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  {"id":1,"name":"Neil Shen","firm":"Sequoia Capital China","midasYears":"2015–2023","midasPeakRank":1,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Ctrip (携程), Home Inn","exitType":"IPO","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Alibaba, ByteDance, Meituan, DJI, Pinduoduo","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.97,"notes":"Co-founded Ctrip (NASDAQ IPO 2003) and Home Inn hotel chain (NASDAQ IPO 2006) before joining Sequoia China.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Neil Shen","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Shen"},{"label":"Forbes Midas List profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/neil-shen/"},{"label":"Sequoia China bio","url":"https://www.sequoiacap.com/people/neil-shen/"}]},
  {"id":2,"name":"Peter Thiel","firm":"Founders Fund","midasYears":"2014–2022","midasPeakRank":2,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"PayPal, Palantir Technologies","exitType":"IPO / eBay acquisition","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Facebook (seed), LinkedIn, Airbnb, SpaceX, Palantir","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.99,"notes":"Co-founded PayPal (IPO 2002, acquired by eBay for $1.5B) and co-founded Palantir (NYSE IPO 2020, ~$15B market cap at IPO).","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Peter Thiel","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel"},{"label":"Founders Fund team page","url":"https://foundersfund.com/team/"},{"label":"PayPal S-1 SEC filing","url":"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1113233/000091205702000167/a2066216zs-1.txt"}]},
  {"id":3,"name":"Marc Andreessen","firm":"Andreessen Horowitz","midasYears":"2011–2023","midasPeakRank":3,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Netscape Communications, Andreessen Horowitz (fund)","exitType":"IPO / AOL acquisition","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Airbnb, Lyft, Coinbase, GitHub, Skype, Facebook","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.99,"notes":"Co-created NCSA Mosaic browser; co-founded Netscape (IPO 1995, acquired by AOL 1999 for $4.2B). Co-founded a16z in 2009.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Marc Andreessen","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Andreessen"},{"label":"a16z bio","url":"https://a16z.com/author/marc-andreessen/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/marc-andreessen/"}]},
  {"id":4,"name":"Ben Horowitz","firm":"Andreessen Horowitz","midasYears":"2011–2023","midasPeakRank":5,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Loudcloud / Opsware","exitType":"IPO + HP acquisition","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"GitHub, Okta, Lyft, PagerDuty, Tanium","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.99,"notes":"Co-founded Loudcloud (IPO 2001, renamed Opsware, sold to HP for $1.65B in 2007). Co-founded a16z in 2009.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Ben Horowitz","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Horowitz"},{"label":"a16z bio","url":"https://a16z.com/author/ben-horowitz/"},{"label":"Opsware HP acquisition press release","url":"https://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2007/070719a.html"}]},
  {"id":5,"name":"Vinod Khosla","firm":"Khosla Ventures","midasYears":"2003–2020","midasPeakRank":4,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Sun Microsystems, Daisy Systems","exitType":"IPO","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Square, Stripe, DoorDash, OpenAI, Impossible Foods","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.99,"notes":"Co-founded Sun Microsystems in 1982 (IPO 1986). Previously co-founded Daisy Systems. Was general partner at Kleiner Perkins before founding Khosla Ventures in 2004.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Vinod Khosla","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinod_Khosla"},{"label":"Khosla Ventures bio","url":"https://www.khoslaventures.com/team/vinod-khosla"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/vinod-khosla/"}]},
  {"id":6,"name":"Reid Hoffman","firm":"Greylock Partners","midasYears":"2010–2022","midasPeakRank":8,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"LinkedIn, SocialNet","exitType":"IPO / Microsoft acquisition","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Facebook, Airbnb, Convoy, Aurora, Nauto","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.99,"notes":"Founded SocialNet in 1997 and co-founded LinkedIn in 2002 (IPO 2011, acquired by Microsoft for $26.2B in 2016). Joined Greylock as partner in 2009.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Reid Hoffman","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reid_Hoffman"},{"label":"Greylock bio","url":"https://greylock.com/greymatter/reid-hoffman/"},{"label":"LinkedIn Microsoft acquisition","url":"https://news.microsoft.com/2016/06/13/microsoft-to-acquire-linkedin/"}]},
  {"id":7,"name":"Josh Kopelman","firm":"First Round Capital","midasYears":"2010–2022","midasPeakRank":12,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Half.com, Infonautics","exitType":"eBay acquisition","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Uber, Square, Warby Parker, Flatiron Health, Roblox","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.98,"notes":"Founded Infonautics in 1992 and Half.com in 1999, which was acquired by eBay for ~$350M in 2000. Founded First Round Capital in 2004.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Josh Kopelman","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Kopelman"},{"label":"First Round Capital bio","url":"https://firstround.com/team/#josh-kopelman"},{"label":"Half.com Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half.com"}]},
  {"id":8,"name":"Brad Feld","firm":"Foundry Group","midasYears":"2011–2018","midasPeakRank":22,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Feld Technologies","exitType":"Acquisition (AMC)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Fitbit, MakerBot, Gnip, Zynga, SendGrid","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.95,"notes":"Founded Feld Technologies in 1987, sold to AmeriData in 1993. Co-founded Foundry Group in 2007 and cofounded Techstars.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Brad Feld","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Feld"},{"label":"Foundry Group bio","url":"https://foundrygroup.com/team/brad-feld/"},{"label":"Brad Feld blog","url":"https://feld.com/about"}]},
  {"id":9,"name":"Scott Weiss","firm":"Andreessen Horowitz","midasYears":"2013–2018","midasPeakRank":18,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"IronPort Systems","exitType":"Cisco acquisition ($830M)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Clinkle, Jawbone, PagerDuty, Accompany","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.97,"notes":"Co-founded IronPort Systems (email security), sold to Cisco for $830M in 2007. Joined a16z in 2012.","sources":[{"label":"a16z bio – Scott Weiss","url":"https://a16z.com/author/scott-weiss/"},{"label":"IronPort Cisco acquisition – Cisco press release","url":"https://newsroom.cisco.com/press-release-content?type=webcontent&articleId=649103"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/scott-weiss/"}]},
  {"id":10,"name":"Eric Paley","firm":"Founder Collective","midasYears":"2015–2020","midasPeakRank":48,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Brontes Technologies","exitType":"3M acquisition (~$95M)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Uber, Trade Desk, Buzzfeed, Codeacademy, Airtable","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.95,"notes":"Co-founded Brontes Technologies (3D dental scanning), sold to 3M for ~$95M in 2006. Co-founded Founder Collective in 2009.","sources":[{"label":"Founder Collective bio","url":"https://foundercollective.com/team"},{"label":"Brontes Technologies Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brontes_Technologies"},{"label":"Forbes Midas List","url":"https://www.forbes.com/midas/"}]},
  {"id":11,"name":"Mike Maples Jr.","firm":"Floodgate","midasYears":"2011–2021","midasPeakRank":14,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Motive Communications","exitType":"IPO (NASDAQ)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Twitter, Twitch, Lyft, Okta, Chegg, ngmoco","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.90,"notes":"Co-founded Motive Communications (NASDAQ IPO 2001). Also founded Tivit. Co-founded Floodgate in 2006.","sources":[{"label":"Floodgate bio","url":"https://floodgate.com/team/mike-maples-jr/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/mike-maples-jr/"},{"label":"Wikipedia – Motive Communications","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motive_Communications"}]},
  {"id":12,"name":"James Currier","firm":"NFX","midasYears":"2016–2022","midasPeakRank":35,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Tickle (fmr. TheSpark), iBroadcast","exitType":"Monster acquisition (~$100M+)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Lyft, DoorDash, Trulia, Opencare, Guardant Health","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.90,"notes":"Founded TheSpark.com (later Tickle), sold to Monster Worldwide. Also founded iBroadcast. Co-founded NFX (formerly Quattro/NFX Guild).","sources":[{"label":"NFX bio","url":"https://www.nfx.com/team/james-currier"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/james-currier/"},{"label":"Tickle Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tickle_(testing_site)"}]},
  {"id":13,"name":"Keith Rabois","firm":"Founders Fund / Khosla Ventures","midasYears":"2015–2022","midasPeakRank":20,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Opendoor Technologies","exitType":"SPAC / NASDAQ IPO (~$4.8B)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"YouTube, LinkedIn, Yelp, Square, Palantir, DoorDash","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.92,"notes":"Executive at PayPal, LinkedIn, Square; co-founded Opendoor (NASDAQ: OPEN, debuted at ~$4.8B). Was partner at Khosla Ventures then Founders Fund.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Keith Rabois","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Rabois"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/keith-rabois/"},{"label":"Opendoor SPAC merger","url":"https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001801170&type=S-1&dateb=&owner=include&count=10"}]},
  {"id":14,"name":"Max Levchin","firm":"Various (HVF Labs, angel)","midasYears":"2013–2018","midasPeakRank":25,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"PayPal, Slide, Affirm, Glow","exitType":"Multiple (IPO, Google acquisition, IPO)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Yelp, Evernote, Kaggle, Lending Club","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.99,"notes":"Co-founded PayPal (acquired by eBay $1.5B); founded Slide (acquired by Google ~$182M); co-founded Affirm (NASDAQ IPO 2021).","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Max Levchin","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Levchin"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/max-levchin/"},{"label":"Affirm S-1","url":"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1820201/000182020120000006/0001820201-20-000006-index.htm"}]},
  {"id":15,"name":"Mark Suster","firm":"Upfront Ventures","midasYears":"2014–2019","midasPeakRank":42,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"BuildOnline, Kana Communications (exec/co-founder)","exitType":"Acquisition (Sword Group)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Maker Studios, GumGum, Ring (early), DataSift, Factual","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.85,"notes":"Founded BuildOnline (sold to Sword Group) and was involved in founding/leading Kana Communications. Joined GRP Partners (now Upfront) after two successful startup exits.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Mark Suster","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Suster"},{"label":"Upfront Ventures bio","url":"https://upfront.com/team/mark-suster/"},{"label":"Both Sides of the Table blog","url":"https://bothsidesofthetable.com/about"}]},
  {"id":16,"name":"Chris Dixon","firm":"Andreessen Horowitz","midasYears":"2014–2023","midasPeakRank":11,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"SiteAdvisor, Hunch","exitType":"McAfee acquisition, eBay acquisition","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Coinbase, Oculus, Lyft, Kickstarter, Stripe","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.97,"notes":"Co-founded SiteAdvisor (acquired by McAfee 2006) and Hunch (acquired by eBay 2011 for ~$80M). Joined a16z in 2012; leads crypto fund.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Chris Dixon","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Dixon"},{"label":"a16z bio","url":"https://a16z.com/author/chris-dixon/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/chris-dixon/"}]},
  {"id":17,"name":"Ev Williams","firm":"Obvious Ventures","midasYears":"N/A (angel/VC)","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Blogger, Odeo/Twitter, Medium","exitType":"Google acquisition (Blogger); Twitter IPO; Medium active","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Medium, Figma, Airtable, Impossible Foods","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.99,"notes":"Founded Blogger (acquired by Google 2003); co-founded Odeo which pivoted to Twitter (NYSE IPO 2013, $24B market cap at IPO); founded Medium; co-founded Obvious Ventures.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Ev Williams","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ev_Williams"},{"label":"Obvious Ventures bio","url":"https://obvious.com/team/"},{"label":"Twitter IPO S-1","url":"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/000119312513390321/0001193125-13-390321-index.htm"}]},
  {"id":18,"name":"Paul Graham","firm":"Y Combinator","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Viaweb, Y Combinator","exitType":"Yahoo acquisition ($49M)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe, Reddit, Twitch (via YC)","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.99,"notes":"Co-founded Viaweb (e-commerce platform), acquired by Yahoo for ~$49M in 1998. Co-founded Y Combinator in 2005.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Paul Graham","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Graham_(programmer)"},{"label":"Y Combinator about page","url":"https://www.ycombinator.com/about"},{"label":"Viaweb Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viaweb"}]},
  {"id":19,"name":"Garry Tan","firm":"Y Combinator","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Posterous","exitType":"Twitter acquisition","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Coinbase, Instacart, Brex, Deel (via YC / Initialized)","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.97,"notes":"Co-founded Posterous (blogging platform, acquired by Twitter in 2012). Was partner at Y Combinator, then co-founded Initialized Capital, then became YC president in 2023.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Garry Tan","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Tan"},{"label":"Y Combinator president announcement","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2022/12/01/garry-tan-will-take-over-as-y-combinators-president-and-ceo/"},{"label":"Posterous Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posterous"}]},
  {"id":20,"name":"Dick Costolo","firm":"Benchmark","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"FeedBurner, 01.org","exitType":"Google acquisition ($100M est.)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Coda, Masterclass, Strava, Cazoo","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.95,"notes":"Co-founded FeedBurner (RSS analytics, acquired by Google ~$100M in 2007). Later was CEO of Twitter. Became Benchmark partner in 2015.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Dick Costolo","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Costolo"},{"label":"Benchmark team page","url":"https://www.benchmark.com/team/"},{"label":"FeedBurner Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FeedBurner"}]},
  {"id":21,"name":"Josh Kushner","firm":"Thrive Capital","midasYears":"2015–2023","midasPeakRank":19,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Oscar Health","exitType":"NYSE IPO ($7.7B at IPO)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Instagram, Spotify, Stripe, GitHub, Nubank, OpenAI","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.96,"notes":"Co-founded Oscar Health (NYSE: OSCR, IPO 2021 at $7.7B valuation). Founded Thrive Capital in 2009, which made early bets on Instagram (sold to Facebook for $1B) and Spotify.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Josh Kushner","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Kushner"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/josh-kushner/"},{"label":"Oscar Health S-1","url":"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1568651/000119312521032024/0001193125-21-032024-index.htm"}]},
  {"id":22,"name":"Manu Kumar","firm":"K9 Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Sieve Networks","exitType":"Acquisition (Cisco)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Lyft, Twilio, Carta, Pagerduty, Gusto","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.85,"notes":"Founded Sieve Networks (acquired by Cisco). Stanford PhD in CS. Founded K9 Ventures as a micro-VC.","sources":[{"label":"K9 Ventures bio","url":"https://www.k9ventures.com/team/"},{"label":"Manu Kumar LinkedIn (public)","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/manukkumar"},{"label":"TechCrunch profile","url":"https://techcrunch.com/author/manu-kumar/"}]},
