Jason LeeKeenan

In a recent conversation on Rho’s podcast, Venture Grounds, GV Partner KJ Sidberry joined host Jason Grohowski for a wide-ranging conversation about consumer AI, founder intuition, and what actually creates durable companies in rapidly shifting markets. KJ shared why he believes this moment feels fundamentally different from previous platform shifts. As AI lowers the barriers to building and makes execution more accessible, founders increasingly need stronger points of view about where markets are heading and what consumers will truly value over time. The conversation also explored why “niche” markets are often underestimated, how constraints can produce stronger companies, and why there is still a meaningful gap between AI capability and real-world adoption. It’s a thoughtful discussion on consumer behavior, company-building, and how AI is reshaping what it takes to build enduring products. Watch the full conversation at the link below.

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The conditions for a new wave of consumer companies haven't looked this good in over a decade. Bessemer Partner Jeremy Levine joined Eric Newcomer on the Newcomer podcast to explain why, and it comes down to two converging forces. 1/ A new front door to the internet. Google and Meta owned how people started their online journey for years. Now it's Claude, ChatGPT, and Google Gemini. And unlike Google, where consumer companies like Booking.com spent billions engineering their way to the top of search results, nobody owns these chatbot surfaces yet. It's open season. 2/ New product capabilities that change what's possible for consumers. AI isn't just a new distribution channel. It lets you build things that simply weren't buildable before. Just like Yelp figured out SEO early and rode it to scale, the companies that crack AI platform distribution first will have a real edge. An entirely new discipline is emerging and the race is on. Full episode 🎙️ https://lnkd.in/gH3EXrx4 #chatbot #ai #venturecapital #industrytrends #seo

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Proud to back Mighty Capital as an LP in their newly closed $91M fund, co-founded and led by two exceptional women. SC Moatti has built a firm that turns early product signals into real outcomes. This is what it looks like when we allocate capital, shape the next generation of category-defining companies, and rewrite the playbook for venture: https://lnkd.in/g88ws9dx

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Big news: Rosie has raised $7M to bring flexible childcare and household support beyond Seattle. 🏡 Every family’s week looks different. Some weeks you need someone with the kids, others you need the laundry folded and the kitchen reset, and most weeks it’s a bit of both. Rosie brings all of it together in one membership. Since launching in Seattle in January, our Pros have delivered 17,000+ hours of care and help at home to 400+ families, all through word of mouth. Behind the scenes, our AI-powered Family Manager handles matching, scheduling and payments, so our Pros can focus on the moments that matter. We’re grateful to Bling Capital and Reach Capital for leading the rounds, along with Graham & Walker VC, Marketplace Capital, Ingeborg Investments, Precursor Ventures, Mother Ventures, Yonder and an incredible group of angels. Next up, we are expanding to Austin and San Francisco! Parents can join the waitlist at https://lnkd.in/g4py9a5i, and caregivers and household Pros can join us here: https://lnkd.in/ghY8AqTd To our Seattle families and Pros, thank you for building this with us. Read about our funding & expansion: https://lnkd.in/gKtizKua

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Great write-up from Net Influencer today on something we think about a lot at Trolley: payouts aren’t just back-office infrastructure — they’re part of the creator experience. As platforms compete for the best creators, getting people paid reliably, quickly, and in the way they want is increasingly becoming a talent retention issue. https://lnkd.in/guYtrewc

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VibeIQ, a Boston-based AI-native product decision platform for apparel and consumer goods, raised $22.5 million in growth financing led by Volition Capital, with participation from existing investor Venture Guides. The company, led by CEO Brian Lindauer, will use the funding to advance its AI capabilities, deepen integrations, expand its team and accelerate go-to-market efforts across apparel, footwear, consumer goods and private-label retail. FOUNDER: Brian Lindauer INVESTORS: Volition Capital & Venture Guides AMOUNT: $22,500,000 HQ: Boston, Massachusetts #VentureCapital #VibeIQ #BrianLindauer #TradedVC

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We are excited to announce Radical’s lead investment in Outset’s Series B. It’s a milestone that reflects both the speed of Outset’s progress and the scale of the transformation underway in customer understanding. Outset is redefining how companies close the gap between what customers say, what they need, and how teams respond. By merging data gathered by humans and AI agents, they’re creating a more complete, actionable view of the customer experience for teams like Microsoft, Away, Hubspot, Uber and more. Outset is well on their way to building an AI-powered insights platform that finally connects the full customer experience. Congratulations to Aaron Cannon, Michael Hess, and the entire Outset team!

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The world is obsessed right now with what AI can automate, optimize, and predict — and rightly so, given how much is changing. But in all that focus on artificial intelligence, it's easy to lose sight of something simpler: real joy, in real life, for real people. Not every great business is trying to replace a human task. Some of the best ones are just trying to make an ordinary day a little more fun. That’s where Buywander comes in. Buywander is an auction-based marketplace connecting value-seeking buyers with returned and overstocked goods from vetted retailers, including Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Home Depot - and the best part is that every auction starts at $1. We're thrilled to announce that Inspired and Madrona Ventures co-led Buywander's $21M Series A. We've been impressed by Jordan and Brock's leadership since we first started talking with them over a year ago, and it shows in how far they've taken this. Buywander started as one warehouse in Spokane and has now grown to eight cities nationwide, with recent launches in Denver and Chicago and an upcoming opening in Minneapolis. Excited to welcome Jordan Allen, Brock Kowalchuk, and the Buywander team to the portfolio! Read why we invested here: ordnl.link/waTg2MW Read more in Axios here: ordnl.link/JztOEnR

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My dad was the first operating partner at Blackstone, in the late nineties, working for Stephen A. Schwarzman and Pete Peterson. He always said it was the most fun he ever had in his career. I didn't build Vokal to end up in his industry. For a decade, we built apps and digital platforms for brands, mostly start ups. nothing close to private equity. Then, right as I was losing him four years ago, we found it. A white space in the industry, digital value creation built specifically for mid- and lower-middle-market PE funds and their portfolio companies. It didn't feel like a pivot. It felt like a calling, the one part of running this business I never got to talk to him about, and somehow walked into anyway. I know exactly what he'd say if he saw where we are now. He always believed we would. If you've ever ended up somewhere you didn't plan for, but that somehow makes perfect sense? what got you there? #Founders #PrivateEquity #Vokal

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