From Ethan Choi to Spencer Peterson, Venture Capitalists Engage in a Continuous Shuffle of Positions

The venture capital community was taken aback when Keith Rabois announced his departure from Founders Fund to rejoin Khosla Ventures in January, a move surprising to many given Rabois’ stature in the sector.

This move was particularly unexpected as venture capitalists, especially those at the partner or general partner level like Rabois, tend to remain with the same firm for long periods, making such transitions within the industry unusual.

The reason being, venture capital firms operate with 10-year investment horizons, and partners often have significant personal and financial reasons to stay the duration. For example, they might be a pivotal “key man” in a fund, whose departure could allow investors (LPs) to withdraw their capital. Additionally, many partners have their own funds invested, further incentivizing them to stay put.

Despite the rarity of high-profile shifts in the venture capital sphere, recent months have witnessed a series of notable movements. This year has seen investors making returns to previous firms, embarking on new ventures, or temporarily stepping away from the investment scene.

Here are the names that have caught our attention so far:

July

• Anne Lee Skates revealed on July 11 her departure from Andreessen Horowitz, where she served on the consumer team as a partner since 2019, to pursue her “life’s work” with more details on her future endeavors forthcoming. During her tenure at Andreessen, she supported a portfolio including Whatnot, Kindred, and Prisms among others.

June

• On June 17, Spencer Peterson shared his transition from Bedrock, after five years as a partner, to a general partner role at Coatue. Peterson has contributed to the growth of companies such as OpenAI and Rippling.
• Amanda “Robby” Robson announced her exit from Cowboy Ventures in a LinkedIn post early June. After joining Cowboy Ventures in October 2019 and previously being with Norwest Venture Partners for three years, Robson is setting out to launch her own fund.

May

• Serena Ventures founding partner Alison Stillman announced on May 14 her withdrawal from the firm after nearly six years, where she partnered with tennis icon Serena Williams, without disclosing her forthcoming plans.
• Terri Burns unveiled on May 13 her new venture firm, Type Capital, after leaving GV in 2022 where she made history as the first Black woman partner. Her new venture will concentrate on pre-seed and seed-stage investments.
• TechCrunch disclosed that Fika Ventures co-founder Eva Ho was departing the firm as it concludes its current fund investments, citing personal reasons for the move, confirmed by the firm on May 9.
• On May 9, Alison Lange Engel revealed her new role as CEO at Ceros, an AI-powered design company, after departing from Greycroft where she had been a partner since 2019.
• Vic Singh announced his departure from Eniac Ventures on May 1, a firm he co-founded in 2009, with plans to start a new venture of his own.

April

• On April 30, Ethan Kurzweil announced his exit from Bessemer Venture Partners after a 16-year tenure to establish an early-stage investment firm alongside Kristina Shen, a former Andreessen Horowitz partner, and Mark Goldberg, previously of Index Ventures, as reported by Axios.
• On April 1, Christina Farr shared her decision to depart OMERS Ventures where she has been the principal investor and lead of the health tech practice since December 2020. Farr will now focus on her health tech newsletter, a book on the influence of storytelling in business, and advising health tech startups.

March

• Ethan Choi announced his move from Accel, where he was a partner for six years, to Khosla Ventures in March, aiming to focus on growth-stage investments and has supported companies including Klaviyo, Pismo, and 1Password.
• In a scenario not involving starting anew or seeking different pastures, Social Capital disclosed the firing of partners Jay Zaveri and Ravi Tanuku on March 13, with Bloomberg attributing the dismissal to issues surrounding fundraising efforts for AI startup Groq.
• In a return to familiar ground, Miles Grimshaw announced on March 5 his move back to Thrive Capital as a general partner after a three-year stint at Benchmark Capital. Initially joining Thrive in 2013, Grimshaw has backed startups like Airtable, Lattice, and Monzo.
• Sam Blond reached the conclusion that transitioning to VC wasn’t his path and announced his exit from Founders Fund, where he had been a partner for 18 months, choosing to return to the operational side of business with past roles at Brex, Zenefits, and EchoSign.

January

• After a 12-year term with Andreessen Horowitz, Connie Chan announced her departure on January 23. Chan, who has been a general partner for the last five years, has backed startups such as Cider, KoBold, and Whatnot.

TechCrunch continues to track the evolving landscape of venture capital movement and will keep this article updated with the latest developments. For tips or information, reach out to me at: rebecca.szkutak@techcrunch.com.

Originally published on May 1, this article has been refreshed on May 13 and July 12 to report further venture moves.

This article has been revised to more accurately reflect Anne Lee Skates’ investments at Andreessen Horowitz.