What is a venture capitalist and how do they work?
Investors who provide venture capital to startups and small businesses with growth potential provide capital to those companies for long-term growth. Typically, venture capitalists are professionals who manage a pool of funds that they use to invest in promising companies.
When looking for companies to invest in, venture capitalists typically look for those with innovative products or services, strong management teams, and a clear plan for how they will use the funding to generate returns for their investors. Investors may invest in a wide range of industries, such as technology, healthcare, and consumer products.
There are hundreds of venture capital firms around the world that support startups, but these are the most active ones-
| S NO | Profiles | Networth | Current firm | Investments | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marc Andreessan | $1.5 billion | Andreessen Horowitz | Airbnb, Twitter, Meta, and Pinterest | Menlo Park |
| 2 | John Doerr | $7.2 billion | Kleiner Perkins | Google, Amazon, Sun Microsystems, Netscape | Menlo Park |
| 3 | Peter Theil | $6.7 billion | PayPal | Facebook, Stripe, SpaceX, Yelp and LinkedIn | San Francisco |
| 4 | Ron Conway | $1.5 billion | SV Angel | Google, Ask, Jeeves, Paypal, Airbnb, GitHub | San Francisco |
| 5 | Jen – Hsun Huang | $3.6 billion | NVIDIA | Nvidia | Los Altos |
| 6 | Bill Gurley | 1.5 billion | Benchmark | GrubHub, Glassdoor, Uber, Good Eggs & PagerDuty | San Francisco |
| 7 | Mark Zukerberg | $95.4 billion | Meta | Meta, Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus | Palo Alto |
| 8 | Shervin Pishevar | $200 million | Sherpa Capital | Airbnb, Uber, Munchery, and Tumblr | San Francisco |
| 9 | Marc Benioff | $7.6 billion | Salesforce | Saleforce, Slack and Eventbite | San Francisco |
| 10 | Aydin Senkut | $78 billion | Felicis Ventures | Cloudera, Instacart, Nauto and NerdWallet | San Francisco |
| 11 | Ann Winblad | $15million | Hummer Winblad Venture | C2F0, Castlight Health, eBay and Qualtrics | California |
| 12 | Bill Maris | $20 million | Section 32 | Section32, Grail, ZocDoc and Google venture | San Diego |
| 13 | Alan Patricof | $150 milliion | Apax Partners | Brightcove, Dropbox, Hootsuit, Square & Buzzfeed | New York |
| 14 | Sameer Gandhi | $13.6 million | Accel | Dropbox, Dropcam, Flipkart, Jet, Freshworks | Palo Alto |
| 15 | Chris Fralic | $7 million | First Round Capital | Roblox, Warby Parker, and Double Verify | New York |
1. Marc Andreessen
Marc Andreessen is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist and co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, Silicon Valley based venture capital firm. Andreessen is also the co-founder of Netscape, the first widely successful web browser, and played a key role in the development of the Mosaic web browser, the first widely used graphical web browser. In addition to his work in venture capital and technology, Andreessen is also a co-founder of the software company Loudcloud and serves on the board of directors of several companies. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
2. John Doerr
John Doerr is a venture capitalist and partner at Kleiner Perkins, a venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley. He has been with the firm since 1980 and has been involved in investments in a number of successful technology companies, including Google, Amazon, and Twitter. Doerr is also known for his work on corporate governance and social responsibility, and has been recognized for his contributions to the technology industry and entrepreneurship.
3. Peter Thiel
Peter Thiel is a co-founder of the founders fund and co-founder of PayPal, a venture capital firm focused on investing in technology & manufacturing companies. He is also the co-founder of PayPal, a leading online payment company that was acquired by eBay in 2002. Thiel is known for his unconventional business strategies and his support of entrepreneurialism. He has also made headlines for his political views, including his support for Donald Trump and his belief in the potential of technologies such as artificial intelligence and biotechnology. Among the notable figures in the tech industry, Peter Thiel has made significant investments in several successful companies.
4. Ron Conway (Ronald Crawford Conway)
Ron Conway is the founding partner of Angel inventors LP funds (SV Angel), a venture capital firm based in San Francisco. He is known for his investments in early-stage tech companies such as Google, Airbnb, and Dropbox. Conway is considered one of the most influential figures in the tech industry, and has played a key role in the success of many of the companies he has invested in. He is also known for his philanthropic efforts and support of various causes, including education and mental health.
