topics: The intersection of AI and consumer productsWhat sectors within SaaS are still undervalued or overlookedHow consumer behavior changes are creating new SaaS categories#VCPodcast #MenloVentures #AIInvesting #SaaSInvesting #consumertech

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