Shiv Rao, MD

Impressive performance. Nothing fancy, just great investing. @sparkcapital @YasminRazavi @willreed

Let’s gooo

The lineup is set for the NVIDIA Live pregame at CES 2026. Visionaries across AI infrastructure, open ecosystems, and physical AI will share how they’re building the AI-native era. All before CEO Jensen Huang takes the stage. Join us on January 5 at 11:45 a.m. PT in Las Vegas—or watch live from anywhere: nvda.ws/3KjkAMd #CES2026

Amazing @DavidGeorge83 content coming out of late, and I’m here for all of it. It’s an honor to work with him

Quiet ones > shook ones

@tuhinone love it, lets go!

Today, we’re excited to announce our $150M Series D, led by BOND, with Jay Simons joining our Board. We’re also thrilled to welcome Conviction and CapitalG to the round, alongside support from 01 Advisors, IVP, Spark Capital, Greylock Partners, Scribble Ventures, and Premji Invest. The last eighteen months have been a whirlwind; as the AI application layer has taken off, we've been proud to play a small part supporting world class companies run their production workloads. Thanks to all our customers including Abridge, Bland, Clay, Gamma, Mirage, OpenEvidence, Sourcegraph, WRITER, and Zed Industries. We’re just getting started. If you’re building the next generation of AI products, we’d love to work with you.

Poetry youtu.be/nZ0R77BNwHk?si…

Reviewing my 14yo's music playlists. She listens to MF DOOM. Guess I’m done parenting.

Yesterday, @zacharylipton CTO @ @abridgeHQ dropped what might be one of the most important strategic insights for AI builders entering complex ecosystems: “We didn’t want to be the new EHR. We wanted to find our swim lane — the conversation — and go deep. Not compete. Integrate.” So many startups walk into entrenched, regulated markets with the mindset that they’re going to take over the space. ‘We’ll rebuild the system from scratch. We’ll be the platform.’ And that’s why they fail. In regulated industries like healthcare, banking, insurance, or enterprise IT — your ability to integrate is often more important than your ability to innovate. This was Abridge’s playbook: Build around the edge, find a specific wedge (clinical conversations) that wasn’t being handled well, and then invest heavily in deep partnerships. Years of relationship-building and co-development with Epic — the dominant EHR — allowed Abridge to go from being “another AI tool” to becoming part of the clinical workflow. If you’re building for real enterprise systems, especially in regulated environments: ✅ Don’t try to rebuild the core. ✅ Find your edge. ✅ Go deep on integration. ✅ Build trust before you build market share. 🎧 Listen to the full conversation wherever you get your podcasts. (Link in comments)

Exclusive: Abridge, an AI startup that transcribes doctor-patient exchanges as they occur, has raised $300 million in funding, giving it a value of $5.3 billion on.wsj.com/3Ga5Uga

🥳 Abridge named to @Inc's Best Workplaces 2025 list. Join our mission—we're hiring!

@pitdesi Ceres, Lucia, L’industrie.

Lived in New York for the past 3 months and absolutely loved it. Here are some of my favorite picks. If you disagree, please suggest alternatives for me to enjoy on my next visit! North Indian: Angel (Jackson Heights) or Bungalow (East Village), but I didn’t find either to be as good as the hype Home-style Indian: Punjabi Deli (East Village) Dosa: Semma (West Village) or Pradyumna Cafe (Jersey City) Thai: Mitr (Midtown) Greek: Kiki’s Falafel: King of Falafel (cart on 53rd) or Shosh (West Village) Ethiopian: Bunna Cafe (Bushwick) Pizza (not NY-style): Masala Margherita at Onion Tree (East Village) NY pizza: Fini / Ceres / Johns Bleecker / Scarrs Italian (non-pizza): Zero Otto Nove (Arthur Ave), Leon's (Union Square) Bagel: Brooklyn Bagel (ironically NOT actually in Brooklyn) Donut: Moe’s (Greenpoint) Croissant: Rose Pistachio at Librae (Cooper Sq) Cookies: La Mercerie (SoHo), Red Gate (East Village) or Funny Face & Levain (both similar, and yes I like VC-backed cookie companies… and also why doesn’t someone just replicate Levain on the West Coast?) Gelato: Cafe Panna (Union Square) Bar: StEight (little Japanese speakeasy in East Village) Form of transport: CitiBike Musical: Death Becomes Her thank you for your attention to this matter!

@jacobeffron Well deserved!!!

Feeling deeply grateful as I start this next chapter at Redpoint as a Managing Director. This is truly a dream job. It’s such a privilege to partner with inspiring founders and companies shaping the future. And I’m so lucky to have found a home at Redpoint where I continue to be shaped and supported by such a sharp and kind team. Couldn’t be more excited for everything ahead!