5. Jen-Hsun Huang
Jen-Hsun Huang is the co-founder and CEO of NVIDIA, a technology company specializing in graphics processing units (GPUs) and artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Huang has played a key role in the growth and success of NVIDIA, which has become a leading player in the tech industry. He is known for his vision and leadership in the development and adoption of innovative technologies such as AI and virtual reality. In addition to supporting education and the arts, Huang is also known for his philanthropic activities.
6. Bill Gurley
Bill Gurley is a general partner at Benchmark, a venture capital firm. He is known for his investments in high-growth tech companies such as Uber, Zillow, and GrubHub. Gurley is considered one of the most influential figures in the tech industry and is known for his keen insights and expertise in the field. He is also known for his philanthropic efforts, including his support of education and the arts.
7. Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg is the CEO and Co-founder of Meta, the world’s largest social media platform. He is known for his vision and leadership in building the company from a small startup into a global giant, with over 2 billion users worldwide. Zuckerberg is also known for his philanthropic efforts, including his support of education and internet access for underserved communities. Despite his success, Zuckerberg has also faced criticism and controversy over issues such as data privacy and the spread of misinformation on the platform.
8. Shervin Pishevar
Shervin Pishevar is the co-founder and executive chairman of Sherpa Capital, a venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley. He is known for his investments in high-growth tech companies such as Uber, Airbnb, and Jawbone. Pishevar is considered a leading figure in the tech industry and is known for his expertise in identifying and investing in disruptive technologies. He is also known for his philanthropic efforts, including his support of education and the arts.
9. Marc Benioff
Marc Benioff is the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Salesforce, one of the world’s leading software companies. He is known for his vision and leadership in building the company from a small startup into a global giant, with over 150,000 customers worldwide. He also supports education and social justice causes through his philanthropic efforts. He is a vocal advocate for corporate responsibility and has been recognized for his efforts in promoting diversity and inclusion in the tech industry.
10. Aydin Senkut
Aydin Senkut is the founder and managing partner of Felicis ventures. He is known for his investments in high-growth tech companies such as Google, Nest, and Fitbit. Senkut is considered a leading figure in the tech industry and is known for his expertise in identifying and investing in innovative technologies. He is also known for his philanthropic efforts, including his support of education and the arts.
11. Ann Winblad
Ann Winblad is a founding partner of Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, first venture firm focused entirely on software, per the company’s websitey. She is known for her investments in high-growth tech companies such as Omniture, Taleo, and OpenTable. Winblad is considered a leading figure in the tech industry and is known for her expertise in identifying and investing in innovative technologies. In addition to her philanthropic efforts, she also supports education and the arts.
12. Bill Maris
Bill Maris is the founder of Section32 and former CEO of Google Ventures, which is part of Google. He is known for his investments in high-growth tech companies such as Uber, Nest, and 23andMe. Maris is considered a leading figure in the tech industry and is known for his expertise in identifying and investing in innovative technologies. He is also known for his philanthropic efforts, including his support of education and the arts.
13. Alan Patricof
Alan Patricof is the founder and managing director of Greycroft, a venture capital firm based in New York City. He is known for his investments in high-growth tech companies such as Huffington Post, MakerBot, and Buddy Media. Patricof is considered a leading figure in the tech industry and is known for his expertise in identifying and investing in innovative technologies. He is also known for his philanthropic efforts, including his support of education and the arts.
14. Sameer Gandhi
Sameer Gandhi is a partner at Accel, a venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley. Gandhi has been with Sequoia since 2005 and focuses on investments in the consumer and enterprise software sectors. He has played a key role in the company’s investments in companies such as Square, Instacart, and PagerDuty. Prior to joining Sequoia, Gandhi worked at eBay and McKinsey & Company. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and electrical engineering from MIT and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
15. Chris Fralic
Chris Fralic joined First Round Capital in 2006. Chris was most recently VP of Business Development at del.icio.us, which was acquired by Yahoo in December 2005, focusing on distribution partnerships to integrate del.icio.us across a broad set of browsers, tools and publishing partners. Prior to joining First Round, Fralic worked at eBay and Google. He is also a co-founder of the Techstars New York accelerator program. Fralic holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
