“After 25 years as a venture capitalist, one truism stands out: success hinges on the extraordinary people who make it happen—our team, our investors, and especially our entrepreneurs.”
defy is the realization of a dream to challenge norms and fund the future by partnering with exceptional entrepreneurs. Our goal is always to be a founder’s first call, confidante, and partner in the trenches.
Our values are rooted in transparency, hard work, authenticity, honesty, creativity, humility, and a genuine desire to make the world a better place through innovation. We want to help entrepreneurs build their teams, drive revenue and customer connections and secure successful future fundraises. We intentionally look different with diverse experiences, relationships, and backgrounds and act differently by incorporating a lens focused on improving both, our community and the world. We know these intentional differences will yield superior financial returns for our amazing LPs, creating a virtuous cycle that furthers the missions of renowned universities, hospital groups, and non-profit organizations.
defy’s strength is built on the experiences and relationships we have cultivated over time. My quarter century of experience created a deep history connecting and aligning much of our team, all of our Sages, most of our LPs and many of our CEOs. Before founding defy, I spent 12 years as a Managing Director at General Catalyst Partners, joining in 2004 shortly after the firm’s founding. I am grateful to GC for teaching me the business of venture capital, how to build a team, and the importance of working with people who feel like family. Before GC, I honed critical skills and built valuable connections at Accenture, Goldman Sachs, CMGI, AOL Ventures, and TimeWarner Investments. I learned the value of hard work and hustle in the early 1990s from my first boss, Paul Tollet, the founder of Goldenvoice and Coachella. Over the years, I have served on more than 80 boards, overseen over 30 exits—including IPOs and significant M&A—and had the privilege of backing some of the world’s most remarkable entrepreneurs, many of whom have become close friends.
My passion for community and education is deeply rooted in my immigrant upbringing. My parents arrived in the U.S. with just a few dollars in their pockets. My father, who worked on the Benicia docks at night and went to school during the day, ultimately became a senior engineer at IBM for 33 years. My mother worked at BART in Oakland during the day and earned her JD at night, becoming a lawyer for the U.S. government for 25 years. They truly lived the American Dream and continue to inspire me daily. I am proud to have attended public school through my undergraduate degree in Business Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and fortunate to have received my MBA from the Harvard Business School. My appreciation for public education motivated me to run for the Woodside School District School Board, becoming a trustee during a challenging period in November of 2020.
The most important part of my life is my family. I met my wife, Julie, at HBS, and she shares my commitment to community service, serving as a current Trustee of Saint Francis High School and a past President of the Woodside School Foundation. I joined the growth board at St. Francis in 2022. This year, Julie and I were honored as co-citizens of the year for the Town of Woodside for our service to the community. We have three wonderful children—Max, Siena, and Sofia—who are all in high school and growing up too fast. I am a true Bay Area native, having grown up in Oakland and San Jose, and I am an enthusiastic supporter of the 49ers, Warriors, and A’s. Beyond the Bay Area, I have lived in Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C.
defy is my life’s passion and I have a myriad of incredible founders, friends, colleagues, and family to thank for its success. We strive to defy the norms, empower entrepreneurs, drive innovation, build communities, generate outsized returns for our investors, and make the world a better place. We hope you’ll join us on this mission.