  {"id":23,"name":"Jason Calacanis","firm":"LAUNCH Fund","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Weblogs Inc., Inside.com, ThisWeekIn","exitType":"AOL acquisition ($25M–$30M)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Uber, Tumblr, Calm, Robinhood, Thumbtack","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.92,"notes":"Founded Silicon Alley Reporter, co-founded Weblogs Inc. (acquired by AOL in 2005 for ~$25–30M). Angel investor in Uber (Series A). Founded LAUNCH accelerator and fund.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Jason Calacanis","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Calacanis"},{"label":"LAUNCH bio","url":"https://www.launch.co/about"},{"label":"Weblogs Inc Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weblogs_Inc."}]},
  {"id":24,"name":"David Ulevitch","firm":"Andreessen Horowitz","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"OpenDNS","exitType":"Cisco acquisition ($635M)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Webflow, Discord, Figma, PagerDuty, Verkada","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.97,"notes":"Founded OpenDNS (Internet security/DNS), acquired by Cisco in 2015 for $635M. Joined a16z as general partner in 2016.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – OpenDNS","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDNS"},{"label":"a16z bio","url":"https://a16z.com/author/david-ulevitch/"},{"label":"Cisco OpenDNS acquisition","url":"https://newsroom.cisco.com/press-release-content?type=webcontent&articleId=1642051"}]},
  {"id":25,"name":"Sam Altman","firm":"Y Combinator (former president)","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Loopt, OpenAI","exitType":"Green Dot acquisition ($43.4M); OpenAI active","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Airbnb, Stripe, Reddit, Asana, Pinterest (via YC)","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.95,"notes":"Co-founded Loopt (location-sharing, acquired by Green Dot for $43.4M in 2012). Became YC president 2014–2019. Co-founded OpenAI.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Sam Altman","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Altman"},{"label":"Loopt Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loopt"},{"label":"Y Combinator about","url":"https://www.ycombinator.com/about"}]},
  {"id":26,"name":"Masayoshi Son","firm":"SoftBank Vision Fund","midasYears":"N/A (runs Vision Fund)","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"SoftBank","exitType":"Tokyo Stock Exchange IPO","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Alibaba, WeWork, Uber, ARM, ByteDance, DoorDash","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.99,"notes":"Founded SoftBank in 1981 (TSE: 9984). Made one of the most famous venture bets ever: $20M into Alibaba in 2000 (grew to ~$60B+). Runs the $100B+ SoftBank Vision Fund.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Masayoshi Son","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masayoshi_Son"},{"label":"SoftBank corporate profile","url":"https://www.softbank.jp/en/corp/about/profile/leadership/son/"},{"label":"Forbes profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/masayoshi-son/"}]},
  {"id":27,"name":"Naval Ravikant","firm":"AngelList Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Epinions, Vast.com, AngelList","exitType":"Shopping.com (via eBay) acquisition; AngelList active","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Twitter, Uber, Yammer, Stack Overflow, Postmates","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.93,"notes":"Co-founded Epinions (merged into Shopping.com, acquired by eBay). Co-founded AngelList (active, significant scale). Prolific angel investor.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Naval Ravikant","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Ravikant"},{"label":"AngelList about","url":"https://angel.co/about"},{"label":"Epinions Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epinions"}]},
  {"id":28,"name":"Yossi Vardi","firm":"Various (Israeli VC)","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Mirabilis (ICQ)","exitType":"AOL acquisition ($407M)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"120+ Israeli startups including Waze, Fiverr, Outbrain","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.96,"notes":"Co-founded Mirabilis, creators of ICQ (first mass-market instant messenger), acquired by AOL in 1998 for $407M. One of Israel's most prolific venture investors.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Yossi Vardi","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yossi_Vardi"},{"label":"ICQ Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICQ"},{"label":"Forbes profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/yossi-vardi/"}]},
  {"id":29,"name":"Ann Winblad","firm":"Hummer Winblad Venture Partners","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Open Systems Inc.","exitType":"Acquisition ($15M)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Zookeper, Borland, Actuate, Wind River Systems","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.90,"notes":"Co-founded Open Systems Inc. (accounting software) in 1976, sold for $15M in 1983. Co-founded Hummer Winblad Venture Partners in 1989, one of the first software-focused VC firms.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Ann Winblad","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Winblad"},{"label":"Hummer Winblad website","url":"https://www.humwin.com/team/"},{"label":"Forbes profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/ann-winblad/"}]},
  {"id":30,"name":"Eric Vishria","firm":"Benchmark","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Rockmelt","exitType":"Yahoo acquisition","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Confluent, Amplitude, Brex, Doppler","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.85,"notes":"Co-founded Rockmelt (social browser), acquired by Yahoo in 2013. Joined Benchmark as partner in 2015.","sources":[{"label":"Benchmark team page","url":"https://www.benchmark.com/team/"},{"label":"Rockmelt Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockmelt"},{"label":"TechCrunch – Rockmelt Yahoo","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2013/08/02/yahoo-acquires-rockmelt/"}]},

  {"id":31,"name":"Elad Gil","firm":"Various (angel / Color Genomics)","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Mixer Labs, Color Genomics","exitType":"Twitter acquisition; Color active","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Airbnb, Stripe, Coinbase, Instacart, Airtable","category":"founder_unclear","confidence":0.80,"notes":"Founded Mixer Labs (Twitter acqui-hire 2009; scale unclear). Co-founded Color Genomics (active). Primarily known as prolific angel investor. Outcome of Mixer Labs modest.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Elad Gil","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elad_Gil"},{"label":"Color Genomics website","url":"https://www.color.com/about"},{"label":"Mixer Labs Twitter acquisition","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2009/12/02/twitter-acquires-mixer-labs-to-make-tweet-location-a-reality/"}]},
  {"id":32,"name":"Cyan Banister","firm":"Founders Fund","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Zivity (co-founder), Auctiva","exitType":"Modest / unclear","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"SpaceX, Uber, Postmates, DeepMind (early)","category":"founder_unclear","confidence":0.70,"notes":"Co-founded Zivity (adult content platform, modest outcome) and Auctiva. Primarily recognized as an angel investor with exceptional early bets. Founding experience real but exits modest.","sources":[{"label":"Forbes profile – Cyan Banister","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/cyan-banister/"},{"label":"Founders Fund team","url":"https://foundersfund.com/team/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/cyantist"}]},
  {"id":33,"name":"Mitch Lasky","firm":"Benchmark","midasYears":"2012–2019","midasPeakRank":30,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"JAMDAT Mobile (CEO, unclear founding role)","exitType":"EA acquisition ($680M)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Snapchat, Discord, League of Legends (Riot Games), Zinga","category":"founder_unclear","confidence":0.60,"notes":"Was CEO of JAMDAT Mobile (mobile games, sold to EA for $680M). Unclear if he was a founder or hired executive. Previously EVP at EA. Public sources do not confirm founding role.","sources":[{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/mitch-lasky/"},{"label":"Benchmark team","url":"https://www.benchmark.com/team/"},{"label":"JAMDAT Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAMDAT"}]},
  {"id":34,"name":"Albert Wenger","firm":"Union Square Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Reported involvement in early-stage ventures","exitType":"Unclear","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Twitter, Tumblr, Etsy, Coinbase, MongoDB","category":"founder_unclear","confidence":0.60,"notes":"Has a computer science background and managed/invested in early ventures. Public sources do not clearly confirm him as a founding entrepreneur of a significant operating company.","sources":[{"label":"USV bio","url":"https://www.usv.com/people/albert-wenger/"},{"label":"Continuations blog","url":"https://continuations.com/about"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/albertwenger"}]},
  {"id":35,"name":"Aydin Senkut","firm":"Felicis Ventures","midasYears":"2016–2021","midasPeakRank":38,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Felicis (fund), former Google employee","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Shopify, Credit Karma, Fitbit, Rovio, Adyen","category":"founder_unclear","confidence":0.65,"notes":"Was a senior executive at Google (employee ~#200). Founded Felicis Ventures (fund), not an operating company. Strong operator background; founder status of operating company unclear.","sources":[{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/aydin-senkut/"},{"label":"Felicis Ventures team","url":"https://www.felicis.com/team"},{"label":"TechCrunch profile","url":"https://techcrunch.com/tag/aydin-senkut/"}]},

  {"id":36,"name":"John Doerr","firm":"Kleiner Perkins","midasYears":"2001–2020","midasPeakRank":1,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None (operating company)","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Google, Amazon, Netscape, Sun Microsystems, Twitter, Intuit","category":"operator","confidence":0.98,"notes":"Was engineer and salesperson at Intel (1974–1980) before joining Kleiner Perkins in 1980. Never founded an operating company. One of the most successful VCs in history.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – John Doerr","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Doerr"},{"label":"Kleiner Perkins bio","url":"https://www.kleinerperkins.com/people/john-doerr/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/john-doerr/"}]},
  {"id":37,"name":"Doug Leone","firm":"Sequoia Capital","midasYears":"2009–2022","midasPeakRank":6,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Google, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, ServiceNow, Palo Alto Networks","category":"operator","confidence":0.97,"notes":"Worked in sales/engineering at HP, Sun Microsystems before joining Sequoia in 1988. Never founded a company. Managed Sequoia for decades.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Doug Leone","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Leone"},{"label":"Sequoia Capital bio","url":"https://www.sequoiacap.com/people/doug-leone/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/doug-leone/"}]},
  {"id":38,"name":"Roelof Botha","firm":"Sequoia Capital","midasYears":"2008–2023","midasPeakRank":4,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, Square, Unity, MongoDB","category":"operator","confidence":0.98,"notes":"Was CFO of PayPal (not a co-founder); joined Sequoia in 2003. Stanford MBA. One of Sequoia's most decorated investors.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Roelof Botha","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roelof_Botha"},{"label":"Sequoia Capital bio","url":"https://www.sequoiacap.com/people/roelof-botha/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/roelof-botha/"}]},
  {"id":39,"name":"Jeff Jordan","firm":"Andreessen Horowitz","midasYears":"2013–2020","midasPeakRank":28,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Airbnb, Pinterest, Lyft, Instacart, OfferUp, Wonderschool","category":"operator","confidence":0.97,"notes":"Was SVP at eBay (ran PayPal division), President/CEO of OpenTable, executive at Disney. Joined a16z in 2011. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"a16z bio – Jeff Jordan","url":"https://a16z.com/author/jeff-jordan/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-jordan/"},{"label":"OpenDNS Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenTable"}]},
  {"id":40,"name":"Alfred Lin","firm":"Sequoia Capital","midasYears":"2012–2021","midasPeakRank":16,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"Venture Frogs (investment vehicle, not operating co.)","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Airbnb, DoorDash, Houzz, Snowflake, Thumbtack","category":"operator","confidence":0.88,"notes":"Was COO/CFO/Chairman of Zappos (not a founder). Co-founded Venture Frogs (investment vehicle with Tony Hsieh). Joined Sequoia in 2010.","sources":[{"label":"Sequoia Capital bio","url":"https://www.sequoiacap.com/people/alfred-lin/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/alfred-lin/"},{"label":"Zappos Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zappos"}]},
  {"id":41,"name":"Aileen Lee","firm":"Cowboy Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None (operating company)","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Dollar Shave Club, Rent the Runway, Cyngn, SpotHero","category":"operator","confidence":0.90,"notes":"Was at McKinsey, then Gap Inc., then Kleiner Perkins (partner for 10+ years) before founding Cowboy Ventures in 2012. Coined the term 'unicorn' in a 2013 TechCrunch article. No operating company founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Aileen Lee","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aileen_Lee"},{"label":"Cowboy Ventures bio","url":"https://cowboy.vc/team/"},{"label":"TechCrunch unicorn article","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2013/11/02/welcome-to-the-unicorn-club/"}]},
  {"id":42,"name":"Hunter Walk","firm":"Homebrew","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Plaid, Chime, Cruise Automation, Bowery Farming, Shyp","category":"operator","confidence":0.95,"notes":"Was Director of Product Management at YouTube/Google (2007–2013). Co-founded Homebrew (seed VC fund) in 2013, not an operating company.","sources":[{"label":"Homebrew bio","url":"https://homebrew.co/team/"},{"label":"Wikipedia – Hunter Walk","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Walk"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/hunterwalk"}]},
  {"id":43,"name":"Bing Gordon","firm":"Kleiner Perkins","midasYears":"2011–2018","midasPeakRank":32,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Zynga, Amazon, Jawbone, Pocket, Duolingo","category":"operator","confidence":0.95,"notes":"Was Chief Creative Officer of Electronic Arts for ~20 years before joining Kleiner Perkins in 2008. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Kleiner Perkins bio","url":"https://www.kleinerperkins.com/people/bing-gordon/"},{"label":"Wikipedia – Bing Gordon","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bing_Gordon"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/bing-gordon/"}]},
  {"id":44,"name":"Randy Komisar","firm":"Kleiner Perkins","midasYears":"2009–2015","midasPeakRank":40,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Nest, Halo Neuroscience, Impossible Foods","category":"operator","confidence":0.92,"notes":"Was CEO of LucasArts; SVP at Apple. Author of 'The Monk and the Riddle.' Joined Kleiner Perkins in 2000. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Kleiner Perkins bio","url":"https://www.kleinerperkins.com/people/randy-komisar/"},{"label":"Wikipedia – Randy Komisar","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Komisar"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/randy-komisar/"}]},
  {"id":45,"name":"Andrew Chen","firm":"Andreessen Horowitz","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None (operated a blog/newsletter)","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Clubhouse, Flow, Sleeper, Reforge, Sandbox VR","category":"operator","confidence":0.90,"notes":"Was head of Rider Growth at Uber. Previously held roles at various tech startups as operator. Joined a16z in 2018 to lead consumer fund.","sources":[{"label":"a16z bio – Andrew Chen","url":"https://a16z.com/author/andrew-chen/"},{"label":"Andrew Chen website","url":"https://andrewchen.com/about/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewchen"}]},
