Theresia Gouw

Theresia Gouw is an entrepreneur and venture capital investor in the technology sector. She worked at Bain & Company, Release Software and Accel Partners before co-founding Aspect Ventures, a female-led venture capital firm, in 2014.[1] Gouw was named one of the 40 most influential minds in tech by Time Magazine.[2] and has been recognized seven times on the Forbes Midas List as one of the "world's smartest tech investors".[3][4][5][6] According to Forbes, Gouw is the richest female venture capitalist, with a net worth of approximately $500 million, primarily due to her involvement with Accel (company)'s early investment in Facebook.[7][8]

Theresia Gouw
Headshot of Theresia Gouw
NationalityAmerican
Alma materBrown University, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Occupation(s)Co-founder and Managing Partner, Acrew Capital
Websiteacrewcapital.com

Early years and education

Gouw's family fled Indonesia when she was three to escape the persecution of the country’s ethnic Chinese minority under the Suharto dictatorship. A dentist and a nurse in Jakarta, her parents settled outside Buffalo, New York, working as a dishwasher and a waitress before her father re-earned his dental certification in the United States.[9]

Gouw earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Brown University, graduating magna cum laude,[10] and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.[11]

Career
Gouw speaking during 2019 TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco

Early Career

Gouw began her career at Bain & Company. She left Bain to become a founding member of Release Software, a startup founded by business school classmates,[1] where she served as Vice President of Business Development & Sales.

After Release Software, Gouw joined Accel Partners, eventually becoming Managing Partner. Her investments included Trulia (TRLA), Imperva (IMPV), LearnVest, JasperDesign, and Kozmix.[12]

Aspect Ventures

In 2014, Gouw co-founded Aspect Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm, with fellow venture capital investor Jennifer Fonstad.[13] Gouw and Fonstad worked together early in their careers at Bain & Company and at Release Software.[1]

During the first year, Aspect Ventures made several Series A and seed investments funded by the co-founders' personal capital. Aspect secured $150 million for its debut fund,[14] which included outside capital from Limited Partners,[15] and followed it with a second fund of $181 million in early 2018.[16][17] It had 116 rounds of investments in 67 companies and had 13 exists.[18]

The firm made investments in companies including ForeScout (FSCT),[19] Cato Networks,[20] Exabeam,[21] The Muse,[22] Crew,[23] Silverfort, Eden Health, Pie Insurance, and PredictHQ.[18]

The founders decided to split in 2019 over clashing management styles.[16] Both founders ve started new venture capital firms. Fonstad started a new firm called Owl Capital[16] and Gouw along with some other Aspect Venture staff started aCrew Capital.[24][25]

2019 - present

In 2019, Gouw co-founded Acrew Capital with Lauren Kolodny, Vishal Lugani, Asad Khaliq and Mark Kraynak.[26] Acrew's first fund was a ~$250MM fund. They've since announced a new initiative called Acrew Diversify Capital Fund (DCF) to diversify the boards and cap tables of market leading, late stage companies.[27]

Board member and advisor

Gouw sits on the board of directors of several of the companies she has invested in, including Deserve, Cato Networks, ForeScout Technologies (FSCT), Exabeam and The Muse. She serves as Treasurer on the Brown University Corporation Board.[10] She serves as vice-chair of the board of DonorsChoose,[28] and is a member of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisory Council.[29] She also serves on the board of trustees of the Castilleja School.[30]

Honors
  • Forbes Midas List (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018)[31][32][33][34]
  • Award winner as outstanding leader in tech by World Affairs Global Philanthropy Forum (2016)[35]
  • 10x Award Honoree by Women 2.0 (2015)[36]
  • Named one of "50 most powerful moms in the world" by Harper's Bazaar (2015)[37]
  • Named one of the "Time Tech 40: The Most Influential Minds in Tech" by Time Magazine (2013)[2]
  • Named one of the "Ten Most Influential Women in Technology" by Time Magazine (2012)[38]
  • 2019 Great Immigrants Recipient by Carnegie Corp.[39]

Notable speaker & commentator

Speaking
  • TEDx SF (2016)[40]
  • Web Summit, Lisbon (2016)[41]
  • The Wall Street Journal Global Startups Showcase (2016)[42]
  • WSJDLIVE (2015)[43]
  • Forbes Power Women Summit (2014)[44]
  • Fortune The Most Powerful Women Summit (2013)[45]

Commentary

Gouw has provided commentary on a range of topics related to venture capital, technology and finance on CNBC,[46][47][48] Bloomberg West,[49][50] Fox Business,[51] Forbes,[52] Fortune,[53] and the Wall Street Journal.[54][55]

