Tomasz Tunguz

Theory Ventures

Student of startups, author of tomtunguz.com, investor, & partner to founders.

General Partner

Redpoint Ventures

Privileged to support the journey of early stage SaaS, data and infrastructure founders. Worked with Looker ($2.6b M&A), MotherDuck, Mysten Labs (SUI), Monte Carlo, Omni, Chorus ($575m to ZI), Expensify (IPO), ThredUp (IPO), Kustomer ($1b sale to META), & others.

Managing Director

Winning with Data

I co-authored Winning with Data with Looker CEO Frank Bien.  Winning with Data: Transform Your Culture, Empower Your People, and Shape the Future explores  the cultural changes big data brings to business, and shows you how to adapt your organization to leverage data to maximum effect.

Co-Author

Google, Inc.

Managing AdSense for Social Networks including the $900M MySpace deal.
Managed AdSense International including product launches in Greece, Israel, Thailand, Indonesia and Bulgaria

Product Manager

Appian Corporation

Architected, developed and deployed systems for the US Government serving DHS

Engineer

Student of Startups
Backer of 9 unicorns
Author of http://tomtunguz.com 
Subscribe https://ttunguz.kit.com/ef0a779b9c

Founder

Private equity firms have emerged as the newest distribution channel for AI startups.

While public companies have decreased from 6,639 in 2000 to 3,550 in 2024, PE-owned companies in the US have grown from 1,950 to 14,300. The rate of growth continues to accelerate.

The crossover happened in 2009, when PE inventory overtook public company counts for the first time. By 2024, PE-backed companies outnumber public firms by roughly 4:1.

The shift is driven by the massive expansion of PE ownership across corporate America.

That’s not to say the sizes of PE-owned companies are the same as publics. In fact, they are smaller.

The point isn’t that startups previously focused on public companies. Rather, the data reveals the immense scale of private equity portfolios.

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Data Sources : CRSP, Wilshire 5000, PitchBook, American Investment Council, Citizens Bank.

The mid-market profile of these PE-owned companies suits AI startups’ desires for faster sales cycles.

Plus, the profit motive of private equity aligns perfectly with AI startups’ capacity to cut costs & drive efficiency. PE firms acquire companies to improve margins & operational performance before exit.

AI tools that reduce headcount, automate processes, or accelerate workflows deliver exactly what PE operating partners need.

A private equity firm owning 25 companies proves value in one or two before rolling out to the entire portfolio. Control enables rapid deployment. This creates an efficient channel for AI startups to demonstrate value & cross-sell.

PE firms gain operational leverage while AI startups access more than 14,000 motivated buyers. This new go-to-market motion redefines how AI software reaches the market, bypassing the traditional enterprise sales grind in favor of networks that can deploy at scale.

BrowserStack

BrowserStack is the global category leader in cloud-based software testing; backed by Accel, Insight Partners and BOND.

I have led the flagship Cross-Browser and Device Testing product line while spearheading new product launches to expand BrowserStack into an all-in-one testing platform.

Currently, I serve as Head of Product and revenue goal owner for a portfolio of new product bets:
 ⇒ Test Management (red ocean bet): An AI-driven comprehensive solution to manage end-to-end workflow, "system of records" and collaboration for the Quality function
 ⇒ Website Scanner (blue ocean bet): No-code automated website checks for key testing use cases (visual, accessibility, responsiveness, website performance, functional)

Previously, I led the Manual Testing flagship product line, driving growth and innovation across:
 ⇒ Live & App Live (core flagship): Web and mobile app testing on real device cloud
 ⇒ Bug Capture (acquisition): A bug recording and reporting tool for faster issue resolution
 ⇒ App Performance (new product, blue ocean bet): Client-side performance testing (pre-production) for mobile apps

Senior Director, Products (revenue owner for key new product bets)

Janaagraha

Janaagraha's (a 20-yr old org, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janaagraha) mission is to transform the quality of life in India’s cities. It partners with Governments on City-Systems reforms in Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and with citizens to catalyze active civic participation in governance.

I worked with the exec team to frame Product vision & strategy alignment with the long-term mission of Janaagraha.

