From Lauri Moore to Vic Singh, enterprise capitalists proceed to play musical chairs

From Keith Rabois to Matt Miller, loads of VCs have switched companies or spun out of storied VC establishments this 12 months. These employment adjustments are stunning as a result of in contrast to in lots of different fields, enterprise capitalists don’t historically transfer round very a lot — particularly those that attain the accomplice or normal accomplice stage.

VC funds have 10-year life cycles, and companions have good cause to remain that course. In some situations, there could also be a “key man” on a agency’s fund, which means that in the event that they go away, the fund’s LPs have the precise to drag their capital out in the event that they select. Many companions and GPs even have a few of their very own cash invested of their companies’ funds, which supplies them additional cause to stay round.

So, whereas big-name investor strikes in enterprise capital aren’t frequent, they appear to have turn into so in 2024. Thus far this 12 months, there have been notable situations of traders returning to previous companies, putting out on their very own, or taking a pause from investing completely. There have additionally been some key hires to notice.

Right here’s who we all know of thus far:

December

• Michelle Volz is leaving her position as an funding accomplice at Andreessen Horowitz. Volz, who introduced her departure on December 21, joined greater than two years in the past, the place she constructed up the agency’s American Dynamism vertical. Previous to a16z, Volz was an operator at quite a few protection tech startups, together with Palantir.
• Longtime Sequoia accomplice Matt Miller introduced on December 18 that he was leaving the agency to start out his personal agency centered on European founders. Miller joined Sequoia in 2012 and has backed corporations, together with DBT Labs, Confluent, and Grafana, amongst others.
• After greater than a decade at Lux Capital, Bilal Zuberi introduced on December 11 that he’d be leaving the agency. Zuberi was a normal accomplice at Lux and backed corporations together with DesktopMetal, Tendo Well being, and Evolv Expertise, amongst many others. Zuberi’s subsequent transfer shall be “partnering” with early-stage founders.
• On December 3, Alex Taussig introduced he’d be transitioning out of his position as accomplice at Lightspeed Enterprise Companions, the place he was a accomplice since 2016 and served as one of many co-leads of the agency’s shopper apply. Taussig plans to focus his efforts on his board positions.
• Nicole Quinn additionally introduced on December 3 that she shall be transitioning right into a board accomplice position at Lightspeed Enterprise Companions. Quinn was additionally a co-lead of Lightspeed’s shopper apply. Quinn joined the agency in 2015 and was most just lately a normal accomplice.

November

• Sriram Krishnan introduced on November 27 that he could be departing Andreessen Horowitz after 4 years as a normal accomplice. Krishnan, who was centered on AI and crypto investments at a16z, shall be becoming a member of the incoming Trump administration as a senior coverage adviser for synthetic intelligence.

• On November 5, Andreessen Horowitz introduced that Brian Roberts is becoming a member of the agency as a normal accomplice and can work throughout the agency’s American Dynamism and AI Apps funds. Roberts beforehand labored as a CFO at quite a few notable corporations, together with Splunk, OpenSea, and Lyft.
• Andreessen Horowitz additionally introduced on November 5 that Andy McCall is becoming a member of the agency as a normal accomplice to work throughout the agency’s American Dynamism and AI Apps funds. McCall most just lately held quite a few roles at cloud firm Samsara.

October

• Paris Heymann left his position as a accomplice at Index Ventures to hitch J.P. Morgan as a co-managing accomplice inside the asset supervisor’s enterprise and development fairness apply. The transfer was introduced on October 15. Heymann helped Index launch its New York workplace in 2022 and was a accomplice at Enviornment Holdings earlier than that.
• On October 9, Julian Eison introduced on LinkedIn that he was stepping away from his position as managing accomplice at Subsequent Ventūres. Eison stated in his publish that he’s taking a while to determine what’s subsequent. He’s backed corporations resembling Pair Group, Juno Medical, and Very important Biosciences.
• After 4 years as a accomplice at Khosla Ventures, Sandhya Venkatachalam has spun out of the agency and launched Axiom Companions, a brand new VC agency that’s concentrating on $50 million for its debut fund to again AI and machine studying startups. The information of Venkatachalam’s departure was confirmed on October 8.

September

• James da Costa introduced on September 17 that he was becoming a member of Andreessen Horowitz as a accomplice centered on B2B software program and monetary companies. This marks da Costa’s first foray into enterprise investing; he was beforehand the co-founder of Fingo, an African neobank.
• On September 11, Jacob Westphal introduced that he was leaving Andreessen Horowitz. Westphal was a accomplice at a16z for 3 and a half years. He left to turn into the portfolio lead at Will Ventures.

August

• Freestyle VC introduced on August 15 that Maria Palma had joined the agency as a normal accomplice primarily based in San Francisco. Palma was most just lately a normal accomplice at Kindred Capital, primarily based in London. Palma has backed corporations resembling Moov, Novo, and Lottie.

