From Lori Moore to Vik Singh, venture capitalists continue to play musical chairs

From Keith Rabois to Matt Miller, plenty of venture capitalists have changed companies or parted ways with popular venture capital institutions this year. These changes in hiring are surprising because unlike many other fields, venture capitalists traditionally don’t move around much — especially those who reach the partner or general partner level.

Venture capital funds have a 10-year life cycle, and partners have good reason to stay on that path. In some cases, there may be a “key man” in the corporate fund, meaning that if they leave, the limited partners in the fund have the right to withdraw their capital if they so choose. Many partners and GPs also have some of their own money invested in their firm’s funds, giving them an additional reason to stay.

So, while moves by big-name venture capital investors are not common, they appear to be becoming so in 2024. So far this year, there have been notable instances of investors returning to legacy companies, going on their own, or having their investments acquired. Pause from investing completely. There were also some key appointments to note.

Here’s who we know so far:

December

• Michelle Volz She is leaving her role as investment partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Falls, who Announce Departing on December 21, she joined more than two years ago, building the company’s dynamic American leadership. Prior to joining a16z, Volz was an operator at several defense technology startups, including Palantir.
• Longtime Sequoia partner Matt Miller Announce On December 18, he was leaving the company to start his own company focused on European founders. Miller joined Sequoia in 2012 and has backed companies including DBT Labs, Confluent, Grafana, and others.
• After more than a decade at Lux Capital, Bilal Al-Zubairi Announce On December 11 he would leave the company. Zuberi was a general partner at Lux and the companies it supports, including Desktop Metal, Tendo Health, and Evolv Technology, among many others. Zuberi’s next step will be to “partner” with early-stage founders.
• On December 3, Alex Taussig Announce He will move from his role as partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, where he has been a partner since 2016 and served as one of the co-leaders of the firm’s consumer practice. Taussig plans to focus his efforts on his board positions.
• Nicole Quinn also Announce On December 3, she will move to the role of Board Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. Quinn was also co-leader of Lightspeed’s consumer practice. Quinn joined the firm in 2015 and was most recently a general partner.

November

• Sriram Krishnan Announce on November 27 announced that Andreessen Horowitz would be leaving after four years as general partner. Krishnan, who was focused on AI and cryptocurrency investments at a16z, will join the incoming Trump administration as a senior AI policy advisor.

• On November 5, Andreessen Horowitz Announce Which Brian Roberts He joins the firm as a general partner and will work across the firm’s American Dynamism and AI Apps funds. Roberts previously served as CFO at several prominent companies, including Splunk, OpenSea, and Lyft.
• Andreessen Horowitz too Announce On November 5 that Andy McCall He joins the firm as a general partner working across the firm’s American Dynamism and AI Apps funds. McCall most recently held several roles at cloud company Samsara.

October

• Paris Heyman He left his position as a partner at Index Ventures to join JP Morgan as co-managing partner of the venture asset manager and growth equity practice. This was the move Announced on October 15. Heyman helped Index launch its New York office in 2022 and was a partner at Arena Holdings before that.
• On October 9, Julian Eason Advertise on LinkedIn that he was stepping down from his role as managing partner at Next Ventūres. Eason said in his post that he’s taking some time to figure out what’s next. He has backed companies such as Pair Team, Juno Medical, and Vital Biosciences.
• After four years as a partner at Khosla Ventures, Sandhya Venkatachalam It spun off the company and launched Axiom Partners, a new venture capital firm targeting $50 million for its first fund to support AI and machine learning startups. News of Venkatachalam’s passing It has been confirmed On October 8th.

September

• James da Costa Announce On September 17, he was joining Andreessen Horowitz as a partner focused on B2B software and financial services. This represents Da Costa’s first foray into venture investing. He was previously one of the founders of Fingo, an African neobank.
• On September 11, Jacob Westphal Announce That he was leaving Andreessen Horowitz. Westphal has been a partner at a16z for three and a half years. He left to become portfolio leader at Will Ventures.

August

• Free VC Announce On August 15 that Maria Palma He joins the firm as a general partner and is based in San Francisco. Palma was most recently a general partner at Kindred Capital, based in London. Palma has backed companies such as Moov, Novo and Lottie.

