When Keith Rabois announced in January that he was leaving Founders Fund and returning to Khosla Ventures, it got here as a shock to many in the venture capital ecosystem – and not only because Rabois is a big name in the industry.
This was surprising because, unlike in many other fields, venture capitalists traditionally don’t move fairly often – especially those that rise to the level of partner or general partner, as was the case with Rabois.
VC funds have a 10-year lifecycle, and partners have a good reason to stay that course. In some cases, they could be “key people” in a company’s fund, which suggests that if they leave, the fund’s LP investors have the right to withdraw their capital if they so select. Many partners and GPs also invest some of their very own money in their firm’s funds, giving them another excuse to stay with the firm.
So while it isn’t common for high-profile investors to move into the venture capital space, it seems to have happened in recent months. So far this 12 months, there have been significant cases of investors returning to old corporations, withdrawing from investments on their very own or stopping investing altogether.
Just TodayVic Singh, one of the co-founders of Eniac Ventures, announced he was leaving the company he helped found in 2009 to start his own.
Singh joins a growing list of VCs who have recently left corporations.
April
- April 30 Ethan Kurzweil announced after 16 years he was leaving his position as a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. According to him, Kurzweil will create an investment company focusing on early-stage development reports from Axios. Kurzweil will launch the company with Christina Shenwho left Andreessen Horowitz on March 29 after 4 years, and Mark Goldberg, who left Index Ventures last fall after eight years.
- April 1 Christina Farr announced that he’ll leave OMERS Ventures, where he has been the lead investor since December 2020 and heads the company’s medical technology practice. Farr announced at
March
- After six years as a partner at Accel Ethan Choi announced that he’ll leave the company in March and go to Khosla Ventures. Choi will focus on growth-stage investing in his recent company and has backed corporations comparable to Klaviyo, Pismo and 1Password.
- While many of the recent VC moves have been made by people looking to start something recent or pursue a different opportunity, not all have done so. March 13, Chamath Palihapitiya Social Capital announced that he fired his partners Jay Zaveri AND Ravi Tanuk. Bloomberg reported that it was due to a fundraising case for the AI startup Groq.
- Rabois wasn’t the only one who dreamed of a boomerang return to its old stomping ground amid the recent surge in investor reshuffles. March 5 Miles Grimshaw announced that after three years in the same position at Benchmark Capital, he’ll return to Thrive Capital as a general partner. Grimshaw began at Thrive Capital in 2013 and has supported corporations comparable to Airtable, Lattice and Monzo, among others.
- While the transition from operator to VC is a common profession progression process in the startup ecosystem, it isn’t for everyone. March 4 Blonde herself announced that he has come to this conclusion and is leaving Founders Fund, where he was a partner for about 18 months. Blond said he would return to operations and has held positions at corporations including Brex, Zenefits and EchoSign.
January
- After 12 years of labor at Andreessen Horowitz Connie Chan announced she left the company on January 23. Chan has been one of the company’s general partners for the past five years and has supported corporations comparable to Cider, KoBold and Whatnot.