VC Spotlight: Benchmark
Benchmark is that rare firm that built its reputation not with slick taglines but with five partners who walked into 1995 and said: we share everything equally, profit, power, board seats. Bob Kagle, Bruce Dunlevie, Andy Rachleff, Kevin Harvey, and Val Vaden created a structure where hierarchy stopped at the door. No juniors, no chiefs. Just five voices arguing until the best idea won.
Fast forward. Today Peter Fenton, Eric Vishria, Chetan Puttagunta, Victor Lazarte, and Venture Partner Sarah Tavel carry the same torch. Every one of them a signature voice. Every one unfiltered at the table. That egalitarian model isn’t window dressing, it’s the engine behind decisions that built Benchmark into what it is.
Benchmark's thesis reads more like a founder’s playbook than a pitch deck. They move early, Series A, sometimes earlier. They don’t dabble, they embed. They focus on infrastructure, enterprise software, consumer marketplaces, open-source and AI platforms, fintech, SaaS, emerging tech. Their filter is relentless: Grit? Domain mastery? Peer respect? Gut feel plus data? That’s the founder lens.
When results matter, Benchmark doesn’t whisper. They scream. Think eBay’s $6.7M Series B in ’97, turned ~$5B at IPO. Uber’s $12M Series B in 2011, worth $9.4B by 2023. Twitter IPO’d at $11B with a 6.6% stake. Discord grew from seed to >$150M ARR. Exits from Asana, Elastic, New Relic, Snap Inc., Yelp. Fund I–VIII? North of 7.5× net.
That isn’t luck. That’s discipline. $425M fund sizes since 2013. Thirty companies per fund. Deep partner focus. Follow-on rates at 60–80%. That model fuels "Benchmark 1," their latest AI push, where early bets go deep fast.
The founders they back? Domain masters. Instinct-driven. Data-grounded. Coachable. And Benchmark? Not just check writers, they’re operators. Board strategists. Talent magnets. Peer connectors. Real partners in the build.
Benchmark's model works because equality breeds accountability. Compensation ties to performance, not AUM. Thirty years in, they haven’t blinked. They fund founders, sponsor SaaStr and Startup Grind, run Founder Days, mentor underrepresented founders, and publish lessons for all.
And if you're eyeing your next career move, these things matter. Uber, Asana, Discord, Snap, Chainalysis, they're hiring. These aren’t just names on a pitch deck. They’re chapters you could co-write. If you are a founder, an investor, or a candidate ready to join one of Silicon Valley's original equal-ownership models, Benchmark's doors are open. But they only open to the people ready to stand their ground, lead the market, and own their moment.
Uber – https://www.uber.com/us/en/careers/
Asana – https://asana.com/jobs
Discord – https://discord.com/careers
Snap – https://careers.snap.com
Chainalysis – https://www.chainalysis.com/careers/
Follow this firm. Study their founders. Track their plays.
Let’s connect and keep the momentum going across the tech ecosystem. Whether you’re a founder shaping the future, a leader driving change, a VC backing bold ideas, or an investor spotting the next big thing, together, we’re pushing boundaries. Proud to be building the future with you.
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