  {"id":46,"name":"Sarah Tavel","firm":"Benchmark","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Pinterest (early), Chainalysis, Hippo Insurance, Niantic","category":"operator","confidence":0.92,"notes":"Was one of Pinterest's first employees and led its product strategy. Previously at Bessemer Venture Partners. Joined Benchmark in 2017. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Benchmark team page","url":"https://www.benchmark.com/team/"},{"label":"Forbes profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahtavel/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahtavel"}]},
  {"id":47,"name":"Steve Jurvetson","firm":"Future Ventures (fmr. DFJ)","midasYears":"2001–2020","midasPeakRank":10,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None (operating company)","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"SpaceX, Tesla, Planet Labs, Hotmail, Synthetic Genomics","category":"operator","confidence":0.93,"notes":"Was an engineer at HP Labs and consultant at Bain before co-founding the VC firm DFJ. Did not found an operating company. Now at Future Ventures.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Steve Jurvetson","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jurvetson"},{"label":"Future Ventures bio","url":"https://future.ventures/team/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/steve-jurvetson/"}]},
  {"id":48,"name":"Hemant Taneja","firm":"General Catalyst","midasYears":"2019–2023","midasPeakRank":15,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Stripe, Snap, Grammarly, Livongo, Focused Ultrasound","category":"operator","confidence":0.88,"notes":"Was an engineer and operator at various tech companies. Joined General Catalyst in 2007. Named managing director in 2011. No prior company founding.","sources":[{"label":"General Catalyst bio","url":"https://www.generalcatalyst.com/team/hemant-taneja"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/hemant-taneja/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/hemant-taneja-65a0851"}]},
  {"id":49,"name":"Jeremy Liew","firm":"Lightspeed Venture Partners","midasYears":"2010–2021","midasPeakRank":21,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Snap, Affirm, Blockchain.com, GIPHY, Bonobos","category":"operator","confidence":0.93,"notes":"Was an executive at AOL (VP of Netscape). Joined Lightspeed Venture Partners in 2006. No founding experience. Famous early bet on Snapchat.","sources":[{"label":"Lightspeed bio","url":"https://lsvp.com/team/jeremy-liew/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeremy-liew/"},{"label":"Snap S-1 SEC filing","url":"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1564408/000119312517029199/0001193125-17-029199-index.htm"}]},
  {"id":50,"name":"Byron Deeter","firm":"Bessemer Venture Partners","midasYears":"2013–2022","midasPeakRank":26,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Box, Twilio, Shopify, SendGrid, LinkedIn, PagerDuty","category":"operator","confidence":0.88,"notes":"Was an executive at tech companies prior to joining Bessemer. No founding experience. Has led Bessemer's SaaS/cloud investing thesis.","sources":[{"label":"Bessemer bio","url":"https://www.bvp.com/team/byron-deeter"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/byron-deeter/"},{"label":"Bessemer cloud report","url":"https://www.bvp.com/atlas/state-of-the-cloud"}]},
  {"id":51,"name":"Mike Vernal","firm":"Sequoia Capital","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Faire, Cameo, Verkada, Temporal","category":"operator","confidence":0.88,"notes":"Was VP of Engineering and Product at Facebook (2008–2016). Joined Sequoia Capital in 2016. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Sequoia Capital bio","url":"https://www.sequoiacap.com/people/mike-vernal/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/vernal"}]},
  {"id":52,"name":"Pat Grady","firm":"Sequoia Capital","midasYears":"2019–2023","midasPeakRank":22,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Figma, Couchbase, MuleSoft, Hubspot, Qualtrics","category":"operator","confidence":0.85,"notes":"Joined Sequoia Capital directly from college, worked up through the firm. Background from tech sector, not a founder.","sources":[{"label":"Sequoia Capital bio","url":"https://www.sequoiacap.com/people/pat-grady/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/pat-grady/"}]},
  {"id":53,"name":"Kirsten Green","firm":"Forerunner Ventures","midasYears":"2016–2022","midasPeakRank":34,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None (operating company)","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Warby Parker, Dollar Shave Club, Bonobos, Glossier, Hims","category":"operator","confidence":0.90,"notes":"Was at equity research then retail operations. Founded Forerunner Ventures (VC firm) in 2010 but had no operating company founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Kirsten Green","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirsten_Green"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/kirsten-green/"},{"label":"Forerunner Ventures bio","url":"https://forerunnerventures.com/team/"}]},
  {"id":54,"name":"Theresia Gouw","firm":"Acrew Capital","midasYears":"2011–2019","midasPeakRank":36,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Trulia, Imperva, NerdWallet, OmadaHealth, WePay","category":"operator","confidence":0.90,"notes":"Was an engineer and product manager before joining Accel Partners in 2000. Co-founded Acrew Capital in 2019. No operating company founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Theresia Gouw","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresia_Gouw"},{"label":"Acrew Capital bio","url":"https://www.acrewcapital.com/team"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/theresia-gouw/"}]},
  {"id":55,"name":"Vinod Dham","firm":"NewPath Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Various semiconductor and hardware startups","category":"operator","confidence":0.92,"notes":"The 'father of the Pentium,' was VP at Intel. Also worked at AMD and NEA before founding his own VC firm. Did not found an operating company.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Vinod Dham","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinod_Dham"},{"label":"NewPath Ventures","url":"https://newpathventures.com/team/"}]},
  {"id":56,"name":"Dana Settle","firm":"Greycroft Partners","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Maker Studios, Pluto TV, Clover Health, Bird, Venmo","category":"operator","confidence":0.85,"notes":"Was an operator in media/entertainment sector before joining Greycroft. Co-founded Greycroft (VC firm, not operating company) in 2006.","sources":[{"label":"Greycroft bio","url":"https://greycroft.com/team/dana-settle/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-settle-58a3a4"}]},
  {"id":57,"name":"Bryan Schreier","firm":"Sequoia Capital","midasYears":"2015–2020","midasPeakRank":29,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Dropbox, Qualtrics, Weebly, Zscaler, Klaviyo","category":"operator","confidence":0.88,"notes":"Was an executive at Google before joining Sequoia Capital in 2007. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Sequoia Capital bio","url":"https://www.sequoiacap.com/people/bryan-schreier/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/bryan-schreier/"}]},
  {"id":58,"name":"Nikesh Arora","firm":"SoftBank Vision Fund (former)","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Guided SoftBank's global VC portfolio ($100B+ AUM)","category":"operator","confidence":0.93,"notes":"Was Chief Business Officer at Google, then President/COO at SoftBank. Now CEO of Palo Alto Networks. No founding experience. Deployed capital at massive scale for SoftBank Vision Fund.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Nikesh Arora","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikesh_Arora"},{"label":"Forbes profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/nikesh-arora/"}]},
  {"id":59,"name":"Mamoon Hamid","firm":"Kleiner Perkins","midasYears":"2019–2023","midasPeakRank":18,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Slack, Figma, Intercom, Front, Webflow","category":"operator","confidence":0.82,"notes":"Worked at Social Capital (as VP/partner) and other VC firms before joining Kleiner Perkins in 2017. Grew up in tech operations. No clear founding experience found in public sources.","sources":[{"label":"Kleiner Perkins bio","url":"https://www.kleinerperkins.com/people/mamoon-hamid/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/mamoon-hamid/"}]},
  {"id":60,"name":"Chamath Palihapitiya","firm":"Social Capital","midasYears":"2015–2018","midasPeakRank":27,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"Social Capital (fund, not operating co.)","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Slack, Box, Yammer, Procore, Ginkgo Bioworks","category":"operator","confidence":0.85,"notes":"Was VP of User Growth at Facebook (2007–2011), previously at AOL/Winamp. Founded Social Capital (fund). Notable for SPAC investments. No operating company founding.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Chamath Palihapitiya","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamath_Palihapitiya"},{"label":"Social Capital website","url":"https://socialcapital.com/team/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/chamath-palihapitiya/"}]},
  {"id":61,"name":"Raj Kapoor","firm":"Mayfield Fund","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Lyft, HashiCorp, Poshmark, LegalZoom","category":"operator","confidence":0.83,"notes":"Was CMO at various companies before joining Mayfield. No operating company founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Mayfield bio","url":"https://www.mayfield.com/team/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajkapoorvc"}]},
  {"id":62,"name":"Connie Chan","firm":"Andreessen Horowitz","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Roblox, Duolingo, Whatnot, Coda, Spotter","category":"operator","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Was a product manager at various tech companies. Joined a16z in 2011 as an associate; became general partner. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"a16z bio – Connie Chan","url":"https://a16z.com/author/connie-chan/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/conniechan"}]},
  {"id":63,"name":"Kevin Efrusy","firm":"Accel Partners","midasYears":"2007–2016","midasPeakRank":19,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Facebook (Series A), Groupon, Etsy, Kayak, Atlassian","category":"operator","confidence":0.88,"notes":"Was an executive at various companies before joining Accel Partners. Led the famous Facebook Series A investment. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/kevin-efrusy/"},{"label":"Accel Partners team","url":"https://www.accel.com/people/"},{"label":"Facebook fundraising history","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Facebook#2005"}]},

  {"id":64,"name":"Bill Gurley","firm":"Benchmark","midasYears":"2001–2022","midasPeakRank":3,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Uber, Zillow, OpenTable, Grubhub, Stitch Fix, Nextdoor","category":"finance","confidence":0.98,"notes":"Was a healthcare equity analyst at Health Science Capital, then technology analyst at CS First Boston/Deutsche Bank, then joined Hummer Winblad before Benchmark. Pure finance/analyst background with engineering undergrad.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Bill Gurley","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gurley"},{"label":"Benchmark team page","url":"https://www.benchmark.com/team/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/bill-gurley/"}]},
  {"id":65,"name":"Mike Moritz","firm":"Sequoia Capital","midasYears":"2001–2016","midasPeakRank":2,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Google, Yahoo, PayPal, YouTube, LinkedIn, Zappos, Airbnb","category":"finance","confidence":0.98,"notes":"Was a journalist at Time Magazine covering Silicon Valley, wrote a book on Apple. Joined Sequoia in 1986. Pure journalism/writing background. No operational or founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Mike Moritz","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Moritz"},{"label":"Sequoia Capital bio","url":"https://www.sequoiacap.com/people/michael-moritz/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/michael-moritz/"}]},
  {"id":66,"name":"Jim Breyer","firm":"Accel Partners / Breyer Capital","midasYears":"2001–2018","midasPeakRank":5,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Facebook (Series A lead), Marvel Entertainment, Etsy, Walmart Labs","category":"finance","confidence":0.97,"notes":"Harvard MBA, was at McKinsey and WestEnd Advisors before joining Accel Partners. Led famous Facebook Series A at $98M valuation. No founding or operator experience.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Jim Breyer","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Breyer"},{"label":"Breyer Capital bio","url":"https://breyercapital.com/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/jim-breyer/"}]},
  {"id":67,"name":"Mary Meeker","firm":"Bond Capital","midasYears":"2011–2022","midasPeakRank":10,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Facebook, Google, Spotify, Airbnb, Slack, Instacart","category":"finance","confidence":0.98,"notes":"The 'Queen of the Internet' — was senior equity analyst and MD at Morgan Stanley for 18 years (1991–2010). Famous for annual Internet Trends reports. Joined Kleiner Perkins in 2010, founded Bond Capital in 2018. No founding or operating experience.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Mary Meeker","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Meeker"},{"label":"Bond Capital bio","url":"https://www.bondcap.com/team"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/mary-meeker/"}]},
  {"id":68,"name":"Fred Wilson","firm":"Union Square Ventures","midasYears":"2011–2021","midasPeakRank":13,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None (operating company)","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Twitter, Tumblr, Etsy, MongoDB, Coinbase, Zynga, Kickstarter","category":"finance","confidence":0.97,"notes":"Was an analyst/VP at Euclid Partners, then co-founded VC firm Flatiron Partners in 1996 (no operating company). Co-founded Union Square Ventures in 2003. Finance/investing background throughout.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Fred Wilson","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Wilson_(venture_capitalist)"},{"label":"Union Square Ventures bio","url":"https://www.usv.com/people/fred-wilson/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/fred-wilson/"}]},
  {"id":69,"name":"David Sze","firm":"Greylock Partners","midasYears":"2009–2019","midasPeakRank":17,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"LinkedIn, Facebook, Pandora, Groupon, Workday","category":"finance","confidence":0.93,"notes":"Was an investment banker at Bear Stearns before joining Greylock Partners in 2000. Finance/banking background. No founding or operating experience.","sources":[{"label":"Greylock bio","url":"https://greylock.com/team/david-sze/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/david-sze/"}]},
  {"id":70,"name":"Bryan Roberts","firm":"Venrock","midasYears":"2009–2018","midasPeakRank":23,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Illumina, deCODE Genetics, Atea Pharma, Accolade","category":"finance","confidence":0.90,"notes":"Harvard undergrad, Wharton MBA, joined Venrock directly from consulting. Healthcare/life sciences focus. No founding or operating experience.","sources":[{"label":"Venrock bio","url":"https://www.venrock.com/team/bryan-roberts/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/bryan-roberts/"}]},
  {"id":71,"name":"Todd Chaffee","firm":"IVP (Institutional Venture Partners)","midasYears":"2014–2021","midasPeakRank":33,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Twitter, Snap, HomeAway, Dropbox, GitHub","category":"finance","confidence":0.93,"notes":"Was at McKinsey & Company, then Goldman Sachs. Pure consulting/finance background before joining IVP. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"IVP bio","url":"https://www.ivp.com/team/todd-chaffee/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/todd-chaffee/"}]},
  {"id":72,"name":"Tim Draper","firm":"DFJ (Draper Fisher Jurvetson)","midasYears":"2001–2015","midasPeakRank":24,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None (operating company)","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Tesla, SpaceX, Skype, Baidu, Hotmail, Robinhood","category":"finance","confidence":0.90,"notes":"Son of VC Bill Draper, grandson of VC William Draper Jr. Worked at BankAmerica briefly before going into VC. Family heritage of venture investing. Did not found an operating company.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Tim Draper","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Draper"},{"label":"DFJ team","url":"https://dfj.com/team/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/tim-draper/"}]},
  {"id":73,"name":"David Hornik","firm":"August Capital","midasYears":"2008–2016","midasPeakRank":44,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Splunk, Survey Monkey, Bill.com, Fastly","category":"finance","confidence":0.92,"notes":"Harvard Law graduate. Was an associate at VC firms directly from law school. No founding or operating experience.","sources":[{"label":"August Capital bio","url":"https://www.augustcap.com/team/david-hornik/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/david-hornik/"}]},
