Investing
Backed a generation of Seattle startups at day one.
Co-founder of Founders' Co-op and Managing Director of Techstars Seattle for a decade — seed investor in four unicorns, and a founder with three earlier exits of my own.
- 90+startups backed through Founders' Co-op
- $25Mlargest fund, raised by 2019
- 4unicorns seeded
- 10years leading Techstars Seattle
The vehicles
Where the checks came from.
Founders' Co-opCo-founded 2008 with Chris DeVore & Rudy Gadre. One of Seattle's first seed funds — grew to a $25M fund backing 90+ startups. founderscoop.com →
Techstars SeattleManaging Director for ~a decade. The 2011 class was the highest-performing in Techstars history. techstars.com →
Seeded at day one
Companies that started as seed checks and Techstars pitches and went on to become unicorns.
RemitlyCross-border payments for immigrant families. Now public. remitly.com →
OutreachSales-engagement platform — a category-defining Seattle SaaS company. outreach.io →
Auth0Identity for developers. Acquired by Okta for $6.5B. auth0.com →
Earlier exits as a founder
Before the fund years, I built and sold three internet companies.
Firefly NetworkInternet-personalization pioneer. Acquired by Microsoft. acquirer: microsoft.com →
AbuzzEnterprise knowledge management — Red Herring's #1 internet-software company. Acquired by The New York Times Digital, 1999. acquirer: nytimes.com →
KeftaReal-time customer interaction. Acquired by Acxiom, 2007. acquirer: acxiom.com →
Lighter CapitalPioneered RevenueLoan — revenue-based financing that lends against revenue instead of taking equity. lightercapital.com →
From 2015 to 2021 I advised Satya Nadella and Microsoft on product innovation and digital transformation, and today I'm Managing Partner of Keen Capital, a fund of blockchain-native venture funds.