This year has seen significant movement among venture capitalists, with notable figures like Keith Rabois and Matt Miller changing firms or establishing their own ventures. Such transitions are atypical in this sector, where VCs, particularly those at the partner or general partner level, generally maintain long-term commitments to their firms.
Typically, VC funds operate on a 10-year life cycle, which encourages partners to remain committed throughout this period. A “key man” clause in some funds allows limited partners (LPs) to withdraw their investments if key personnel leave. Additionally, many partners have personal investments in their funds, providing further motivation to stay.
While major shifts within the venture capital landscape are rare, the year 2024 has prompted several prominent investors to reevaluate their positions. This includes returning to previous roles, initiating independent ventures, or temporarily stepping away from the investment arena. Additionally, significant appointments have been made.
Below are the key movements that have been reported:
Highlights
December
- Michelle Volz is departing her position as an investment partner at Andreessen Horowitz. She announced her exit on December 21, after over two years of enhancing the firm’s American Dynamism vertical. Before joining a16z, Volz held operational roles in various defence technology startups, including Palantir.
- Veteran Sequoia partner Matt Miller revealed on December 18 that he is leaving the firm to establish his own venture focused on European founders. Miller has supported notable companies since joining Sequoia in 2012, including DBT Labs, Confluent, and Grafana.
- After a decade at Lux Capital, Bilal Zuberi announced on December 11 that he is leaving. As a general partner, he backed numerous companies, such as Desktop Metal, Tendo Health, and Evolv Technology. Zuberi’s future plans involve collaborating with early-stage founders.
- On December 3, Alex Taussig shared his decision to transition from his role as partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, where he had been since 2016 and played a key role in the firm’s consumer practice. Taussig aims to concentrate on his board responsibilities.
- Nicole Quinn also announced on December 3 her move into a board partner position at Lightspeed Venture Partners. Previously a co-lead in Lightspeed’s consumer practice, Quinn has been with the firm since 2015 and was a general partner.
November
- Sriram Krishnan stated on November 27 that he would leave Andreessen Horowitz after serving as a general partner for four years. Krishnan focused on AI and cryptocurrency investments and is set to join the Trump administration as a senior policy adviser for artificial intelligence.
- On November 5, Brian Roberts was welcomed as a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, where he will contribute to the firm’s American Dynamism and AI Apps funds. Roberts previously served as CFO for notable companies, including Splunk, OpenSea, and Lyft.
- On the same day, Andreessen Horowitz announced that Andy McCall will join the firm as a general partner, engaging with the American Dynamism and AI Apps funds. McCall’s previous experience includes various roles at cloud company Samsara.
October
- Paris Heymann transitioned from his role as partner at Index Ventures to assume the position of co-managing partner at J.P. Morgan within the asset manager’s venture and growth equity practice. This move was officially announced on October 15. Heymann played a key role in launching Index’s New York office in 2022 and previously partnered with Arena Holdings.
- On October 9, Julian Eison announced his decision to step down from his position as managing partner at Next Ventūres via LinkedIn. Eison indicated he is taking time to evaluate his next steps after backing firms such as Pair Team, Juno Medical, and Vital Biosciences.
- Following four years at Khosla Ventures, Sandhya Venkatachalam has launched Axiom Partners, aiming to secure $50 million for its debut fund to support AI and machine learning startups. Her departure was confirmed on October 8.
September
- James da Costa announced on September 17 his new role as a partner at Andreessen Horowitz.
- focused on B2B software and financial services. This marks da Costa’s initial venture into investing; he was a co-founder of Fingo, a neobank based in Africa.
- On September 11, Jacob Westphal announced that he was departing from Andreessen Horowitz. Westphal served as a partner at a16z for three and a half years. He has taken up the role of portfolio lead at Will Ventures.
August
- Freestyle VC announced on August 15 that Maria Palma has joined the firm as a general partner in San Francisco. Palma was previously a general partner at Kindred Capital in London. She has supported companies like Moov, Novo, and Lottie.
July
- After almost seven years, Alex Cook is preparing to leave Tiger Global, according to sources close to the matter. During his tenure at Tiger Global, Cook oversaw investments in TradingView, Scalapay, and TrueLayer, among others. Before joining Tiger Global, Cook had been with Apollo.
