Why Venture Capital?
My passion for entrepreneurs started in high school when I was working in a community bank in St. Paul, MN. It continued in college and as a graduate student when I co-founded a micro-enterprise incubator in East Palo Alto. In founding Costanoa, I wanted to build a firm that was deeply personal and pragmatic in its approach with founders. We aspire to combine the best of the old and new—the craft of early stage investing while developing new ways for companies to achieve efficient growth.
Experience
Prior to founding Costanoa, I was a Managing Director at Sutter Hill, where I invested in early stage enterprise software startups, such as Merced Systems, AllBusiness, Youku, Quinstreet, and Feedburner. I was the first product manager at Netscape Communications where I wrote the initial business plan, coined the name Netscape, and built the SuiteSpot Business unit from $0-$140M. I also served as a business development manager at Cisco where I architected a channel management plan.
Education
- B.A., Harvard College Magna Cum Laude
- MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Outside of Work
I’m an avid cyclist and a passionate supporter of youth and collegiate sports. I served a term as the President of the Stanford DAPER (Athletics Department) Investment Fund and remain on the executive committee. I’m also the former Trustee of the Stanford Business School Trust and former Chair of its Venture Capital Committee. I’m a proud father of four and known around Palo Alto as Sarah Sands’ husband.