About
<p>“I don’t mind if you weren’t born in the U.S. or if your accent sounds funny – mine does for sure. I also don’t care whether you went to Stanford or you’re a domain expert yet. I believe that talent is universal, even if opportunity is not.â€</p><p>My passion is working with first-time technology founders with strong product instincts, who treat every decision as a learning moment. These are essential traits of entrepreneurs who build great companies.</p><p>I particularly enjoy investing early in consumer products and services that most people might perceive as crazy, funny, and controversial; those strong reactions tell me there is something disruptive going on.</p><p>Similarly, I look for consumer products and services that streamline existing cumbersome workflows.<br>I believe technology exists to make our lives better. Combine this with a hot market, and billion-dollar companies can be created. General Catalyst companies I’m involved with include <a href=\"[LINK NOT ALLOWED]">ClassDojo</a>, <a href=\"[LINK NOT ALLOWED]">Castle Global</a>, <a href=\"[LINK NOT ALLOWED]">Livongo Health</a>, <a href=\"[LINK NOT ALLOWED]">PumpUp</a>, <a href=\"[LINK NOT ALLOWED]">RealtyShares</a>, and <a href=\"[LINK NOT ALLOWED]">Snapchat</a>.</p><p>My intellectual curiosity and ambition to maximize serendipity (my life’s function) led me to be a perpetual student in multiple countries. I ended up graduating from Stanford (MS in Management Science and Engineering as a Fulbright Scholar), the University of Cambridge (M.Phil. in Manufacturing Engineering and Management) and the National Technical University of Athens (Dipl.-Ing in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science). I also worked in Tokyo at the R&D headquarters for Yokogawa Electric Corporation. This random walk through the world has proven to be extremely helpful in my role as an early-stage investor.</p>