💥𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗔𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲: The next generation of healthcare AI technology isn’t years away—it's here now. The CRE powers end-to-end workflows, prior-note context, revenue cycle, orders, & more.

@sariazout “When I spoke to Kurt I was in the middle of making a Fugazi album…” = tldr, if I’m good enough for Fugazi, trust me I’m good enough for you

one of the better things I've read lately - the letter Steve Albini wrote to Nirvana Kurt, Dave and Chris: First let me apologize for taking a couple of days to put this outline together. When I spoke to Kurt I was in the middle of making a Fugazi album, but I thought I would have a day or so between records to sort everything out. My schedule changed unexpectedly, and this is the first moment I’ve had to go through it all. Apology. I think the very best thing you could do at this point is exactly what you are talking about doing: bang a record out in a couple of days, with high quality but minimal “production” and no interference from the front office bulletheads. If that is indeed what you want to do, I would love to be involved. If, instead, you might find yourselves in the position of being temporarily indulged by the record company, only to have them yank the chain at some point (hassling you to rework songs/sequences/production, calling-in hired guns to “sweeten” your record, turning the whole thing over to some remix jockey, whatever…) then you’re in for a bummer and I want no part of it. I’m only interested in working on records that legitimately reflect the band’s own perception of their music and existance. If you will commit yourselves to that as a tenet of the recording methodology, then I will bust my ass for you. I’ll work circles around you. I’ll rap your head with a ratchet… I have worked on hundreds of records (some great, some good, some horrible, a lot in the courtyard), and I have seen a direct correlation between the quality of the end result and the mood of the band throughout the process. If the record takes a long time, and everyone gets bummed and scrutinizes every step, then the recordings bear little resemblance to the live band, and the end result is seldom flattering. Making punk records is definitely a case where more “work” does not imply a better end result. Clearly you have learned this yourselves and appreciate the logic. About my methodology and philosophy: #1: Most contemporary engineers and producers see a record as a “project,” and the band as only one element of the project. Further, they consider the recordings to be a controlled layering of specific sounds, each of which is under complete control from the moment the note is conceived through the final six. If the band gets pushed around in the process of making a record, so be it; as long as the “project” meets with the approval of the fellow in control. My approach is exactly the opposite. I consider the band the most important thing, as the creative entity that spawned both the band’s personality and style and as the social entity that exists 24 hours out of each day. I do not consider it my place to tell you what to do or how to play. I’m quite willing to let my opinions be heard (if I think the band is making beautiful progress or a heaving mistake, I consider it part of my job to tell them) but if the band decides to pursue something, I’ll see that it gets done. I like to leave room for accidents or chaos. Making a seamless record, where every note and syllable is in place and every bass drum is identical, is no trick. Any idiot with the patience and the budget to allow such foolishness can do it. I prefer to work on records that aspire to greater things, like originality, personality and enthusiasm. If every element of the music and dynamics of a band is controlled by click tracks, computers, automated mixes, gates, samplers and sequencers, then the record may not be incompetent, but it certainly won’t be exceptional. It will also bear very little relationship to the live band, which is what all this hooey is supposed to be about. #2: I do not consider recording and mixing to be unrelated tasks which can be performed by specialists with no continuous involvement. 99 percent of the sound of a record should be established while the basic take is recorded. Your experiences are specific to your records; but in my experience, remixing has never solved any problems that actually existed, only imaginary ones. I do not like remixing other engineer’s recordings, and I do not like recording things for somebody else to remix. I have never been satisfied with either version of that methodology. Remixing is for talentless pussies who don’t know how to tune a drum or point a microphone. #3: I do not have a fixed gospel of stock sounds and recording techniques that I apply blindly to every band in every situation. You are a different band from any other band and deserve at least the respect of having your own tastes and concerns addressed. For example, I love the sound of a boomy drum kit (say a Gretach or Camco) wide open in a big room, especially with a Bonhammy double-headed bass drum and a really painful snare drum. I also love the puke-inducing low end that comes off an old Fender Bassman or Ampeg guitar amp and the totally blown sound of an SVT with broken-in tubes. I also know that those sounds are inappropriate for some songs, and trying to force them is a waste of time. Predicating the recordings on my tastes is as stupid as designing a car around the upholstery. You guys need to decide and then articulate to me what you want to sound like so we don’t come at the record from different directions. #4: Where we record the record is not as important as how it is recorded. If you have a studio you’d like to use, no hag. Otherwise, I can make suggestions. I have a nice 24-track studio in my house (Fugazi were just there, you can ask them how they rate it), and I’m familiar with most of the studios in the Midwest, the East coast and a dozen or so in the UK. I would be a little concerned about having you at my house for the duration of the whole recording and mixing process if only because you’re celebrities, and I wouldn’t want word getting out in the neighborhood and you guys having to put up with a lot of fan-style bullshit; it would be a fine place to mix the record though, and you can’t beat the vitties. If you want to leave the details of studio selection, lodgings, etc. up to me, I’m quite happy to sort all that stuff out. If you guys want to sort it out, just lay down the law. My first choice for an outside recording studio would be a place called Pachyderm in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. It’s a great facility with outstanding acoustics and a totally comfy architect’s wet dream mansion where the band lives during the recordings. This makes everything more efficient. Since everybody is there, things get done and decisions get made a lot faster than if people are out and about in a city someplace. There’s also all the posh shit like a sauna and swimming pool and fireplaces and trout stream and 50 acres and like that. I’ve made a bunch of records there and I’ve always enjoyed the place. It’s also quite inexpensive, considering how great a facility it is. The only bummer about Pachyderm is that the owners and manager are not technicians, and they don’t have a tech on call. I’ve worked there enough that I can fix just about anything that can go wrong, short of a serious electronic collapse, but I’ve got a guy that I work with a lot (Bob Weston) who’s real good with electronics (circuit design, trouble shooting and building shit on the spot), so if we choose to do it there, he’ll probably come along in my payroll, since he’d be cheap insurance if a power supply blows up or a serious failure occurs in the dead of winter 50 miles from the closest tech. He’s a recording engineer also, so he can be doing some of the more mundane stuff (cataloging tapes, packing stuff up, fetching supplies) while we’re chopping away at the record proper. Some day I’m going to talk the Jesus Lizard into going up there and we’ll have us a real time. Oh yeah, and it’s the same Neve console the AC/DC album Back in Black was recorded and mixed on, so you know its just got to have the rock. #5: Dough. I explained this to Kurt but I thought I’d better reiterate it here. I do not want and will not take a royalty on any record I record. No points. Period. I think paying a royalty to a producer or engineer is ethically indefensible. The band write the songs. The band play the music. It’s the band’s fans who buy the records. The band is responsible for whether it’s a great record or a horrible record. Royalties belong to the band. I would like to be paid like a plumber: I do the job and you pay me what it’s worth. The record company will expect me to ask for a point or a point and a half. If we assume three million sales, that works out to 400,000 dollars or so. There’s no fucking way I would ever take that much money. I wouldn’t be able to sleep. I have to be comfortable with the amount of money you pay me, but it’s your money, and I insist that you be comfortable with it as well. Kurt suggested paying me a chunk which I would consider full payment, and then if you really thought I deserved more, paying me another chunk after you’d had a chance to live with the album for a while. That would be fine, but probably more organizational trouble than it’s worth. Whatever. I trust you guys to be fair to me and I know you must be familiar with what a regular industry goon would want. I will let you make the final decision about what I’m going to be paid. How much you choose to pay me will not affect my enthusiasm for the record. Some people in my position would expect an increase in business after being associated with your band. I, however, already have more work than I can handle, and frankly, the kind of people such superficialities will attract are not people I want to work with. Please don’t consider that an issue. That’s it. Please call me to go over any of this if it’s unclear. (Signed)

