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 do not 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 might 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 one more reason 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.
Here’s who we have met so far:
Power
- Terri Burns announced On May 13, she founded a recent venture firm called Type Capital. Burns was previously the first Black female partner at GV and will leave the firm in 2022. Her recent fund will focus on pre- and seed-stage startups.
- Last week, TechCrunch discovered the co-founder of Fika Ventures Eve Ho he intended to leave the company after Fika accomplished the rollout of its current fund. Ho is withdrawing for personal reasons. The move was confirmed by the company in a May 9 blog post.
- May 9 Alison Lange Engel announced took up the position of CEO at Ceros, a design company using artificial intelligence. To take up this position, Lange Engel left Greycroft in December, where she had been a partner since 2019.
- After 15 years Vic Singh announced in X that he is leaving Eniac Ventures on May 1. Singh helped launch the company in 2009 and plans to start his own recent company.
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 1st 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 technologies 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 shakeups. 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.