July

• After nearly seven years, Alex Cook Sources are preparing to leave Tiger Global Familiar with this issue He told TechCrunch. While at Tiger Global, Cook led deals including TradingView, Scalapay, TrueLayer and others. Before joining Tiger Global, Cook worked at Apollo.
• Bessemer Project Partners Announce She added Lori Moore As a partner on July 22. Moore was previously a partner at Foundation Capital for two years and an operator at LinkedIn before that. Moore will focus on early-stage investments in sectors including data, artificial intelligence, and developer tools.
• On July 17, DCVC Announce I brought Milo Werner As General Partner to lead the firm’s climate investing practice. The company is currently raising its first provision Climate Fund. Werner was most recently a general partner at Engine Ventures for two and a half years. Werner was a partner at Ajax Strategies before this.
• It’s my skates Announce On July 11, Andreessen left Horowitz, where she had been a partner on the consumer team since 2019. She added that she was off to do her “life’s work” and would share more about her future plans soon. At Andreessen, she has supported companies including Whatnot, Kindred, Prisms and others.

June

• On June 17, Spencer Peterson Announce He left Bedrock, where he had been a partner for five years, to become a general partner at Coatue. Peterson is an investor in companies including OpenAI and Rippling, among others.
• Amanda “Ruby” Robson She announced her departure from Cowboy Ventures on Share LinkedIn In early June. Robson had been at Cowboy Ventures since October 2019 and at Norwest Venture Partners for three years before that. Robson plans to launch her own fund.

maybe

• Co-founder of Serena Ventures Alison Stillman Announce She returned from the company on May 14 after nearly six years working with tennis star Serena Williams. Stillman has not announced her next move.
• Terry Burns Announce On May 13 she was launching a new venture company called Type Capital. Burns was previously the first Black female partner at GV and left the firm in 2022 New box It will focus on pre-seed and seed stage startups.
• Last week TechCrunch scoop Fika Ventures is the co-founder Eva is She would move on from the company after Fika finished deploying its current fund. He is backing out for personal reasons. The move was confirmed by the company on Blog post On May 9th.
• On May 9, Allison Lange Engel Announce She was CEO of Ceros, an AI-powered design company. Lange Engel left Greycroft in December, where she had been a partner since 2019, to take on the role.
• After 15 years, Vik singh Announce On X he will step down from Eniac Ventures on May 1. Singh helped launch the company in 2009 and plans to launch a new company of his own.

April

• On April 30, Ethan Kurzweil Announce He is leaving his role as a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners after 16 years. Kurzweil will launch an investment firm focused on early stages, according to him Report from Axios. Kurzweil will launch the company with Christina Sheenwho left Andreessen Horowitz after four years on March 29, and Mark Goldberg, who left Index Ventures after eight years last fall.
• On April 1, Christina Farr Announce She is leaving OMERS Ventures, where she has served as a lead investor and leader of the firm’s health technology practice since December 2020. Farr announced on Health.

He walks

• After six years as a partner at Accel, Ethan Choi He announced he was leaving the company to head to Khosla Ventures in March. Choi will focus on investing in the growth phase of his new company and has backed companies such as Klaviyo, Pismo, and 1Password.
• While many recent venture capital moves have been by people looking to start something new, or seize a different opportunity, not all of them have been. On March 13, Chamath Palihapitiya’s Social Capital Announce They fired partners Jay Zaveri and Ravi Tanuku. Bloomberg reported This was due to a fundraising issue for AI startup Groq.
• Rabois isn’t the only one looking to get back to his old shoes in this latest rally to redistribute investors. On March 5, Miles Grimshaw Announce He will return to Thrive Capital as General Partner after serving the same position at Benchmark Capital for three years. Grimshaw originally started at Thrive Capital in 2013 and has backed companies like Airtable, Lattice, Monzo, and others.
• Although moving from operator to venture capitalist is a common career progression in the startup ecosystem, it’s not for everyone. On March 4, Sam is blonde Announce He has come to this conclusion and will leave Founders Fund, where he has been a partner for about 18 months. Blonde said he would return to work and take on roles at companies such as Brex, Zenefits and EchoSign.

January

• After 12 years at Andreessen Horowitz, Kuni-chan Announce She was leaving the company on January 23. Chan has served as one of the firm’s general partners for the past five years and has backed companies such as Cider, KoBold and Whatnot.
• Famous venture capitalist Keith Rabois Announce On January 9, he was leaving Founders Fund to return to Khosla Ventures. Rabois has been a general partner at Founders Fund for nearly five years. He returns to Khosla as managing director, his previous role.

TechCrunch is monitoring the project’s latest moves and will continue to update this article as they happen. If you have any tips or callouts to get our attention, contact me here: rebecca.szkutak@techcrunch.com.

This post was originally published on May 1. It has since been updated on May 13, July 12, August 15, September 23, November 18, and December 23, 2024, to include additional movements within the project.

This post has been updated to better reflect Anne Lee Skates’ investments in Andreessen Horowitz.