the AI trade is alive and well...its just moved to the app layer & startups like @cursor_ai @AbridgeHQ @perplexity_ai are the new darlings Our latest TC Take: rise of the app layer (or as we like to say: Justice for AI wrappers) thanks to @ShivdevRao @kirbyman01 @c10n

NoPriors w @ShivdevRao from @AbridgeHQ *Healthcare & AI *Robot doctors and/or doctor tools? *Personalized medicine youtube.com/watch?v=XrnLa7…

@teereximus @saranormous @eladgil Thanks Rex, super kind and generous of you (as always)!

@ShivdevRao @saranormous @eladgil Ha! This was such a good episode, regardless, brother-man! As a regular listener, I was hella stoked to see your name in the title. 🫡

Stoked to spend time with @saranormous and @eladgil, talking AI in Healthcare and Abridge. What I didn’t realize: I was also incubating a case of Influenza A at the time. So if you want to hear what a viral prodrome sounds like in real time... this episode might be a clinical case study. Grateful for the convo — even more grateful for Tamiflu.

@RenoHemonc @saranormous @eladgil Ah bummer. the more integrated and disparate data we push and pull, the more the sky opens…hopefully get there in future

@ShivdevRao @saranormous @eladgil Tried abridge, not integrated with our cloud based oncoemr, hence gave up. Gonna try Dax as it is integrated ( stupidly expensive though)

@aweissman @saranormous @eladgil Oh man, hope no one at USV got sick. I was in and out of there to record this 🙏

@ShivdevRao @saranormous @eladgil can't tell