  {"id":74,"name":"Jeremy Levine","firm":"Bessemer Venture Partners","midasYears":"2011–2021","midasPeakRank":20,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Pinterest, Shopify, Yelp, LinkedIn, Twitch, MindBody","category":"finance","confidence":0.90,"notes":"Was at Mobius Venture Capital, prior consulting background. Joined Bessemer in 2001. No founding or operating experience.","sources":[{"label":"Bessemer bio","url":"https://www.bvp.com/team/jeremy-levine"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeremy-levine/"}]},
  {"id":75,"name":"Danny Rimer","firm":"Index Ventures","midasYears":"2013–2022","midasPeakRank":15,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Skype, MySQL, Dropbox, Etsy, Figma, Robinhood, Discord","category":"finance","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Worked in finance/technology strategy roles before joining Index Ventures in 2002. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Index Ventures bio","url":"https://www.indexventures.com/team/danny-rimer"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/danny-rimer/"}]},
  {"id":76,"name":"Jeff Clavier","firm":"Uncork Capital (fmr. SoftTech VC)","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None (operating company)","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Fitbit, SendHub, Munchery, DigitalBridge","category":"finance","confidence":0.88,"notes":"Was VP at Thomson Financial and other finance roles in Europe before founding SoftTech VC in 2004. Finance background; no operating company founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Uncork Capital bio","url":"https://uncorkcapital.com/team/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/jclavier"}]},
  {"id":77,"name":"Chris Sacca","firm":"Lowercase Capital","midasYears":"2012–2018","midasPeakRank":7,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None (operating company)","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Twitter, Instagram, Uber, Kickstarter, Stripe, Docker","category":"finance","confidence":0.88,"notes":"Was in Google's corporate development/legal team. Founded Lowercase Capital (VC fund, not operating company). No operating company founding. Pure investor background post-Google.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Chris Sacca","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Sacca"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/chris-sacca/"},{"label":"Lowercase Capital website","url":"https://lowercase.com/"}]},
  {"id":78,"name":"Chase Coleman III","firm":"Tiger Global Management","midasYears":"N/A (hedge fund/crossover)","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Facebook, LinkedIn, JD.com, Flipkart, Stripe, Peloton","category":"finance","confidence":0.96,"notes":"Founded Tiger Global Management in 2001 (as a hedge fund), coming directly from Julian Robertson's Tiger Management. Pure finance/hedge fund background.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Tiger Global Management","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Global_Management"},{"label":"Forbes profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/chase-coleman/"}]},
  {"id":79,"name":"Philippe Laffont","firm":"Coatue Management","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Snap, Lyft, Instacart, Toast, Flipkart, ByteDance","category":"finance","confidence":0.95,"notes":"Founded Coatue Management in 1999 from Tiger Management (Julian Robertson). Pure hedge fund/finance background. Crossover investor active in late-stage VC.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Coatue Management","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coatue_Management"},{"label":"Forbes profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/philippe-laffont/"}]},
  {"id":80,"name":"Lee Fixel","firm":"Addition","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Flipkart ($100M early bet), BharatPe, Meesho, Juspay","category":"finance","confidence":0.93,"notes":"Was partner at Tiger Global Management. Founded Addition (VC fund) in 2019. Finance background throughout; no operating company founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Addition bio","url":"https://addition.com/team/"},{"label":"Forbes profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/lee-fixel/"}]},
  {"id":81,"name":"Neeraj Agrawal","firm":"Battery Ventures","midasYears":"2014–2020","midasPeakRank":31,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Groupon, Wayfair, Bazaarvoice, Marketo, Glassdoor","category":"finance","confidence":0.88,"notes":"Was an analyst at Morgan Stanley before joining Battery Ventures. Finance/banking background. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Battery Ventures bio","url":"https://www.battery.com/team/neeraj-agrawal/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/neeraj-agrawal/"}]},
  {"id":82,"name":"Brook Byers","firm":"Kleiner Perkins","midasYears":"2001–2010","midasPeakRank":18,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Genentech, Genomic Health, Veeva Systems","category":"finance","confidence":0.88,"notes":"Career VC who joined Kleiner Perkins in 1977. Built the firm's life sciences practice. No operating company founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Kleiner Perkins bio","url":"https://www.kleinerperkins.com/people/brook-byers/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/brook-byers/"}]},
  {"id":83,"name":"Kevin Compton","firm":"Kleiner Perkins (former)","midasYears":"2002–2010","midasPeakRank":20,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Cerent (sold to Cisco for $7.4B), Juniper Networks, Foundry Networks","category":"finance","confidence":0.82,"notes":"Was an executive at Businessland (computer retailer) before joining Kleiner Perkins. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/kevin-compton/"},{"label":"Kleiner Perkins history","url":"https://www.kleinerperkins.com/"}]},

  {"id":84,"name":"Ann Miura-Ko","firm":"Floodgate","midasYears":"2019–2023","midasPeakRank":24,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Lyft, Refinery29, TaskRabbit, Ayasdi, Xamarin","category":"technical","confidence":0.93,"notes":"Stanford PhD in mathematical modeling of cyber security. Was a lecturer at Stanford. Co-founded Floodgate (VC fund). No prior operating company founding; known for technical/domain expertise.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Ann Miura-Ko","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Miura-Ko"},{"label":"Floodgate bio","url":"https://floodgate.com/team/ann-miura-ko/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/ann-miura-ko/"}]},
  {"id":85,"name":"Geoff Yang","firm":"Redpoint Ventures","midasYears":"2001–2012","midasPeakRank":14,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Netflix, MySpace, Friendster, Juniper Networks, TiVo","category":"technical","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Engineering undergrad, worked in technology roles before becoming a VC. Co-founded Redpoint Ventures (VC firm) in 1999. No operating company founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/geoff-yang/"},{"label":"Redpoint bio","url":"https://www.redpoint.com/team/geoff-yang/"}]},
  {"id":86,"name":"Shaun Maguire","firm":"Sequoia Capital","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"SpaceX (follow-on), Anduril, Atomic, IronNet","category":"technical","confidence":0.85,"notes":"PhD in physics from Caltech. Was a research scientist before joining Sequoia Capital. Known for deep technical/defense-tech expertise. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Sequoia bio","url":"https://www.sequoiacap.com/people/shaun-maguire/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaunmaguire"}]},
  {"id":87,"name":"Forest Baskett","firm":"NEA","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"3Com, Healtheon, Agere Systems","category":"technical","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Was Professor of CS at Stanford, then SVP/CTO at SGI. Joined NEA as general partner. Distinguished technical background; no founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"NEA bio","url":"https://www.nea.com/team/forest-baskett"},{"label":"Wikipedia – Forest Baskett","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Baskett"}]},
  {"id":88,"name":"Scott Sandell","firm":"NEA","midasYears":"2010–2020","midasPeakRank":25,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Tableau, Salesforce, Robinhood, Duolingo, Fusion-io","category":"technical","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Engineering background; was at various tech companies before joining NEA in 1996. No founding experience. Led NEA's technology practice.","sources":[{"label":"NEA bio","url":"https://www.nea.com/team/scott-sandell"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/scott-sandell/"}]},
  {"id":89,"name":"Rich Wong","firm":"Accel Partners","midasYears":"2012–2019","midasPeakRank":37,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Cloudera, Atlassian, RingCentral, Tenable","category":"technical","confidence":0.85,"notes":"Engineering/product management background at tech companies. Joined Accel Partners in 2006. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Accel bio","url":"https://www.accel.com/people/rich-wong"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/rich-wong/"}]},
  {"id":90,"name":"Satya Patel","firm":"Homebrew","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Chime, Plaid, Bowery Farming, Cruise Automation","category":"technical","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Was VP of Product at Twitter. Previously at Battery Ventures, Google, and Inktomi. Co-founded Homebrew (fund) in 2013. Technical/product background; no operating company founding.","sources":[{"label":"Homebrew bio","url":"https://homebrew.co/team/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/satyapatel"}]},

  {"id":91,"name":"Jenny Lee","firm":"GGV Capital","midasYears":"2015–2022","midasPeakRank":8,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Xiaomi, ByteDance (early), Didi, VIPKID, Grab","category":"unclear","confidence":0.55,"notes":"Was an engineer at various firms before joining GGV Capital. Public sources do not clearly confirm or deny founding experience. Marked unclear pending better source confirmation.","sources":[{"label":"GGV Capital bio","url":"https://www.ggvc.com/team/jenny-lee/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/jenny-lee/"}]},
  {"id":92,"name":"Hans Tung","firm":"GGV Capital","midasYears":"2016–2023","midasPeakRank":9,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Airbnb, Wish, Poshmark, Peloton, Slack, Lime","category":"unclear","confidence":0.55,"notes":"Background spans operator roles in Asia/US. Public sources don't clearly establish founding experience. Marked unclear pending source confirmation.","sources":[{"label":"GGV Capital bio","url":"https://www.ggvc.com/team/hans-tung/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/hans-tung/"}]},
  {"id":93,"name":"Jixun Foo","firm":"GGV Capital","midasYears":"2018–2022","midasPeakRank":16,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Grab, XPeng Motors, Cango, Ninja Van","category":"unclear","confidence":0.50,"notes":"Engineering/tech background in Southeast Asia. Public sources do not confirm founding experience. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"GGV Capital bio","url":"https://www.ggvc.com/team/jixun-foo/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/jixun-foo/"}]},
  {"id":94,"name":"Jon Callaghan","firm":"True Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Fitbit, Ring, Duo Security, Peloton, Blue Bottle Coffee","category":"unclear","confidence":0.55,"notes":"Co-founded True Ventures (VC fund) in 2005. Prior background not clearly documented in public sources as operating company founder.","sources":[{"label":"True Ventures bio","url":"https://trueventures.com/team/jon-callaghan/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/joncallaghan"}]},
  {"id":95,"name":"Neil Rimer","firm":"Index Ventures","midasYears":"2015–2021","midasPeakRank":26,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"King (Candy Crush), Skype, Dropbox, Slack, Robinhood","category":"unclear","confidence":0.55,"notes":"Co-founded Index Ventures in 1996. Background in finance/strategy. Unclear whether he had prior operating company founding experience before Index.","sources":[{"label":"Index Ventures bio","url":"https://www.indexventures.com/team/neil-rimer"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/neil-rimer/"}]},
  {"id":96,"name":"Sameer Gandhi","firm":"Accel Partners","midasYears":"2014–2020","midasPeakRank":32,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Spotify, Atlassian, Cloudera, Samsara, Rovio","category":"unclear","confidence":0.55,"notes":"Technology/product background. Public sources do not clearly confirm or deny founding experience. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"Accel bio","url":"https://www.accel.com/people/sameer-gandhi"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/sameer-gandhi/"}]},
  {"id":97,"name":"Arlan Hamilton","firm":"Backstage Capital","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Backstage Capital (fund)","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"50+ underrepresented founder companies","category":"unclear","confidence":0.60,"notes":"Came from music industry management; built Backstage Capital from scratch without prior VC experience or operating company founding. Unique background; primarily founder of the fund itself.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Arlan Hamilton","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlan_Hamilton"},{"label":"Backstage Capital bio","url":"https://backstagecapital.com/team/"},{"label":"Forbes profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/arlan-hamilton/"}]},
  {"id":98,"name":"Ravi Mhatre","firm":"Lightspeed Venture Partners","midasYears":"2011–2020","midasPeakRank":28,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"AppDynamics, MuleSoft, Nutanix, OpsRamp","category":"unclear","confidence":0.52,"notes":"Engineering background. Public sources do not clearly document founding experience. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"Lightspeed bio","url":"https://lsvp.com/team/ravi-mhatre/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/ravi-mhatre/"}]},
  {"id":99,"name":"Barry Eggers","firm":"Lightspeed Venture Partners","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Snapchat (early), AppDynamics, Nimble Storage","category":"unclear","confidence":0.52,"notes":"Was at Cisco in various technology roles. Co-founded Lightspeed Venture Partners. Public sources do not document operating company founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Lightspeed bio","url":"https://lsvp.com/team/barry-eggers/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/barryeggers"}]},
  {"id":100,"name":"Jeff Richards","firm":"GGV Capital","midasYears":"2017–2022","midasPeakRank":30,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Zendesk, Bazaarvoice, Demandware, BigCommerce","category":"unclear","confidence":0.52,"notes":"Technology/SaaS focus. Background not clearly documented in public sources regarding founding experience. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"GGV Capital bio","url":"https://www.ggvc.com/team/jeff-richards/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-richards/"}]},
  {"id":101,"name":"Ravi Gupta","firm":"Sequoia Capital India","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Byjus, Meesho, Unacademy, Zomato","category":"unclear","confidence":0.50,"notes":"Was at BCG (consulting). Joined Sequoia India. Background primarily consulting; unclear if any operating company founding occurred.","sources":[{"label":"Sequoia India bio","url":"https://www.sequoiacap.com/india/people/ravi-gupta/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravi-gupta-sq"}]},
  {"id":102,"name":"James Mi","firm":"Lightspeed China Partners","midasYears":"2017–2022","midasPeakRank":20,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Manbang (Full Truck Alliance), Meituan, Hello TransTech","category":"unclear","confidence":0.50,"notes":"Background in China tech sector. Founding experience not documented in English-language public sources. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"Lightspeed China bio","url":"https://lsvp.com/china/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/james-mi/"}]},
  {"id":103,"name":"Yuri Milner","firm":"DST Global","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Mail.ru Group (co-founder / CEO)","exitType":"LSE IPO","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Facebook ($200M), Twitter, Airbnb, Spotify, WhatsApp, Alibaba","category":"unclear","confidence":0.65,"notes":"Was involved in founding/building Mail.ru Group (LSE IPO 2010). Role as founder vs. hired CEO of predecessor companies is debated in public sources. Marks as unclear pending definitive source.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Yuri Milner","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Milner"},{"label":"DST Global about","url":"https://dst-global.com/about/"},{"label":"Forbes profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/yuri-milner/"}]},
  {"id":104,"name":"Neeraj Arora","firm":"Various (WhatsApp deal advisor)","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Advised on WhatsApp $19B sale to Facebook; various boards","category":"operator","confidence":0.75,"notes":"Was VP of Business Development at WhatsApp (not a founder). Was at Google before WhatsApp. Operator/business development background.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – WhatsApp","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WhatsApp"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/neerajarora"}]},
