Investor
Manoj Soundararajan
AIInfrastructureSaaS
As an investor at Menlo Ventures, Manoj focuses on early-stage AI, infrastructure, and enterprise SaaS investments. His diverse skill set and passion for technology make him a valuable and thoughtful partner to founders.
Manoj joined Menlo from Craft Ventures, where he invested in early-stage B2B SaaS and AI startups. Prior to that, he founded and led Covalent Ventures, an AngelList syndicate and scout fund that worked with operators and startup employees to support founders with go-to-market, customer introductions, and hiring. During this time, he invested in companies such as MotherDuck, Certn, Delphi, Superpower, NuvoCargo, Archive, Claim, and Adonis.
Before his venture capital career, Manoj worked at MainStreet, OnDeck, and Esusu, across product, GTM, sales, strategy, and partnerships. These roles allowed him to cultivate strong industry connections, develop a keen understanding of scaling businesses effectively, and an appreciation for the founder’s journey.
Manoj received his bachelor’s degree in political science from UCLA. In his free time, he enjoys going to comedy shows, staying active, and nervously watching 49ers and Warriors games. You can follow him on Twitter at @manoj_s116.
Supported by: Marcus Lampley, [email protected]
q&a
Investment Approach
I approach learning new domains as both an art and science, starting with immersive conversations with end users and customers to understand their workflows, pain points, and the variety of tools they currently use to solve their problems. I then cast a wide net to meet founders and builders thinking about this space to map the landscape of approaches and go-to-market strategies, helping me develop a POV that evolves with new data and insights. This exercise cultivates a prepared mind that allows me to recognize exciting opportunities when they appear.
I recognize that founders choose us as investors for their decade-long journeys of building iconic companies—it’s a privilege I never take for granted. Building lasting relationships means showing up authentically as a true partner in multiple dimensions: being a thoughtful sparring partner on strategic decisions, proactively opening my network for customer introductions, and personally advocating to help attract top talent and close candidates. At its core, venture capital is a service business, and I measure my success by how effectively I help founders build generational companies. Trust is earned through consistent support, especially during challenging moments when founders need an ally who believes in their vision as deeply as they do.
This is ultimately a people business. While we develop frameworks for analyzing markets and technology trends, venture capital truly comes down to partnering with exceptional individuals who possess a fierce determination to bring their vision to fruition. This insight has shaped my approach—I now spend much more time understanding founders’ motivations and personal journeys. My north star has become finding ways to work with world-class individuals who combine domain expertise with the resilience required to build something transformative.