References
  1. "Bridging The Funding Gap: An Interview With The Women Behind Aspect Ventures". Forbes.
  2. "TIME Tech 40: The Most Influential Minds in Tech". Time. Time, Inc.
  3. "The Midas List 2011". Forbes.
  4. "Midas List 2012". Forbes.
  5. "The Midas List 2014". Forbes.
  6. "The Midas List 2017". Forbes.
  7. Au-Yeung, Angel. "How Theresia Gouw Became America's Richest Female Venture Capitalist". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  8. "Theresia Gouw". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  9. "2019 Great Immigrants Recipient".
  10. "Theresia Gouw". Brown University. Brown University.
  11. "Stanford GSB Alumni Association: Theresia Gouw". Stanford Graduate School of Business. Standord GSB.
  12. "Theresia Gouw Bio". Aspect Ventures. Aspect Ventures.
  13. "Accel's Theresia Gouw And DFJ's Jennifer Fonstad Partner To Launch Mobile-Focused VC Firm Aspect Ventures". TechCrunch. AOL, Inc.
  14. Boorstin, Julia (2015-05-14). "Aspect Ventures, a woman-led VC, raises $150 million fund". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  15. "VCs Jennifer Fonstad, Theresia Gouw raise $150M for Aspect Ventures' first fund". Silicon Valley Business Journal. American City Business Journals.
  16. Konrad, Alex (January 23, 2018). "Aspect Ventures Raises $181 Million Second Fund From Investors Including Melinda Gates".
  17. Loizos, Connie (2019-09-17). "Aspect Ventures, founded by Theresia Gouw and Jennifer Fonstad, is splitting up". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  18. "Aspect Ventures — 116 Investments, 13 Exits, 67 Portfolio companies". Unicorn Nest. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  19. "ForeScout Raises Funding at a $1 Billion Valuation". Aspect Ventures. Aspect Ventures.
  20. "Cato Networks Secures $20 Million in Series A Round From U.S. Venture Partners and Aspect Ventures". GlobeNewswire. GlobelNewswire, Inc.
  21. "Exabeam Raises $10 Million For Network-Tracking Security Software". TechCrunch. AOL, Inc.
  22. "Millennial Career Site The Muse Raises More Cash". Fortune. Time, Inc.
  23. "Crew Messaging for Teams". Crew. Crew.
  24. "Cisco-Backed Acrew Capital Has $680 Million in New Venture Funds". Bloomberg.com. 2021-09-28. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  25. Loizos, Connie (2019-12-18). "Theresia Gouw's 'multigenerational' new firm, Acrew, just closed a $250 million debut fund". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  26. Team, The Acrew (2019-12-18). "How our crew became Acrew". Medium. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  27. Costa, Cameron (2021-02-04). "A new Silicon Valley idea to make the next Facebook or Google more diverse". CNBC. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  28. "Meet the Team: Theresia Gouw". DonorsChoose.org. DonorsChoose.org.
  29. "Stanford GSB Advisory Council". Stanford Graduate School of Business. Stanford GSB.
  30. "Castilleja School Board of Trustees". Castilleja School. Castilleja School.
  31. "The Midas List 2011". Forbes.
  32. "Midas List 2012". Forbes.
  33. "Midas List 2013" (PDF). True Bridge Capital. Forbes Media.
  34. "The Midas List 2014". Forbes.
  35. "Awards Dinner 2016: Leading By Example". World Affairs. World Affairs Council of Northern California.
  36. "Tech Leaders Honored at Women 2.0 Awards". Women 2.0. Women 2.0.
  37. "These Are the Most Powerful Moms in the World". Harpers Bazaar. Hearst Communications, Inc.
  38. "The Ten Most Influential Women in Technology". Time. Time, Inc.
  39. "2019 Great Immigrants Recipient".
  40. "How entrepreneurs can help the American dream gets its mojo back". YouTube.
  41. "Web Summit Lisbon 2016". Web Summit. Web Summit.
  42. "WSJ Global Startups Showcase Winner: Mindful Scientific". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
  43. "WSJ.DLive". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
  44. "Investing In Change: How To Stay Sustainable In A Growing Global Market". Forbes.
  45. "The Most Powerful Women Summit". Fortune. Time, Inc.
  46. "Will tech shake the selloff?". CNBC. CNBC.
  47. "Facebook's MAUs top estimates". CNBC. CNBC.
  48. "Signs of a bubble?". CNBC. CNBC.
  49. "The Female-Run VC Funds Shaking Up the Status Quo". Bloomberg West. Bloomberg LP.
  50. "Accel's Ranzetta Discusses Joyus Startup, Social Media". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2018-11-17.
  51. "Why Are Women Underrepresented in Tech?". Fox Business. Fox News Network, LLC.
  52. "How To Break Through: The Funding Secrets Between You And A Successful Series A". Forbes.
  53. "Rx for Silicon Valley success: VC advice". Fortune. Time, Inc.
  54. "Theresia Gouw: Cybersecurity Goes from Geek to Chic". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
  55. "Theresia Gouw: No More 'Pipeline' Excuses". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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