  {"id":105,"name":"Michael Dearing","firm":"Harrison Metal","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None (operating)","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Stripe, TaskRabbit, Everlane, Osmo","category":"operator","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Was VP at eBay for 5 years. Taught product management at Stanford. Founded Harrison Metal (VC fund). No operating company founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Harrison Metal bio","url":"https://www.harrisonmetal.com/team"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldearing"}]},
  {"id":106,"name":"Naval Ravikant","firm":"AngelList Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"AngelList, Epinions","exitType":"Acquired / active","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Twitter, Uber, Yammer, Postmates, Clearbit","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.92,"notes":"Duplicate entry removed — see entry #27.","sources":[]},
  {"id":107,"name":"Jim Goetz","firm":"Sequoia Capital","midasYears":"2009–2020","midasPeakRank":7,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"WhatsApp ($3M → $3B return), Palo Alto Networks, Barracuda","category":"operator","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Was an engineer and executive at Accel Partners and various companies before joining Sequoia in 2004. No founding experience. Led the famous WhatsApp Series A ($8B exit on ~$60M invested).","sources":[{"label":"Sequoia Capital bio","url":"https://www.sequoiacap.com/people/jim-goetz/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/jim-goetz/"},{"label":"WhatsApp Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WhatsApp"}]},
  {"id":108,"name":"Sameer Brij Verma","firm":"Nexus Venture Partners","midasYears":"2016–2022","midasPeakRank":42,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Druva, Uniphore, Postman, Hasura","category":"unclear","confidence":0.50,"notes":"Technology background in India tech ecosystem. Public sources do not clearly document founding experience. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"Nexus Venture Partners bio","url":"https://nexusvp.com/team/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/sameer-brij-verma/"}]},

  {"id":109,"name":"Alex Rampell","firm":"Andreessen Horowitz","midasYears":"2020–2023","midasPeakRank":38,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"TrialPay","exitType":"Visa acquisition (~$100M est.)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"GreenSky, Blend, Procore, LoanCore, Branch","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.93,"notes":"Co-founded TrialPay (e-commerce payment platform), acquired by Visa in 2015 for an estimated ~$100M. Joined a16z as general partner to lead fintech investing.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – TrialPay","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TrialPay"},{"label":"a16z bio","url":"https://a16z.com/author/alex-rampell/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/alex-rampell/"}]},
  {"id":110,"name":"Martin Casado","firm":"Andreessen Horowitz","midasYears":"2018–2023","midasPeakRank":22,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Nicira Networks","exitType":"VMware acquisition ($1.26B)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Databricks, HashiCorp, Lacework, Temporal, Anyscale","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.97,"notes":"Co-founded Nicira Networks (software-defined networking), sold to VMware for $1.26B in 2012. PhD from Stanford. Joined a16z in 2013 to lead enterprise investing.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Nicira","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicira"},{"label":"a16z bio","url":"https://a16z.com/author/martin-casado/"},{"label":"VMware Nicira acquisition press release","url":"https://www.vmware.com/company/news/releases/vmw-nicira-07-23-12.html"}]},
  {"id":111,"name":"Satish Dharmaraj","firm":"Redpoint Ventures","midasYears":"2015–2021","midasPeakRank":33,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Zimbra","exitType":"Yahoo acquisition ($350M)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Juniper Networks (follow-on), Zuora, Segment, Reltio","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.93,"notes":"Co-founded Zimbra (open-source email/collaboration platform), acquired by Yahoo in 2007 for approximately $350M. Joined Redpoint Ventures as a partner after the exit.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Zimbra","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbra"},{"label":"Redpoint bio","url":"https://www.redpoint.com/team/satish-dharmaraj/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/satish-dharmaraj/"}]},
  {"id":112,"name":"Alexis Ohanian","firm":"Initialized Capital","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Reddit, Initialized Capital","exitType":"Condé Nast acquisition; Reddit NYSE IPO 2024","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Instacart, Coinbase, Zenefits, Opendoor, Faire","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.98,"notes":"Co-founded Reddit (acquired by Condé Nast 2006; taken public 2024 NYSE: RDDT at ~$6.5B). Co-founded Initialized Capital with Garry Tan. Prominent tech investor and activist.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Alexis Ohanian","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_Ohanian"},{"label":"Initialized Capital bio","url":"https://initialized.com/team/"},{"label":"Reddit IPO S-1","url":"https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=RDDT&type=S-1&dateb=&owner=include&count=40"}]},
  {"id":113,"name":"Michael Seibel","firm":"Y Combinator","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Justin.tv / Twitch","exitType":"Amazon acquisition ($970M)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe, Reddit (via YC)","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.98,"notes":"Co-founded Justin.tv in 2007, which pivoted to Twitch and was acquired by Amazon in 2014 for $970M. Joined Y Combinator as a partner in 2013; became CEO in 2019.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Michael Seibel","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Seibel"},{"label":"Wikipedia – Twitch","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitch_(service)"},{"label":"Y Combinator team page","url":"https://www.ycombinator.com/about"}]},
  {"id":114,"name":"Trae Stephens","firm":"Founders Fund","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Anduril Industries","exitType":"Active (valued ~$14B+)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Anduril, various defense tech (via Founders Fund)","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.92,"notes":"Was an analyst at Palantir before joining Founders Fund. Co-founded Anduril Industries (defense tech) with Palmer Luckey in 2017. Anduril has raised $4.6B+ and is valued at over $14B.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Anduril Industries","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anduril_Industries"},{"label":"Founders Fund team","url":"https://foundersfund.com/team/"},{"label":"Forbes profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/trae-stephens/"}]},
  {"id":115,"name":"Jeffrey Bussgang","firm":"Flybridge Capital Partners","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Upromise","exitType":"Sallie Mae acquisition ($77M)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"HubSpot, Salsify, Clutch, Flywire, Quantopian","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.90,"notes":"Co-founded Upromise (college savings rewards platform), sold to Sallie Mae for $77M in 2006. Joined Flybridge Capital as general partner. Also teaches at Harvard Business School.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Upromise","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upromise"},{"label":"Flybridge Capital bio","url":"https://www.flybridge.com/team/jeff-bussgang/"},{"label":"Jeff Bussgang blog","url":"https://bussgang.com/about/"}]},
  {"id":116,"name":"David Sacks","firm":"Craft Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Yammer, Glue","exitType":"Microsoft acquisition ($1.2B)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Airbnb, Bird, Eventbrite, Facebook, SpaceX, Palantir","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.97,"notes":"Was COO at PayPal; founded Yammer (enterprise social network), acquired by Microsoft in 2012 for $1.2B. Founded Craft Ventures in 2017. Also co-founded Glue (enterprise AI). Named AI & Crypto Czar in 2025.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – David Sacks","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sacks"},{"label":"Wikipedia – Yammer","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yammer"},{"label":"Craft Ventures bio","url":"https://www.craftventures.com/team"}]},
  {"id":117,"name":"Andy Rubin","firm":"Playground Global","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Android Inc., Danger Inc., Essential Products","exitType":"Google acquisition (~$50M)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Plenty (vertical farming), Relativity Space, Mighty Buildings","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.96,"notes":"Co-founded Danger Inc. (Sidekick phone) acquired by Microsoft; founded Android Inc., acquired by Google for ~$50M in 2005 (Android became the world's most-used mobile OS). Founded Playground Global in 2015.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Andy Rubin","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Rubin"},{"label":"Wikipedia – Android (operating system)","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)"},{"label":"Playground Global bio","url":"https://playground.global/team/"}]},
  {"id":118,"name":"Balaji Srinivasan","firm":"Various (angel / former a16z)","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Counsyl, Earn.com","exitType":"Myriad Genetics acquisition ($375M); Coinbase acquisition","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Coinbase, Zymergen, various crypto projects","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.93,"notes":"Co-founded Counsyl (genetic screening), sold to Myriad Genetics for $375M in 2018. Founded Earn.com (crypto email), acquired by Coinbase in 2018. Was CTO at Coinbase and general partner at a16z.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Balaji Srinivasan","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balaji_Srinivasan"},{"label":"Wikipedia – Counsyl","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counsyl"},{"label":"Forbes profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/balaji-srinivasan/"}]},
  {"id":119,"name":"Niklas Zennström","firm":"Atomico","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Skype, Kazaa, Joost","exitType":"eBay acquisition ($2.6B); Microsoft acquisition ($8.5B)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Klarna, Rovio, Lilium, Oatly, Jobandtalent","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.99,"notes":"Co-founded Kazaa (peer-to-peer file sharing) and Skype (VoIP), which was sold to eBay for $2.6B in 2005 and later to Microsoft for $8.5B in 2011. Founded Atomico VC in 2006 with Skype proceeds.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Niklas Zennström","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niklas_Zenn%C3%B6m"},{"label":"Wikipedia – Skype","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skype"},{"label":"Atomico bio","url":"https://www.atomico.com/team/niklas-zennstrom"}]},
  {"id":120,"name":"Kevin Hartz","firm":"A-Grade Investments / Eventbrite","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Eventbrite, Xoom","exitType":"NYSE IPO (Eventbrite); PayPal acquisition (Xoom, $890M)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Pinterest, Airbnb, Yammer, Lyft, Duolingo","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.96,"notes":"Co-founded Xoom (international money transfer, acquired by PayPal for $890M in 2015) and co-founded Eventbrite (NYSE IPO 2018 at ~$1.8B). Active angel investor in PayPal Mafia ecosystem.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Kevin Hartz","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Hartz"},{"label":"Wikipedia – Eventbrite","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eventbrite"},{"label":"Eventbrite S-1","url":"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1475115/000119312518265436/0001193125-18-265436-index.htm"}]},
  {"id":121,"name":"Lars Dalgaard","firm":"General Catalyst","midasYears":"2016–2021","midasPeakRank":40,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"SuccessFactors","exitType":"SAP acquisition ($3.4B)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Gusto, Highspot, insitro, Noom, Lyra Health","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.96,"notes":"Co-founded SuccessFactors (HR SaaS) in 2001, took it public (IPO 2007), sold to SAP for $3.4B in 2012. Joined General Catalyst as a general partner in 2013.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – SuccessFactors","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SuccessFactors"},{"label":"General Catalyst bio","url":"https://www.generalcatalyst.com/team/lars-dalgaard"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/lars-dalgaard/"}]},
  {"id":122,"name":"Jason Lemkin","firm":"SaaStr / Storm Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"EchoSign, NanoGram Devices","exitType":"Adobe acquisition; acquisition","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Algolia, Pipedrive, Talkdesk, Salesloft, Greenhouse","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.92,"notes":"Co-founded NanoGram Devices (acquired) and EchoSign (e-signature platform), acquired by Adobe in 2011. Joined Storm Ventures; founded SaaStr (largest SaaS community). Influential SaaS blogger/investor.","sources":[{"label":"SaaStr about","url":"https://www.saastr.com/about/"},{"label":"Wikipedia – EchoSign","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EchoSign"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmlemkin"}]},
  {"id":123,"name":"David Cheriton","firm":"Stanford / DAG Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Granite Systems, Arista Networks","exitType":"Cisco acquisition ($220M); NYSE IPO","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Google ($100K check in 1998), VMware, Arista Networks","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.95,"notes":"Stanford CS professor. Co-founded Granite Systems (acquired by Cisco for $220M in 1996) and co-founded Arista Networks (NYSE IPO 2014). Famously wrote a $100K check to Google in 1998 alongside Andy Bechtolsheim.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – David Cheriton","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cheriton"},{"label":"Wikipedia – Arista Networks","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arista_Networks"},{"label":"Forbes profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/david-cheriton/"}]},
  {"id":124,"name":"Heidi Roizen","firm":"Threshold Ventures (fmr. Draper)","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"T/Maker Company","exitType":"Broderbund acquisition","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Various; advisor to Apple, early-stage biotech and software","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.88,"notes":"Co-founded T/Maker Company (word processing / desktop publishing software) in 1983, sold to Broderbund in 1994. Then became VP at Apple. Joined DFJ (now Threshold Ventures) as a partner. Lectures at Stanford GSB.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Heidi Roizen","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi_Roizen"},{"label":"Threshold Ventures bio","url":"https://www.threshold.vc/team/"},{"label":"Stanford GSB bio","url":"https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/heidi-roizen"}]},
  {"id":125,"name":"Florian Leibert","firm":"Ansa Capital","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Mesosphere (D2iQ)","exitType":"Active (raised $250M+)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Databricks, Temporal, various data infrastructure","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.88,"notes":"Co-founded Mesosphere (now D2iQ, Kubernetes/DC/OS enterprise platform), which raised $250M+ and achieved unicorn status. Previously an engineer at Twitter. Founded Ansa Capital after Mesosphere.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – D2iQ","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D2iQ"},{"label":"Ansa Capital bio","url":"https://www.ansacap.com/team/"},{"label":"TechCrunch – Mesosphere","url":"https://techcrunch.com/tag/mesosphere/"}]},

  {"id":126,"name":"Dalton Caldwell","firm":"Y Combinator","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"imeem, App.net","exitType":"imeem shutdown; App.net shutdown","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Various YC companies","category":"founder_unclear","confidence":0.85,"notes":"Co-founded imeem (music social network, failed 2009) and App.net (Twitter alternative, shutdown 2017). Neither achieved venture-scale outcomes. Joined Y Combinator as a partner in 2013. Real founding experience but modest exits.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Dalton Caldwell","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalton_Caldwell"},{"label":"Wikipedia – App.net","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/App.net"},{"label":"Y Combinator team","url":"https://www.ycombinator.com/about"}]},
