No shade , Menlo had a glow up & has made some great AI investments, kudos to the team
When I joined venture 2 years ago, everyone told me I was foolish to pick Menlo Ventures.
Today, research from the best Stanford professor of venture capital ranks Menlo as #3 in 2026, and #1 for <$25B in AUM, with 50 unicorns and only ~20 investors. These rankings rewards being early, leading, valuation, exits and recency. Rankings are just rankings, but it’s extremely rare for VC firms to change reputations so quickly. It’s a small milestone to celebrate.
Menlo has spent the last 5 years rebuilding the team with people who have built startups and long time investors. We built a culture around sticking to first principles while staying true to our roots of low volume high conviction bets. In the last few years, we have been fortunate to partner with Anthropic, OpenRouter, Lovable, Suno, Fireworks, Gimlet, Higgsfield, Wispr, Modal, Legora, OpenEvidence and they are really the stars of the show. And we’ve missed innumerably more.
However, in venture, you’re only as good as your next deal.
Shai Goldman retweeted
You love to see it - @hexanalytics at #7!
Shai Goldman retweeted
#1 Baseten
Shai Goldman retweeted
Five @spc companies in there 👀👀
Great list below.
We at 01A are very happy to be investors in #1 @baseten, #13 @render and #22 @attio.
01a.com/featured
Shai Goldman retweeted
Today Monaco is launching Agent Matrix.
Monaco unleashes countless agents working together, goal seeking, with one outcome in mind: accelerate revenue growth.
If you don’t have an army of agents working 24/7 to accelerate revenue growth, you’re living in the past.
Apply for early access now.
just landed in SF and looking to hire someone for this role, dm/email if you have a candidate I should meet with asap
brex.com/careers/8864648002
Shai Goldman retweeted
After October 7th, we doubled down on Israel, betting that its reservists, intelligence operators and fighters would build generational, global companies.
3 years later, the founders walking into our office are the most ambitious / sophisticated I’ve ever seen.
Breathtaking.
launched IRL events at Brex 5 years ago, these are the stats on those hosted on Luma, our go to but also use Splash & Partiful, so not comprehensive
If you are very thoughtful on organizing events, it is a great way to build relationships with existing customers & prospects
Ultimately what makes a great event is the people in the room and the overall attendees experience. Do the people at the event have something in common, what is it? Can they learn from each other?
I rather have a relevant crowd & great conversations vs a wow venue. Don't over index on the sizzle, focus on the steak.
Another trap. You assume that if you have more people at the event, then you have a better odds of ROI as you have more prospects, that isn't necessarily the case. I find that the smaller the event, the more impactful it is, as you get to do deeper with people and also have a more curated group. Having more smaller events is not as scalable & takes more work, so people don't do them as much . Do the less scalable things.




