I influenced the decisions on initiative sequencing, team structuring & hiring to complement the key policy advocacy programs:
- CityFinance.in: Bringing standardized transparency in ULBs' finances to seek & monitor grants under Indian Government's 15th Finance Commission (including publicly available audited finances and ULB rankings)
- Grants management systems: Tracking the entire life-cycle of grants from State/Centre to ULBs
- Open Cities framework: Productizing and scaling up the currently dormant statutory civic participation mechanism of Ward Committees (3-way engagement between Councillor, Officials & Citizens)
- Expanding ULBs' access to public bond markets for their financing needs via Municipal Bonds (partnering with the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs)

Fractional CPO (strategy reset + process & team scale-up)

RingCentral Events (Formerly Hopin)

Hopin is a UK-headquartered Event-tech platform (virtual / in-person / hybrid; events & webinars) funded by Andreesen Horowitz, Accel, and Indus Valley Partners. Named the "fastest-growing startup in Europe", it scaled to $100 mn ARR within 1.5 years of launch.

Lead multiple global Product charters (my teams were in UK, EU, and US) for the flagship Hopin Events product
- Organizer journey: Creating, setting up, inviting, managing, and post-processing a virtual event
- App platform: App store & integrations between Hopin and other tools for experience enhancement & data import/export workflows
- Product-led growth: Freemium strategy and self-serve product experience
- Pricing & packaging: Product representative for sign-offs for GTM of new releases & long-term strategy
- Product Analytics: Lead the function for Hopin Events

VP Product, Hopin Events (cross-functional charter across global teams)

Atlassian

Atlassian Marketplace is one of the largest SaaS App Marketplaces; with $2+ billion in lifetime sales. Like App Store for iPhone or Play Store for Android, it is the platform for distributing & monetising 3rd party Apps for Jira, Confluence, Trello & other Atlassian SaaS products.

Role highlights:
- Led the growth in annual sales from $250 mn --> $650 mn in 3 years (~40% CAGR)
- Scaled the unified App Marketplace for 3rd party Apps, SaaS partnership integrations and private customisations built for all Atlassian products
- Established the first Product team for Atlassian in the new Bengaluru office
- Transitioned the product & business model to enable the Cloud-first future of Atlassian
- Launched new SaaS pricing & selling strategies fit for each Customer & Developer segment
- Created the next 3-5 years growth avenues: Enterprise-scale readiness; seeding Apps for newer Atlassian products; empowering end-users to "bring you own technology"; in-Product contextual App discovery; up levelling trust via enhanced quality standards; making new Developers successful
- Worked closely with a X-functional team for GTM activities & Operational Excellence

Head of Product, Marketplace (governance & scale-up of global Apps economy)

Practo

Practo is the leading health-tech startup in India. It powers 60+ million doctor-patient interactions annually; and is funded by marquee investors like Sequoia, Tencent, Google Capital.

I was Product Head for Practo's flagship Marketplace product - Doctor search & appointment booking - focussing on consumer growth & new business initiatives. The Marketplace delivered ~1 million appointments per month to doctors across India and contributed ~2/3rd of Practo's revenue.

Role highlights:
- Launched a product offering to create a new revenue stream - omnichannel high-touch concierge service for patients in need of a surgery
- Enabled behaviour change for both consumers & doctors, in a highly regulated industry
- Established multiple Product Roadmaps to support Practo's vision of becoming a world-class healthcare platform
- Lead multiple consumer-facing, doctor-facing, logistics and process management products; across platforms (Web, Mobile Web, Android and iOS)
- Lead & mentored 15+ energetic Product Managers across levels and products
- Inculcated the discipline of first principles thinking & data-driven decision making in Product teams

VP Products, Doctor appointments booking (service quality promise + new revenue lines)

I was Product Head simultaneously for launching and scaling Practo's 3 new product lines for establishing future revenue streams
- Online doctor consultation marketplace (telemedicine)
- Online medicine ordering and home delivery (healthcare eCommerce)
- India's first out-patient Health Insurance platform (in collaboration with top Insurance co.'s)

AVP Products (3 venture bets - launch, establish product/market fit & scale)

Cucumbertown

Cucumbertown (acquired by Cookpad, listed in Japan with ~$2bn market cap) was a niche blogging & monetisation platform for cooking enthusiasts; funded by 500 Startups (USA) and Helion Ventures (India).

I was the sole product & monetisation owner outside of the 2-member Founding team; grew the platform from first 1,000 users to a successful acquisition.

