It has been ten years since I joined Mayfield. The decade-long journey has been marked by many significant milestones:
Raising $1.5 billion in new capital through six funds – (4 U.S. and 2 dedicated India funds);
Partnering with over 100 entrepreneurs in the U.S., India, and China;
Watching almost 30 of our companies become industry leaders and succeed financially – through an IPO or acquisition (Marketo, Solarcity, Qunar, Elastica, 3PAR, to name a few);
And most importantly, expanding our team with great people.
I’m excited to share our latest milestone today – the addition of our newest partner, Rishi Garg, to the Mayfield Team. Rishi is a former senior corporate and business development executive from Twitter and Square. He is our sixth investing partner, and will work to further our mission to champion entrepreneurs who want to change the way people live, work, and play.
Since our founding in 1969, Mayfield has been a proud partner to bold entrepreneurs, starting with Nolan Bushnell of Atari as he pioneered the video gaming industry in the 70s, through our current collaboration with Logan and John of Lyft, as they disrupt transportation. Some of our other recent areas of consumer investments and partnerships include:
Creating the first solar utility provider (Lyndon and Peter of SolarCity);
Establishing next generation adtech platforms (Frank of Rubicon Project and Jonah of Moat);
Creating India’s largest matrimonial marketplace (J. Muruga of Matrimony.com);
Delivering China’s leading travel search engine (CC Zhang of Qunar);
Delivering delightful mobile experiences (Akshay and Ankit of Pulse/LinkedIn);
Building the first mobile and social fashion marketplace (Manish of Poshmark);
Scaling community commerce platforms (Steve of Massdrop);
Building the first dedicated small business professional network (Eric and Venkat of Alignable);
Democratizing fintech (Avi and Dan of Stockpile);
Pioneering digital health devices and communities (Jef of Basis/Intel and Ron of HealthTap);
Delivering drone platforms (Chris of 3D Robotics).
Mayfield is a nimble, close knit team in which every person makes a significant impact toward the Firm’s success. When we consider adding a new partner, something we only do every three years or so, we looked for 3 attributes – fit with Mayfield values and culture, an entrepreneurial DNA, and the hunger to help the entrepreneur achieve his/her dreams.
In Rishi, we found all three and more:
He brings a fierce commitment to the entrepreneur, both as a former entrepreneur himself, an angel investor, and through his interactions with the many entrepreneurs he joined forces with at Twitter, Square, and MTV Networks;
He brings a product-first approach to company strategy, which enables him to guide companies to amplify their impact through the best strategic, distribution, or product partner;
He is driven and passionate in investment areas such as social media and new media platforms, disruptive financial services and technology businesses, and new marketplaces;
His leadership at iconic Internet brands such as Twitter and Square has given him access to a rich network of next-generation entrepreneurs, which complements ours, and to whom we hope to bring our signature approach of collaborative company building;
And last, but not least, Rishi brings a global thinking mindset which is an integral trait of the Mayfield team.
It is a time of great optimism for the technology industry. Innovation is thriving in Silicon Valley and all around the world. With Rishi joining our team of passionate and dedicated investors, we are excited by the opportunity to partner with great entrepreneurs to help build lasting companies.
