Theresia Gouw is an

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

and

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

investor in the technology sector. She worked at

Bain & Company Bain & Company is an American management consulting company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm provides advice to public, private, and non-profit organizations. One of the Big Three management consultancies, Bain & Company was fou ...

, Release Software and

Accel Partners Accel, formerly known as Accel Partners, is an American venture capital firm. Accel works with startups in seed, early and growth-stage investments. The company has offices in Palo Alto, California and San Francisco, California, with additional ...

before co-founding Aspect Ventures, a female-led

firm, in 2014. Gouw was named one of the 40 most influential minds in tech by

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

. and has been recognized seven times on the

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

Midas List as one of the "world's smartest tech investors". According to

.com, Gouw is the richest female venture capitalist, with a net worth of approximately $500 million, primarily due to her involvement with

Accel (company) Accel, formerly known as Accel Partners, is an American venture capital firm. Accel works with startups in seed, early and growth-stage investments. The company has offices in Palo Alto, California and San Francisco, California, with additional ...

's early investment in

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

Early years and education

Gouw's family fled

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

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

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, graduating

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

, and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Career

Gouw began her career at

. She left Bain to become a founding member of Release Software, a startup founded by business school classmates, where she served as Vice President of Business Development & Sales. After Release Software, Gouw joined

, eventually becoming Managing Partner. Her investments included

Trulia Trulia is an American online real estate marketplace which is a subsidiary of Zillow. It facilitates buyers and renters to find homes and neighborhoods across the United States through recommendations, local insights, and map overlays that offer ...

(TRLA),

Imperva Imperva is a cyber security software and services company which provides protection to enterprise data and application software. The company is headquartered in San Mateo, California. History Imperva, originally named WEBcohort, was founded in 20 ...

(IMPV), LearnVest, JasperDesign, and Kozmix. In 2014, Gouw co-founded Aspect Ventures with fellow venture capital investor Jennifer Fonstad. Gouw and Fonstad worked together early in their careers at

and at Release Software. During the first year, Aspect Ventures made several

Series A A series A round (also known as series A financing or series A investment) is the name typically given to a company's first significant round of venture capital financing. The name refers to the class of preferred stock sold to investors in exc ...

and

seed investment Seed money, sometimes known as seed funding or seed capital, is a form of securities offering in which an investor invests capital in a startup company in exchange for an equity stake or convertible note stake in the company. The term ''seed'' su ...

s funded by the co-founders' personal capital. In May 2015, Aspect announced it had raised its first $150MM fund, which included outside capital from Limited Partners. The firm has made investments in companies including ForeScout (FSCT), Cato Networks, Exabeam, The Muse, and Crew. In 2019, Gouw co-founded Acrew Capital with Lauren Kolodny, Vishal Lugani, Asad Khaliq and Mark Kraynak. Acrew's first fund was a ~$250MM fund. They've since announced a new initiative called Acrew Diversify Capital Fund (DCF) to diversify the boards and cap tables of market leading, late stage companies.

Board member and advisor

Gouw sits on the board of directors of several of the companies she has invested in, including Deserve, Cato Networks, ForeScout Technologies (FSCT), Exabeam and The Muse. She serves as Treasurer on the

Corporation Board. She serves as vice-chair of the board of

DonorsChoose DonorsChoose is a United States-based nonprofit organization that allows individuals to donate directly to public school classroom projects. The organization has been given Charity Navigator's highest rating every year since 2005. In January 201 ...

, and is a member of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisory Council. She also serves on the board of trustees of the Castilleja School.

Honors

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

Notable speaker & commentator

Speaking

* TEDx SF (2016) * Web Summit, Lisbon (2016) * The Wall Street Journal Global Startups Showcase (2016) * WSJDLIVE (2015) * Forbes Power Women Summit (2014) * Fortune The Most Powerful Women Summit (2013)

Commentary

Gouw has provided commentary on a range of topics related to venture capital, technology and finance on CNBC, Bloomberg West, Fox Business, Forbes, Fortune, and the Wall Street Journal.

References

External links

www.aspectventures.com

Theresia Gouw Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gouw, Theresia 1968 births Living people American venture capitalists Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni Bain & Company employees American women investors Indonesian people of Chinese descent Brown University School of Engineering alumni