On this week's episode of Silicon Valley Impact we give you the live recording from STEP San Francisco 2025, a two-day startup and technology conference held August 20–21 at The Midway in San Francisco. STEP SF brought together founders, investors, and tech leaders to explore the future of artificial intelligence, deep tech, and global scaling strategies.

Brian Sparkes moderates a powerhouse panel of four leading venture capitalists in a conversation titled: “Investing in Real AI, Not Just Hype: Agents, Models, and the Apps Built on Them.” The discussion dives into what separates breakthrough AI companies from the noise, and how investors are thinking about long-term value creation in one of the most transformative markets of our time.

The panel features:

• SC Moatti (Mighty Capital) – Founding Managing Partner at Mighty Capital, SC is a renowned product leader turned investor, celebrated for building products used by billions at Meta and Siebel Systems. Today, she backs companies shaping the enterprise future, including Amplitude and Groq, and is recognized as one of the top venture capitalists in Silicon Valley.
• Jon Chu (Khosla Ventures) – Partner at Khosla Ventures, Jon leads the firm’s AI investments with a sharp focus on infrastructure, applications, and developer tools. His journey from Palantir engineer to founder (Koality, acquired by Docker) to investor gives him a rare operator-investor perspective on what it takes to scale the next generation of AI companies.
• Eric Anderson (Scale Venture Partners) – Partner at Scale, Eric specializes in early-stage investments in AI, cloud infrastructure, and security. A former Google Cloud and AWS product leader, he helped launch foundational data and ML products before turning to venture, where he now backs and advises some of the most innovative enterprise startups.
• Allen Taylor (Endeavor Catalyst) – Managing Partner of Endeavor Catalyst, Allen brings two decades of experience supporting high-growth companies in emerging markets. He has helped raise and deploy over $500M across 360+ investments globally, with a mission to empower founders building category-defining companies far beyond Silicon Valley.

Tune in for a rare inside look at how top venture capitalists are navigating the AI wave—and what it means for the future of startups worldwide.

This and much more on Silicon Valley Impact!

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the host and guests on Silicon Valley Impact are for entertainment purposes only and should not be considered financial advice or a solicitation. Listeners are encouraged to consult with a professional before making any financial or business decisions.