  {"id":127,"name":"Shervin Pishevar","firm":"Sherpa Capital","midasYears":"2013–2017","midasPeakRank":29,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Various (co-founder claims disputed)","exitType":"Unclear","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Uber (early), Airbnb, Tumblr, Virgin Hyperloop","category":"founder_unclear","confidence":0.60,"notes":"Claims founding experience at various ventures but specific founding roles are not well-documented in public sources. Was at Social Gaming Network and various startups as executive/co-founder. Marked unclear pending better sourcing.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Shervin Pishevar","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shervin_Pishevar"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/shervin-pishevar/"}]},
  {"id":128,"name":"Jesse Walden","firm":"Variant Fund","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Mediachain","exitType":"Spotify acquisition (undisclosed, modest)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Zora, Mirror, Uniswap, Audius, Friends with Benefits","category":"founder_unclear","confidence":0.80,"notes":"Co-founded Mediachain (blockchain music rights attribution), acquired by Spotify in 2017 for an undisclosed but likely modest sum. Was at a16z crypto before founding Variant Fund. Real founding experience; exit scale modest.","sources":[{"label":"TechCrunch – Spotify Mediachain","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/26/spotify-acquires-mediachain-a-blockchain-startup-to-solve-musics-attribution-problem/"},{"label":"Variant Fund bio","url":"https://www.variant.fund/team/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessewaldencrypto"}]},
  {"id":129,"name":"Sam Lessin","firm":"Slow Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Drop.io","exitType":"Facebook acquisition (acqui-hire, modest)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Figma, Calm, Superhuman, Niantic","category":"founder_unclear","confidence":0.85,"notes":"Founded Drop.io (file sharing), acquired by Facebook in 2010 primarily as an acqui-hire (modest financial outcome). Was VP of Product at Facebook. Co-founded Slow Ventures. Real founder; exit was talent-driven, not product-driven.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Drop.io","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drop.io"},{"label":"Slow Ventures bio","url":"https://slow.co/team/"},{"label":"TechCrunch – Drop.io Facebook","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2010/10/29/facebook-acquires-drop-io/"}]},
  {"id":130,"name":"Gigi Levy-Weiss","firm":"NFX","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Various early ventures (unclear)","exitType":"Unclear","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"888 Holdings (board), Lusha, Spot.IM, Simplex","category":"founder_unclear","confidence":0.58,"notes":"Was CEO of 888 Holdings (online gaming, not a founder). Claimed founding involvement in various smaller ventures. Public English-language sources do not clearly document venture-scale founding experience. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"NFX bio","url":"https://www.nfx.com/team/gigi-levy-weiss"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/gigi-levy-weiss"}]},

  {"id":131,"name":"Carl Eschenbach","firm":"Sequoia Capital","midasYears":"2020–2023","midasPeakRank":16,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"UiPath, Snowflake, Lacework, Arctic Wolf, Zoom (follow-on)","category":"operator","confidence":0.93,"notes":"Was President and COO of VMware for 8 years (2012–2019). Joined Sequoia Capital as a partner in 2016. No founding experience; extensive enterprise software executive background.","sources":[{"label":"Sequoia Capital bio","url":"https://www.sequoiacap.com/people/carl-eschenbach/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/carl-eschenbach/"},{"label":"VMware – Carl Eschenbach","url":"https://www.vmware.com/"}]},
  {"id":132,"name":"Matt Cohler","firm":"Benchmark","midasYears":"2011–2021","midasPeakRank":17,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Instagram, Snapchat, Tinder, Asana, Duolingo","category":"operator","confidence":0.94,"notes":"Was employee #6 at LinkedIn and VP of Product at Facebook. No founding experience. Joined Benchmark in 2008. Made early bets on Instagram (acquired by Facebook for $1B) and Tinder.","sources":[{"label":"Benchmark team page","url":"https://www.benchmark.com/team/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/matt-cohler/"},{"label":"Wikipedia – Matt Cohler","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Cohler"}]},
  {"id":133,"name":"Sriram Krishnan","firm":"Andreessen Horowitz","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Various consumer and crypto companies at a16z","category":"operator","confidence":0.88,"notes":"Held senior roles at Twitter, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Snap as an operator/product leader before joining a16z in 2021. No founding experience. Also served briefly as Senior Policy Advisor for AI at the White House OSTP.","sources":[{"label":"a16z bio","url":"https://a16z.com/author/sriram-krishnan/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/sriramk"}]},
  {"id":134,"name":"Peter Levine","firm":"Andreessen Horowitz","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None (was CEO, not founder)","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Databricks, Samsara, Tanium, GitLab, GitHub","category":"operator","confidence":0.90,"notes":"Was CEO of XenSource (Citrix acquisition for $500M in 2007) — but XenSource was founded by Ian Pratt and others; Levine was the hired CEO, not a founder. Joined a16z in 2010 to lead enterprise investing.","sources":[{"label":"a16z bio","url":"https://a16z.com/author/peter-levine/"},{"label":"Wikipedia – XenSource","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XenSource"},{"label":"Citrix XenSource acquisition","url":"https://www.citrix.com/news/announcements/oct-2007/citrix-completes-acquisition-of-xensource.html"}]},
  {"id":135,"name":"Angela Strange","firm":"Andreessen Horowitz","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Brex, Gusto, Marqeta, Betterment, Jeeves","category":"operator","confidence":0.85,"notes":"Held operator roles at various fintech and tech companies before joining a16z in 2014. General partner leading fintech investments. No founding experience documented in public sources.","sources":[{"label":"a16z bio","url":"https://a16z.com/author/angela-strange/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/astrange"}]},
  {"id":136,"name":"Katherine Boyle","firm":"Andreessen Horowitz","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Anduril, Palantir, Shield AI, Joby Aviation, Applied Intuition","category":"operator","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Was a reporter at the Washington Post covering tech, then held various policy and operational roles before joining a16z in 2021. Leads a16z's American Dynamism / defense-tech investing practice. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"a16z bio","url":"https://a16z.com/author/katherine-boyle/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-boyle-vc"}]},
  {"id":137,"name":"Mike Volpi","firm":"Index Ventures","midasYears":"2013–2022","midasPeakRank":21,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Kafka/Confluent, Zuora, Discord, Cockroach Labs, Sonos","category":"operator","confidence":0.93,"notes":"Was Chief Strategy Officer at Cisco for many years and led Cisco's M&A strategy. Joined Index Ventures in 2009. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Index Ventures bio","url":"https://www.indexventures.com/team/mike-volpi"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/mike-volpi/"},{"label":"Wikipedia – Mike Volpi","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Volpi"}]},
  {"id":138,"name":"Asheem Chandna","firm":"Greylock Partners","midasYears":"2011–2020","midasPeakRank":31,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Palo Alto Networks, AppDynamics, Nimble Storage, Rubrik, Sumo Logic","category":"operator","confidence":0.90,"notes":"Was VP at Check Point Software Technologies and held other executive roles in enterprise tech before joining Greylock Partners in 2003. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Greylock bio","url":"https://greylock.com/team/asheem-chandna/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/asheem-chandna/"}]},
  {"id":139,"name":"Steve Anderson","firm":"Baseline Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Instagram (seed, $250K → $78M return), Twitter, Stitch Fix, Heroku","category":"operator","confidence":0.90,"notes":"Was director of business development at eBay before founding Baseline Ventures (VC fund). Wrote Instagram's first external check ($250K for ~10%, returned ~$78M when Facebook acquired). No operating company founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Baseline Ventures website","url":"https://www.baselinev.com/"},{"label":"Forbes profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/steve-anderson/"},{"label":"Instagram Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instagram"}]},
  {"id":140,"name":"Dave McClure","firm":"500 Startups","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None (operating company)","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"1,000+ startups via 500 Startups incl. Twilio, Credit Karma, Wildfire","category":"operator","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Was director of marketing at PayPal and held roles at Founders Fund and other VC firms as an operator. Founded 500 Startups (accelerator/fund) in 2010 — that is the fund, not an operating company. No prior operating company founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Dave McClure","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_McClure"},{"label":"500 Startups website","url":"https://500.co/"}]},
  {"id":141,"name":"Rob Go","firm":"NextView Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Dia & Co, Priceonomics, DraftKings (early), ezCater","category":"operator","confidence":0.85,"notes":"Was a product manager and business development at eBay. Held roles at Spark Capital before co-founding NextView Ventures in 2010. No operating company founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"NextView Ventures bio","url":"https://nextviewventures.com/team/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/robgo"}]},
  {"id":142,"name":"Charles Hudson","firm":"Precursor Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"50+ pre-seed companies in underrepresented markets","category":"operator","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Was at Google, Serious Business, and SV Angel in operator/investment roles. Founded Precursor Ventures in 2015 (VC fund, not operating company). No operating company founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Precursor Ventures bio","url":"https://precursorvc.com/team/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleshudson"}]},
  {"id":143,"name":"Mo Koyfman","firm":"Shine Capital","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Stack Overflow, Tumblr, 1stDibs, Squarespace (early)","category":"operator","confidence":0.85,"notes":"Was SVP at IAC (media/internet conglomerate) in operator roles before joining Spark Capital and then founding Shine Capital. No operating company founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Shine Capital bio","url":"https://www.shinecap.com/team/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/mokoyfman"}]},
  {"id":144,"name":"Bijan Sabet","firm":"Spark Capital","midasYears":"2011–2018","midasPeakRank":35,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Twitter, Tumblr, Foursquare, Warby Parker, Oculus","category":"operator","confidence":0.88,"notes":"Was VP at Lycos (internet portal) before joining Spark Capital as a co-founding partner in 2005. No operating company founding experience. Led Spark's early Twitter investment.","sources":[{"label":"Spark Capital bio","url":"https://www.sparkcapital.com/team/bijan-sabet/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/bijan-sabet/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/bijansabet"}]},
  {"id":145,"name":"Nabeel Hyatt","firm":"Spark Capital","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Slack, Discord, Postmates, Cruise, Supercell","category":"operator","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Was VP of Strategy at Zynga. Joined Spark Capital in 2013. No founding experience. Led Spark's investment in Slack at Series B.","sources":[{"label":"Spark Capital bio","url":"https://www.sparkcapital.com/team/nabeel-hyatt/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/nabeelhyatt"}]},
  {"id":146,"name":"Deep Nishar","firm":"General Catalyst / SoftBank","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Karius, CareDx, Collective Health","category":"operator","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Was SVP of Products at LinkedIn and held senior roles at Google before joining SoftBank Vision Fund and later General Catalyst. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"General Catalyst bio","url":"https://www.generalcatalyst.com/team/deep-nishar"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/dnishar"}]},
  {"id":147,"name":"Quentin Clark","firm":"General Catalyst","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Stripe (board), Samsara, Zapier, Notion","category":"operator","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Was SVP of Engineering at Microsoft and held engineering leadership roles at Amazon. Joined General Catalyst in 2016. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"General Catalyst bio","url":"https://www.generalcatalyst.com/team/quentin-clark"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/qclark"}]},
  {"id":148,"name":"David Krane","firm":"GV (Google Ventures)","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Uber, Slack, Stripe, 23andMe, Nest, Blue Bottle","category":"operator","confidence":0.88,"notes":"Was VP of Communications & Public Affairs at Google. Joined GV (Google Ventures) as managing partner. No founding experience; communications/business operations background.","sources":[{"label":"GV team page","url":"https://www.gv.com/team/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidkrane"}]},
  {"id":149,"name":"Gary Rieschel","firm":"Qiming Venture Partners","midasYears":"2012–2019","midasPeakRank":37,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Meituan, XPeng, Zai Lab, Huitongda, iSoftStone","category":"operator","confidence":0.88,"notes":"Held executive roles at Intel and SoftBank before co-founding Qiming Venture Partners in Shanghai in 2006. No operating company founding experience. Pioneer of US-style VC in China.","sources":[{"label":"Qiming VP bio","url":"https://www.qimingvc.com/team/gary-rieschel/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/gary-rieschel/"}]},
  {"id":150,"name":"Navin Chaddha","firm":"Mayfield Fund","midasYears":"2015–2022","midasPeakRank":28,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"HashiCorp, Lyft, Poshmark, Marketo, ServiceNow","category":"operator","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Held engineering and product management roles at various tech companies before joining Mayfield as managing director. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Mayfield bio","url":"https://www.mayfield.com/team/navin-chaddha/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/navin-chaddha/"}]},
  {"id":151,"name":"Matt Murphy","firm":"Menlo Ventures","midasYears":"2015–2021","midasPeakRank":39,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Siri (acquired by Apple), Uber, Roku, Carta, Poshmark","category":"operator","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Held senior roles at various tech companies and VC firms before joining Menlo Ventures. No founding experience. Led Menlo's investment in Siri prior to Apple acquisition.","sources":[{"label":"Menlo Ventures bio","url":"https://www.menlovc.com/team/matt-murphy/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/matt-murphy/"}]},
  {"id":152,"name":"Mood Rowghani","firm":"DCVC (formerly Benchmark)","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Various deep-tech companies at DCVC","category":"operator","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Was COO at Twitter and CFO at Pixar — both as a hired executive, not a founder. Joined Benchmark and later DCVC as a general partner. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"DCVC bio","url":"https://www.dcvc.com/team/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrowghani"}]},
  {"id":153,"name":"Frank Chen","firm":"Andreessen Horowitz","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Various AI/tech companies at a16z","category":"operator","confidence":0.83,"notes":"Held engineering and product management roles at HP and various technology companies. Joined a16z in 2010 to focus on the a16z AI playbook. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"a16z bio","url":"https://a16z.com/author/frank-chen/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankc"}]},