- Bessemer Venture Partners announced on July 22 the appointment of Lauri Moore as a partner. Moore previously served as a partner at Foundation Capital for two years and worked at LinkedIn before that. She will concentrate on early-stage investments in sectors like data, AI, and developer tools.
- On July 17, DCVC announced that Milo Werner has joined as a general partner to spearhead the firm’s climate investment initiatives. The firm is currently in the process of raising its inaugural dedicated climate fund. Prior to this role, Werner was a general partner at Engine Ventures for two and a half years and a partner at Ajax Strategies.
- Anne Lee Skates announced on July 11 her departure from Andreessen Horowitz, where she had been a partner on the consumer team since 2019. She revealed her intent to pursue her “life’s work” and promised to share her future plans soon. At Andreessen, she invested in companies like Whatnot, Kindred, and Prisms.
June
- On June 17, Spencer Peterson announced his exit from Bedrock, where he had been a partner for five years, to become a general partner at Coatue. Peterson is an investor in notable companies such as OpenAI and Rippling, among others.
- Amanda “Robby” Robson shared her announcement about leaving Cowboy Ventures in early June. Robson had been part of Cowboy Ventures since October 2019 and previously spent three years at Norwest Venture Partners. She plans to establish her own fund.
May
- On May 14, founding partner Alison Stillman of Serena Ventures announced her departure from the firm after nearly six years of collaboration with tennis star Serena Williams. Stillman has not disclosed her next move.
- Terri Burns announced on May 13 her plan to launch a new venture firm named Type Capital. Burns was the first Black woman partner at GV and exited the firm in 2022. Her new fund will focus on pre-seed and seed-stage startups.
- StartupSuperb reported last week that Fika Ventures co-founder Eva Ho is set to leave the firm after completing the deployment of its current fund for personal reasons. This move was confirmed by the firm in a blog post on May 9.
- On May 9, Alison Lange Engel announced her new role as CEO at Ceros, an AI-driven design firm. Lange Engel departed from Greycroft in December, where she had served as a partner since 2019.
- After 15 years, Vic Singh announced on X on May 1 that he was stepping down from Eniac Ventures. Singh was instrumental in launching the firm in 2009 and plans to start a new firm of his own.
April
- On April 30, Ethan Kurzweil announced his departure from Bessemer Venture Partners after 16 years. Kurzweil plans to establish an early-stage-focused investment firm. This information was revealed in reporting from Axios. He will launch the firm alongside Kristina Shen, who left Andreessen Horowitz on March 29, and Mark Goldberg, who departed Index Ventures last fall.
- On April 1, Christina Farr disclosed her exit from OMERS Ventures, where she was a principal investor and led the health tech practice since December 2020. Farr mentioned her plans to create a health tech newsletter, write a book on storytelling’s impact on businesses, and consult health tech founders.
March
- After six years as a partner at Accel, Ethan
Choi has declared his decision to depart from the firm to join Khosla Ventures in March. At his new role, Choi will concentrate on growth-stage investments and has previously supported companies like Klaviyo, Pismo, and 1Password. - While there has been a trend of recent VC movements driven by individuals aiming to venture into new projects or seize different opportunities, this is not the case for everyone. On March 13, Chamath Palihapitiya’s Social Capital announced the dismissal of partners Jay Zaveri and Ravi Tanuku. This action, according to Bloomberg, was linked to issues related to fundraising for the AI startup Groq.
- Rabois was not the only one aiming to reconnect with a former workplace amid this recent trend of investor changes. On March 5, Miles Grimshaw revealed that he would be rejoining Thrive Capital as a general partner, following a three-year tenure at Benchmark Capital. Grimshaw initially began his career at Thrive Capital in 2013 and has invested in notable firms including Airtable, Lattice, and Monzo.
- Although the shift from operator to VC is a prevalent path within the startup world, it may not suit everyone. On March 4, Sam Blond announced his decision to leave Founders Fund after approximately 18 months as a partner, expressing his intention to return to operational roles, having previously worked at companies such as Brex, Zenefits, and EchoSign.
January
- After serving for 12 years at Andreessen Horowitz, Connie Chan announced her departure from the firm on January 23. Over the last five years, Chan has been a general partner and has invested in firms such as Cider, KoBold, and Whatnot.
- Notable venture capitalist Keith Rabois also shared on January 9 that he was leaving Founders Fund to return to Khosla Ventures. Rabois spent almost five years at Founders Fund before resuming his role as a managing director at Khosla.
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