July

• After almost seven years, Alex Prepare dinner is on the brink of go away Tiger International, sources accustomed to the matter inform TechCrunch. Whereas at Tiger International, Prepare dinner led offers together with TradingView, Scalapay and TrueLayer, amongst others. Previous to Tiger International, Prepare dinner labored at Apollo. 
• Bessemer Enterprise Companions introduced it added Lauri Moore as a accomplice on July 22. Moore was beforehand a accomplice at Basis Capital for 2 years and an operator at LinkedIn earlier than that. Moore shall be centered on early-stage investments in sectors together with knowledge, AI and developer instruments. 
• On July 17, DCVC introduced it had introduced on Milo Werner as a normal accomplice to guide the agency’s local weather investing apply. The agency is presently elevating its first devoted local weather fund. Werner was most just lately a normal accomplice at Engine Ventures for 2 and a half years. Werner was a accomplice at Ajax Methods previous to that.
• Anne Lee Skates introduced on July 11 that she had left Andreessen Horowitz the place she had been a accomplice on the buyer group since 2019. She added that she’s off to do her “life’s work” and can publish extra about her future plans quickly. At Andreessen, she backed corporations together with Whatnot, Kindred and Prisms, amongst others.

June

• On June 17, Spencer Peterson introduced that he’d left Bedrock, the place he served as accomplice for 5 years, to turn into a normal accomplice at Coatue. Peterson is an investor in corporations together with OpenAI and Rippling, amongst others.
• Amanda “Robby” Robson introduced her departure from Cowboy Ventures in a LinkedIn publish in early June. Robson had been at Cowboy Ventures since October 2019 and at Norwest Enterprise Companions for 3 years previous to that. Robson plans to launch a fund of her personal.

Could

• Serena Ventures founding accomplice Alison Stillman introduced she’d stepped again from the agency on Could 14 after an almost six-year run working with tennis star Serena Williams. Stillman didn’t announce her subsequent step.
• Terri Burns introduced on Could 13 that she was launching a brand new enterprise agency known as Sort Capital. Burns was beforehand the primary Black lady accomplice at GV and left the agency again in 2022. Her new fund will concentrate on pre-seed and seed-stage startups.
• Final week TechCrunch scooped that Fika Ventures co-founder Eva Ho was going to transition out of the agency after Fika completed deploying its present fund. Ho is stepping again for private causes. The transfer was confirmed by the agency in a weblog publish on Could 9.
• On Could 9, Alison Lange Engel introduced she was taking over the position of CEO at Ceros, an AI-powered design firm. Lange Engel left Greycroft in December, the place she had been a accomplice since 2019, to take the position.
• After 15 years, Vic Singh introduced on X that he was stepping down from Eniac Ventures on Could 1. Singh helped launch the agency in 2009 and is planning to launch a brand new agency of his personal.

April

• On April 30, Ethan Kurzweil introduced he was leaving his position as accomplice at Bessemer Enterprise Companions after 16 years. Kurzweil shall be launching an early-stage-focused funding agency, in accordance with reporting from Axios. Kurzweil will launch the agency with Kristina Shen, who left Andreessen Horowitz after 4 years on March 29, and Mark Goldberg, who left Index Ventures after eight years final fall.
• On April 1, Christina Farr introduced that she’d be leaving OMERS Ventures, the place she has served as a principal investor and the lead of the agency’s well being tech apply since December 2020. Farr introduced on X that she’d be engaged on her well being tech publication, writing a ebook centered on the ability that storytelling can have on companies, and consulting well being tech founders.

March

• After six years as a accomplice at Accel, Ethan Choi introduced that he’d be leaving the agency to move to Khosla Ventures in March. Choi shall be centered on growth-stage investing at his new agency and has backed such corporations as Klaviyo, Pismo and 1Password.
• Whereas lots of the current VC strikes have been by people seeking to begin one thing new, or tackle a unique alternative, not all of them have been. On March 13, Chamath Palihapitiya’s Social Capital introduced that it fired companions Jay Zaveri and Ravi Tanuku. Bloomberg reported that this was because of a matter involving elevating cash for AI startup Groq.
• Rabois was not the one individual seeking to boomerang again to an previous hang-out on this current rise of investor reshuffling. On March 5, Miles Grimshaw introduced that he’d be returning to Thrive Capital as a normal accomplice after serving the identical place at Benchmark Capital for 3 years. Grimshaw initially began at Thrive Capital in 2013 and has backed such corporations as Airtable, Lattice, and Monzo, amongst others.
• Whereas transitioning from operator to VC is a standard profession development within the startup ecosystem, it isn’t for everyone. On March 4, Sam Blond introduced he had come to that conclusion and could be leaving Founders Fund, the place he had been a accomplice for about 18 months. Blond stated he would return to working and has held roles at corporations resembling Brex, Zenefits and EchoSign.

January

• After 12 years at Andreessen Horowitz, Connie Chan introduced she was leaving the agency on January 23. Chan had served as one of many agency’s normal companions the final 5 years and has backed corporations resembling Cider, KoBold and Whatnot.
• Famed enterprise investor Keith Rabois introduced on January 9 that he was leaving Founders Fund to return to Khosla Ventures. Rabois had been a normal accomplice at Founders Fund for almost 5 years; he returned to Khosla as a managing director, his prior position.

TechCrunch is monitoring the current enterprise strikes and can proceed to replace this text as they occur. If in case you have any suggestions or callouts to carry to our consideration, contact me right here: rebecca.szkutak@techcrunch.com.

This publish was initially printed on Could 1. It has since been up to date on Could 13, July 12, August 15, September 23, November 18, and December 23, 2024 to incorporate extra strikes inside enterprise.

This publish has been up to date to raised mirror Anne Lee Skates’ investments at Andreessen Horowitz.