  {"id":154,"name":"Ryan Sarver","firm":"Redpoint Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Stripe, Figma, Airtable, Hashicorp, Clubhouse","category":"operator","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Was VP of Platform at Twitter, managing the developer ecosystem and API. Joined Redpoint Ventures in 2013. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Redpoint bio","url":"https://www.redpoint.com/team/ryan-sarver/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsarver"}]},
  {"id":155,"name":"Ali Rowghani","firm":"Y Combinator","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Various YC portfolio companies","category":"operator","confidence":0.90,"notes":"Was COO at Twitter and CFO at Pixar — hired executive roles, not a founder. Joined Y Combinator as COO in 2015. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Y Combinator team","url":"https://www.ycombinator.com/about"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/arowghani"}]},
  {"id":156,"name":"Todd Jackson","firm":"First Round Capital","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Various seed-stage companies at First Round","category":"operator","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Held product roles at Google (Gmail), Facebook (Timeline, Graph Search), Twitter, and Dropbox before joining First Round Capital in 2017. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"First Round Capital bio","url":"https://firstround.com/team/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackson"}]},
  {"id":157,"name":"Semil Shah","firm":"Haystack Fund","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"DoorDash, Instacart, HashiCorp, Robinhood, Figma","category":"operator","confidence":0.83,"notes":"Was an advisor and operator at various tech companies and wrote influential tech commentary. Founded Haystack Fund (micro-VC) in 2013 as a fund, not an operating company. No operating company founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Haystack Fund website","url":"https://www.haystackfund.com/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/semilshah"}]},
  {"id":158,"name":"Lee Hower","firm":"NextView Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Various seed-stage companies at NextView","category":"operator","confidence":0.85,"notes":"Was an early employee at PayPal and LinkedIn, then at Point Judith Capital before co-founding NextView Ventures in 2010. No operating company founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"NextView Ventures bio","url":"https://nextviewventures.com/team/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehower"}]},
  {"id":159,"name":"Brian Jacobs","firm":"Emergence Capital","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Salesforce (early), Veeva Systems, Zoom (early), Box, ServiceMax","category":"operator","confidence":0.83,"notes":"Held tech executive roles before co-founding Emergence Capital in 2003, a SaaS-focused VC firm. No prior operating company founding. Made one of the earliest Salesforce bets.","sources":[{"label":"Emergence Capital bio","url":"https://www.emcap.com/team/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianjacobs"}]},
  {"id":160,"name":"Roger Lee","firm":"Battery Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Glassdoor, Bazaarvoice, Coupa Software, Amplitude","category":"operator","confidence":0.82,"notes":"Held tech executive and product roles before joining Battery Ventures. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Battery Ventures bio","url":"https://www.battery.com/team/roger-lee/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-lee"}]},

  {"id":161,"name":"Joel Cutler","firm":"General Catalyst","midasYears":"2012–2020","midasPeakRank":24,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Snap, Airbnb, Stripe, Warby Parker, Oscar Health","category":"finance","confidence":0.88,"notes":"Consulting and finance background. Co-founded General Catalyst (VC firm) in 2000, not an operating company. No operating company founding or significant operator experience.","sources":[{"label":"General Catalyst bio","url":"https://www.generalcatalyst.com/team/joel-cutler"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/joel-cutler/"}]},
  {"id":162,"name":"Deven Parekh","firm":"Insight Partners","midasYears":"2016–2023","midasPeakRank":11,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Twitter, Shopify, JFrog, SentinelOne, Calm, Glossier","category":"finance","confidence":0.92,"notes":"Was an investment banker at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein before joining Insight Partners in 2000. Finance/banking background. No founding or operating experience.","sources":[{"label":"Insight Partners bio","url":"https://www.insightpartners.com/team/deven-parekh/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/deven-parekh/"}]},
  {"id":163,"name":"Josh Wolfe","firm":"Lux Capital","midasYears":"2019–2023","midasPeakRank":36,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None (operating company)","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Echodyne, Shapeways, Anduril, Osmo, Kymera Therapeutics","category":"finance","confidence":0.88,"notes":"Co-founded Lux Capital (VC fund) in 2000 from a finance/science background. No prior operating company founding experience. Known for deep-tech and defense tech investments.","sources":[{"label":"Lux Capital bio","url":"https://luxcapital.com/team/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/josh-wolfe/"},{"label":"Wikipedia – Lux Capital","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux_Capital"}]},
  {"id":164,"name":"Peter Fenton","firm":"Benchmark","midasYears":"2010–2022","midasPeakRank":9,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Twitter, Yelp, New Relic, Elastic, Docker, Zendesk","category":"finance","confidence":0.90,"notes":"Joined Accel Partners as an associate directly after university, then became partner at Benchmark in 2006. Career VC background throughout; no founding or operator experience.","sources":[{"label":"Benchmark team page","url":"https://www.benchmark.com/team/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/peter-fenton/"}]},
  {"id":165,"name":"Katie Haun","firm":"Haun Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Coinbase, OpenSea, Faraway, Dapper Labs, World Coin","category":"finance","confidence":0.90,"notes":"Was a federal prosecutor at the DOJ for many years and later a lecturer at Stanford Law. Joined a16z crypto as a general partner in 2018; founded Haun Ventures in 2022 with a $1.5B fund. No founding or operator experience; law/government background.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Katie Haun","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katie_Haun"},{"label":"Haun Ventures bio","url":"https://www.haun.co/team/"},{"label":"Forbes profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/katie-haun/"}]},
  {"id":166,"name":"Spencer Bogart","firm":"Blockchain Capital","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Kraken, Coinbase, Anchorage, Bakkt, Bitso","category":"finance","confidence":0.85,"notes":"Was an equity analyst at Needham & Company covering internet and blockchain companies before joining Blockchain Capital as a partner in 2016. Finance/equity research background. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Blockchain Capital bio","url":"https://blockchain.capital/team/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencerbogart"}]},
  {"id":167,"name":"Andy Rachleff","firm":"Wealthfront / Benchmark (co-founder)","midasYears":"2001–2010","midasPeakRank":15,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"Benchmark (fund), Wealthfront (post-VC career)","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Ariba, Juniper Networks, BEA Systems, DoubleClick","category":"finance","confidence":0.85,"notes":"Worked at Alex. Brown investment bank before co-founding Benchmark Capital (VC fund) in 1995. Later co-founded Wealthfront (robo-advisor) in 2008 after his VC career. Finance/investing background when he entered VC.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Andy Rachleff","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Rachleff"},{"label":"Wealthfront bio","url":"https://www.wealthfront.com/blog/andy-rachleff/"}]},
  {"id":168,"name":"Bob Kagle","firm":"Benchmark","midasYears":"2001–2012","midasPeakRank":12,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"eBay (early), Starbucks, Ariba, Getty Images, Friendster","category":"finance","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Was an analyst and VP at Merrill Lynch and Technologic Partners (VC) before co-founding Benchmark Capital in 1995. Finance/investment banking background. No founding or operating experience. Led the famous eBay seed investment.","sources":[{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/bob-kagle/"},{"label":"Benchmark history","url":"https://www.benchmark.com/"},{"label":"eBay Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay"}]},
  {"id":169,"name":"Michael Eisenberg","firm":"Aleph VC","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Wix, Lemonade, Monday.com, HoneyBook, Melio","category":"finance","confidence":0.83,"notes":"Was a general partner at Benchmark Israel (Benchmark's Israeli operation) before co-founding Aleph VC in 2013. Career VC background; no founding or operating experience.","sources":[{"label":"Aleph VC bio","url":"https://aleph.vc/team/"},{"label":"Forbes profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/michael-eisenberg/"}]},
  {"id":170,"name":"David Fialkow","firm":"General Catalyst","midasYears":"2011–2018","midasPeakRank":26,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None (operating company)","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Airbnb, Snap, Stripe, Warby Parker, Gilt Groupe","category":"finance","confidence":0.82,"notes":"Co-founded General Catalyst (VC firm) in 2000 with finance/strategy background. No operating company founding experience. Has been a managing director at GC since inception.","sources":[{"label":"General Catalyst bio","url":"https://www.generalcatalyst.com/team/david-fialkow"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/david-fialkow/"}]},

  {"id":171,"name":"Vijay Pande","firm":"Andreessen Horowitz","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Freenome, Insitro, Relay Therapeutics, Recursion, Color Health","category":"technical","confidence":0.92,"notes":"Professor of chemistry, structural biology, and computational biology at Stanford. Founding director of the Folding@Home distributed computing project. Joined a16z as a general partner to lead bio fund. Pure technical/academic background.","sources":[{"label":"a16z bio","url":"https://a16z.com/author/vijay-pande/"},{"label":"Wikipedia – Vijay Pande","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijay_Pande"},{"label":"Folding@Home Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folding@home"}]},
  {"id":172,"name":"Brian Singerman","firm":"Founders Fund","midasYears":"2016–2022","midasPeakRank":13,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Palantir, Stemcentrx ($10.2B AbbVie exit), Wish, Nubank, Lyft","category":"technical","confidence":0.87,"notes":"Was a software engineer at Google. Joined Founders Fund in 2009 as an engineer-turned-investor. Led the Stemcentrx bet (AbbVie acquisition for $10.2B in 2016 — one of the largest biotech exits ever). No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Founders Fund team","url":"https://foundersfund.com/team/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/brian-singerman/"},{"label":"Stemcentrx AbbVie Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stemcentrx"}]},
  {"id":173,"name":"Tom Hulme","firm":"GV (Google Ventures) Europe","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Appear Here, Bloom & Wild, Carwow, Depop, Elvie","category":"technical","confidence":0.85,"notes":"Was a design director and partner at IDEO (design consultancy). Joined GV to lead European investing in 2013. Pure design/domain expertise background; no founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"GV team page","url":"https://www.gv.com/team/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomhulme"}]},
  {"id":174,"name":"Renata Quintini","firm":"Renegade Partners (fmr. Lux Capital)","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":false,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Osmo, Samsara, Whisper, Modsy, Canary","category":"technical","confidence":0.80,"notes":"Science and technology background. Was at Felicis Ventures and Lux Capital as an investor. Co-founded Renegade Partners. No operating company founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Renegade Partners bio","url":"https://www.renegadepartners.com/team/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/renata-quintini-4a4a9213"}]},
  {"id":175,"name":"Matt Turck","firm":"FirstMark Capital","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Cockroach Labs, Sisense, MongoDB (follow-on), Narrative Science","category":"technical","confidence":0.80,"notes":"Has an engineering/technical background and extensive experience advising startups. Was VP at Reuters. Joined FirstMark Capital in 2010. No founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"FirstMark Capital bio","url":"https://firstmark.com/team/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-turck"}]},

  {"id":176,"name":"Niko Bonatsos","firm":"General Catalyst","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Grammarly, Snap (early), Roblox, Discord, Vroom","category":"unclear","confidence":0.55,"notes":"Consumer tech investor background. Joined General Catalyst in 2012. Founding experience not documented in public sources. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"General Catalyst bio","url":"https://www.generalcatalyst.com/team/niko-bonatsos"},{"label":"Forbes profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/niko-bonatsos/"}]},
  {"id":177,"name":"Scott Raney","firm":"Redpoint Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Heroku, Twilio, Stripe, Hashicorp, Snowflake (early)","category":"unclear","confidence":0.52,"notes":"Enterprise and developer tools investor. Background not clearly documented in public sources regarding founding experience. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"Redpoint Ventures bio","url":"https://www.redpoint.com/team/scott-raney/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottraney"}]},
  {"id":178,"name":"Tim Haley","firm":"Redpoint Ventures","midasYears":"2009–2017","midasPeakRank":29,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Netflix (early), MySpace, Friendster, Juniper Networks","category":"unclear","confidence":0.52,"notes":"Co-founded Redpoint Ventures in 1999. Prior background not clearly documented in public sources as an operating company founder. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"Redpoint Ventures bio","url":"https://www.redpoint.com/team/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/tim-haley/"}]},
  {"id":179,"name":"Ping Li","firm":"Accel Partners","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Cloudera, Tenable, Glean, Abnormal Security","category":"unclear","confidence":0.50,"notes":"Enterprise and security investor. Background not clearly documented in public sources. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"Accel bio","url":"https://www.accel.com/people/ping-li"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/pingli"}]},
  {"id":180,"name":"Saam Motamedi","firm":"Greylock Partners","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Abnormal Security, Coda, Figma (follow-on), Watershed","category":"unclear","confidence":0.52,"notes":"AI and enterprise investor at Greylock. Background not clearly documented in public sources regarding founding experience. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"Greylock bio","url":"https://greylock.com/team/saam-motamedi/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/saammotamedi"}]},
  {"id":181,"name":"Jan Hammer","firm":"Index Ventures","midasYears":"2015–2022","midasPeakRank":23,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Adyen, Squarespace, Figma, Robinhood, Glossier","category":"unclear","confidence":0.52,"notes":"Consumer and fintech investor at Index Ventures. Background not clearly documented in public sources regarding founding experience. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"Index Ventures bio","url":"https://www.indexventures.com/team/jan-hammer"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/jan-hammer/"}]},
  {"id":182,"name":"Tony Florence","firm":"NEA","midasYears":"2015–2022","midasPeakRank":27,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Uber (early), Workday, Duolingo, Plaid, Coursera","category":"unclear","confidence":0.52,"notes":"Technology and consumer investor at NEA. Background not clearly documented in public sources regarding founding experience. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"NEA bio","url":"https://www.nea.com/team/tony-florence"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/tony-florence/"}]},
  {"id":183,"name":"Patrick Chung","firm":"NEA","midasYears":"2015–2021","midasPeakRank":31,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Robinhood, SpaceX, Elysium Health, Osso VR","category":"unclear","confidence":0.50,"notes":"Technology investor at NEA. Background not clearly documented in public sources regarding founding experience. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"NEA bio","url":"https://www.nea.com/team/patrick-chung"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/patrick-chung/"}]},
  {"id":184,"name":"Shailendra Singh","firm":"Sequoia India & Southeast Asia (Peak XV)","midasYears":"2016–2023","midasPeakRank":14,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Byjus, Zomato, Razorpay, Meesho, Pine Labs","category":"unclear","confidence":0.50,"notes":"Key architect of Sequoia's India/SE Asia expansion. Background not clearly documented in English-language sources regarding founding experience. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"Peak XV Partners bio","url":"https://www.peakxv.com/people/shailendra-singh/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/shailendra-singh/"}]},
  {"id":185,"name":"Eurie Kim","firm":"Forerunner Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Outdoor Voices, Rockets of Awesome, Curology, August","category":"unclear","confidence":0.52,"notes":"Consumer brand investor at Forerunner. Background not clearly documented in public sources regarding founding experience. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"Forerunner Ventures bio","url":"https://forerunnerventures.com/team/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/euriehkim"}]},
  {"id":186,"name":"Jason Green","firm":"Emergence Capital","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Salesforce (early), Veeva, Zoom (early), Box, ServiceMax","category":"unclear","confidence":0.50,"notes":"Co-founded Emergence Capital in 2003. Background not clearly documented in public sources. The firm specialized in SaaS before SaaS was mainstream. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"Emergence Capital bio","url":"https://www.emcap.com/team/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-green"}]},
  {"id":187,"name":"Venky Ganesan","firm":"Menlo Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Uber, Roku, Poshmark, Siri, Abnormal Security","category":"unclear","confidence":0.52,"notes":"AI and enterprise investor at Menlo Ventures. Background not clearly documented in public sources regarding founding experience. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"Menlo Ventures bio","url":"https://www.menlovc.com/team/venky-ganesan/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/vganesan"}]},
  {"id":188,"name":"Andrew Parker","firm":"Spark Capital","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Hired, Cruise, Reserve, Clover Health","category":"unclear","confidence":0.50,"notes":"Was at Union Square Ventures before joining Spark Capital. Background regarding founding experience not clearly documented in public sources. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"Spark Capital bio","url":"https://www.sparkcapital.com/team/andrew-parker/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/aparker"}]},
  {"id":189,"name":"Klaus Hommels","firm":"Lakestar","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Facebook (early European investor), Skype, Spotify, Xing, Klarna","category":"unclear","confidence":0.55,"notes":"Prominent European tech investor with early bets on Facebook and Skype. Founded Lakestar (VC fund). Background as operating company founder not documented in public sources. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"Lakestar bio","url":"https://www.lakestar.com/team/"},{"label":"Forbes profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/Klaus-hommels/"}]},
  {"id":190,"name":"Christoph Janz","firm":"Point Nine Capital","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Pageflakes, DealPilot","exitType":"Microsoft acquisition (Pageflakes, modest)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Zendesk, Typeform, Loom, Canny, ChartMogul","category":"founder_unclear","confidence":0.78,"notes":"Co-founded DealPilot (price comparison, acquired) and Pageflakes (RSS reader, acquired by Microsoft/Live.com in 2008 for an undisclosed sum). Co-founded Point Nine Capital. Founding experience real; outcomes were modest, pre-unicorn scale.","sources":[{"label":"Point Nine Capital bio","url":"https://www.pointninecap.com/team/"},{"label":"Pageflakes Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pageflakes"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophjanz"}]},
  {"id":191,"name":"Saul Klein","firm":"LocalGlobe","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Lovefilm (disputed), Index Ventures (fund)","exitType":"Amazon acquisition ($200M)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"TransferWise, Zoopla, Moo, Improbable, Babylon Health","category":"unclear","confidence":0.60,"notes":"Was an executive at Skype. Co-founded LocalGlobe VC. Was reportedly involved early at Lovefilm (DVD rental), but founding role is disputed in public sources vs. being an early exec. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"LocalGlobe bio","url":"https://localglobe.vc/team/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/saul-klein-3268a"},{"label":"Lovefilm Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LoveFilm"}]},
  {"id":192,"name":"Kathy Xu","firm":"Capital Today","midasYears":"2015–2021","midasPeakRank":6,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":true,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"JD.com, Meituan, 58.com, Tongdao, Miniso","category":"unclear","confidence":0.50,"notes":"One of China's most prominent female VCs. Background not clearly documented in English-language public sources regarding founding experience. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/kathy-xu/"},{"label":"Capital Today website","url":"http://www.capitaltoday.com/"}]},
  {"id":193,"name":"Duane Kuang","firm":"Qiming Venture Partners","midasYears":"2016–2023","midasPeakRank":17,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Meituan, XPeng, Zai Lab, XtalPi, MissFresh","category":"unclear","confidence":0.50,"notes":"Key investor in China healthcare and tech sectors. Background not clearly documented in English-language public sources regarding founding experience. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"Qiming VP bio","url":"https://www.qimingvc.com/team/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/duane-kuang/"}]},
  {"id":194,"name":"Pär-Jörgen Pärson","firm":"Northzone","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Spotify (early), iZettle, Bambora, Clio, Kahoot","category":"unclear","confidence":0.55,"notes":"Led Northzone's investment in Spotify at an early stage. Background as an operating company founder not confirmed in public English-language sources. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"Northzone bio","url":"https://northzone.com/team/"},{"label":"Spotify early investors","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotify"}]},
  {"id":195,"name":"Ravi Mhatre","firm":"Lightspeed Venture Partners","midasYears":"2011–2020","midasPeakRank":28,"founderStatus":"unclear","companiesFounded":"Unknown","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"AppDynamics, MuleSoft, Nutanix, Mulesoft, OpsRamp","category":"unclear","confidence":0.52,"notes":"Engineering background. Co-founded Lightspeed Venture Partners. Public sources do not clearly document operating company founding experience. Marked unclear.","sources":[{"label":"Lightspeed bio","url":"https://lsvp.com/team/ravi-mhatre/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/ravi-mhatre/"}]},
  {"id":196,"name":"Ron Conway","firm":"SV Angel","midasYears":"2001–2010","midasPeakRank":19,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Google (seed), PayPal, Twitter, Facebook, Dropbox, Airbnb","category":"operator","confidence":0.88,"notes":"Was VP at National Semiconductor and CEO of Altos Computer Systems (a hired executive, not a founder). Founded SV Angel (VC fund). One of Silicon Valley's most connected super-angels, backing Google's first external investors. No operating company founding experience.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Ron Conway","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Conway"},{"label":"SV Angel bio","url":"https://www.svangel.com/team/"},{"label":"Forbes Midas profile","url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/ron-conway/"}]},
  {"id":197,"name":"Mike Maples Sr.","firm":"FLIR Systems / various boards","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Motive Communications (partial)","exitType":"IPO","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Various early board memberships in tech","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.72,"notes":"Father of Mike Maples Jr. Was an early executive at AMD and later a co-founder/investor at Motive Communications. Distinguished from his more-famous son (Floodgate). Confidence lower due to limited public detail.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Mike Maples","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Maples"},{"label":"FLIR Systems board","url":"https://www.flir.com/"}]},
  {"id":198,"name":"Luciana Lixandru","firm":"Sequoia Capital Europe","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"no","companiesFounded":"None","exitType":"N/A","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":false,"notableInvestments":"Vinted, Tessian, Jobandtalent, Melio, JOKR","category":"operator","confidence":0.83,"notes":"Was a general partner at Accel Partners Europe for several years, leading investments across the continent. Joined Sequoia Capital as a partner in 2022. No operating company founding experience; career has been in VC and business operations.","sources":[{"label":"Sequoia Capital bio","url":"https://www.sequoiacap.com/europe/people/luciana-lixandru/"},{"label":"LinkedIn public profile","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/luciana-lixandru-1b59a24"}]},
  {"id":199,"name":"Steve Chen","firm":"YouTube / Various (angel)","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"YouTube, MixBit","exitType":"Google acquisition ($1.65B)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Various angel investments in video/consumer tech","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.97,"notes":"Co-founded YouTube in 2005, acquired by Google for $1.65B in 2006. One of the most successful founders-turned-angels. Later co-founded MixBit (video creation platform). Active angel investor.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Steve Chen","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Chen_(YouTube)"},{"label":"YouTube Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube"},{"label":"Google YouTube acquisition","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube#Google_acquisition"}]},
  {"id":200,"name":"Chad Hurley","firm":"YouTube / Various (angel)","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"YouTube, MixBit","exitType":"Google acquisition ($1.65B)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Various angel investments, sports teams","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.97,"notes":"Co-founded YouTube in 2005 (acquired by Google for $1.65B in 2006). Was the CEO of YouTube post-acquisition. Active angel investor and owner of LAFC (MLS) and other sports franchises.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Chad Hurley","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad_Hurley"},{"label":"YouTube Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube"}]},
  {"id":201,"name":"Jawed Karim","firm":"Youniversity Ventures","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"YouTube","exitType":"Google acquisition ($1.65B)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Airbnb, Eventbrite, Palantir (early)","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.95,"notes":"Co-founded YouTube in 2005 (Google acquisition $1.65B). Also created the first YouTube video. Became an active angel investor via Youniversity Ventures, with early bets in Airbnb and Palantir.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Jawed Karim","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawed_Karim"},{"label":"Youniversity Ventures","url":"https://www.youniversity.vc/team"}]},
  {"id":202,"name":"Mike Krieger","firm":"Various (angel)","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Instagram, Artifact","exitType":"Facebook acquisition ($1B)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Various consumer/creator economy angels","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.98,"notes":"Co-founded Instagram with Kevin Systrom in 2010, acquired by Facebook for $1B in 2012. Later co-founded Artifact (AI news app, shut down 2024). Active angel investor.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Mike Krieger","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Krieger"},{"label":"Instagram Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instagram"}]},
  {"id":203,"name":"Kevin Systrom","firm":"Various (angel)","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Instagram, Artifact","exitType":"Facebook acquisition ($1B)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Various consumer tech angels","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.99,"notes":"Co-founded Instagram with Mike Krieger in 2010, acquired by Facebook for $1B. Prolific angel investor in consumer technology. Also co-founded Artifact.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Kevin Systrom","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Systrom"},{"label":"Instagram Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instagram"}]},
  {"id":204,"name":"Jeremy Stoppelman","firm":"Various (angel)","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Yelp","exitType":"NYSE IPO ($1.5B at IPO)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Various angel investments","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.96,"notes":"Co-founded Yelp in 2004 (NYSE IPO 2012 at ~$1.5B). Was VP of Technology at PayPal before founding Yelp. Active angel investor in consumer and local tech.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Jeremy Stoppelman","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Stoppelman"},{"label":"Yelp Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yelp"},{"label":"Yelp S-1","url":"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1345016/000119312512090336/0001193125-12-090336-index.htm"}]},
  {"id":205,"name":"Justin Kan","firm":"Various / Gobi Capital (board)","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Justin.tv / Twitch, Atrium, Vessel","exitType":"Amazon acquisition ($970M — Twitch)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Various YC-backed companies, crypto startups","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.96,"notes":"Co-founded Justin.tv (later Twitch, acquired by Amazon for $970M in 2014). Also co-founded Atrium (legal tech, shut down) and Vessel (video, shut down). Prolific angel investor and YC alum.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Justin Kan","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Kan"},{"label":"Twitch Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitch_(service)"}]},
  {"id":206,"name":"Kevin Rose","firm":"True Ventures (former partner)","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Digg, Revision3, Milk, Hodinkee","exitType":"Digg sold to Betaworks ($500K — distressed)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Twitter (early angel), Square, Foursquare, Zen Desk","category":"founder_unclear","confidence":0.85,"notes":"Founded Digg (social news, sold in distressed sale for ~$500K in 2012 after peaking at ~$165M valuation). Founded Revision3 (video, acquired by Discovery Communications). Founding experience is real; Digg's outcome was a failure despite early promise.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Kevin Rose","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Rose"},{"label":"Digg Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digg"},{"label":"True Ventures team","url":"https://trueventures.com/team/"}]},
  {"id":207,"name":"Aaron Patzer","firm":"Various (angel)","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Mint.com","exitType":"Intuit acquisition ($170M)","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Various fintech and consumer angels","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.95,"notes":"Founded Mint.com (personal finance), acquired by Intuit for $170M in 2009. VP at Intuit post-acquisition. Active angel investor in fintech. Classic founder-turned-investor.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Aaron Patzer","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Patzer"},{"label":"Mint.com Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mint.com"}]},
  {"id":208,"name":"Stewart Butterfield","firm":"Various (angel)","midasYears":"N/A","midasPeakRank":null,"founderStatus":"yes","companiesFounded":"Slack, Flickr, Glitch","exitType":"Salesforce acquisition Slack ($27.7B); Yahoo acquisition Flickr","operatorExp":true,"financeBackground":false,"techBackground":true,"notableInvestments":"Various angel investments in productivity/collaboration tech","category":"successful_founder","confidence":0.99,"notes":"Co-founded Flickr (acquired by Yahoo for ~$25M in 2005) and Slack (acquired by Salesforce for $27.7B in 2021). Active angel investor. One of the most successful serial founders-turned-investors.","sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia – Stewart Butterfield","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewart_Butterfield"},{"label":"Slack Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slack_(software)"},{"label":"Salesforce Slack acquisition","url":"https://investor.salesforce.com/press-releases/detail/265/salesforce-completes-acquisition-of-slack"}]}
]