Role highlights:
- Created a product with global audience, with 65% traffic outside India
- Sole business-role owner on team; responsible for product management, growth and monetisation
- Key personnel for Investor relations and acquisition process
- Conceptualised and launched non-ad content monetisation features with 3x effective CPM compared to standard ad-based models
- Defined and created consumer-focussed features from grounds up - relevant personalisation & curation, home feed for content discovery, network expansion, onboarding flow
- Strengthened core platform features and APIs around structured data 
- Jump-started all product usage metrics for conversion, engagement and retention

VP Product, Growth & Monetisation

PineBridge (formerly AIG) Private Equity

Part of 4-member India Investment arm for PineBridge's Asia Private Equity Fund of $400mn+
Fund invested in 7 companies in India in sectors of nuclear power plant parts, fire safety & home automation, hospitals, ports & defense contracts and auto-parts

Managed $80mn investment in 2 privately held and 1 public listed portfolio companies - helping them on business strategy and execution of growth plans. Navigated through extremely tough economic environment after Global Economic Crisis of 2008 to assist portfolio companies in maintaining business performance with hard look on improving cost efficiency and financial restructuring.

Successfully exited an investment with 3x INR returns (2.5x USD returns).
http://www.vccircle.com/news/engineering/2012/10/31/pinebridge-exits-maini-precision-products-153m-pockets-3x

Manager, Direct Investments

Edvento.com

Edvento was a platform for hosting test prep courses powered by an Adaptive Learning algorithm. It also hosts in-house developed test prep modules on GMAT, GRE, IIT-JEE and SAT.

Part of 3-member founding team comprised of IIT / IIM / ISB alumni. Edvento successfully assisted 1000s of students in their test prep.

Role highlights:
- Launched Public Beta of Edvento platform
- Designed and developed first version of Edvento's Adpative Learning algorithm

Launched other core features:
-  Test simulation - Adaptively compiled question bank and test administration interface
-  Engagement hooks - Extensible gamification framework and activity feed
-  Freemium model - Configurable subscription plans and payment gateway integration
-  Analytics - System-wide performance comparison framework and interactive charts
-  Admin modules - Bulk upload of content from Excel data sources with validation and error checking

Co-founder

Tata Administrative Services (TAS) is the flagship leadership development programme for grooming young talent for challenging leadership positions in the Tata group. It offers cross-functional opportunities across diverse industries.

Managed a Supply chain optimization project for Tata Motors Limited in Middle East and North Africa.

Internship

Adobe Systems

Developed Fireworks, an application interface designing and image optimization product for Web, part of Adobe Creative Suite. Contributed to Typography feature enhancements in areas of Vector fonts, kerning, ligatures.

Member of Technical Staff

Exploring opportunities ~ Product builder ~ SaaS & Healthtech platforms ~ Bringing clarity & creating value in ambiguous situations ~ Tours of duty @ Atlassian, Hopin, Practo, Private Equity

I am a Product & Business Leader with a track record of scaling SaaS businesses, launching category-defining products and leading high-performing teams across B2B and B2C. My experience spans 0-to-1, growth, monetization and scale across startups, hyper-growth companies and public enterprises.

With a multi-disciplinary background as a Product Leader, Founder, Investor and Developer, I’ve built and led global teams, driven strategic clarity and executed at scale across diverse markets (India, US, Europe, Australia).

~~~ Key highlights ~~~

* Led $100M+ ARR SaaS products as Sr. Director of Product at BrowserStack and VP of Product at Hopin
* As Product employee #1 at Atlassian India, built and scaled the product org, establishing product culture, hiring practices and launching global charters
* Led the expansion of Atlassian’s App Marketplace, growing it from $250M to $650M+ annual sales in three years while transitioning anchor product ownership to India
* Built & scaled India’s first online doctor consultation platform, delivering 10,000+ daily consultations at peak and leveraging AI-driven Q&A to auto-answer medical queries
* Successfully led 0-to-1, growth, monetization and platform scale initiatives across B2C (social content, health-tech) and B2B (Atlassian, Hopin, BrowserStack)
* Recognized for empathy-driven leadership, strategic clarity and a disciplined impact-assessment approach that enables teams to consistently deliver results


~~~ Leadership Experience ~~~

* 12 years in Product Leadership, 1 year as a Founder, 5 years in Private Equity, 3 years as a Developer.
* Experience across company stages & geographies: Seed (IN), Series C (IN), Series D (EU/US), Public (IN/AUS/US)
* Built and scaled teams: Set up new product functions, defined strategy & OKRs and mentored 50+ PMs & Analysts
* Balanced approach to Product Craft: Operate at the intersection of business ownership, data-driven experimentation and customer-centric design
* Strong track record of first-principles thinking and data-informed decision-making


~~~ Product Experience & Skills ~~~

* Launched 6+ products from scratch, driving product-market fit, growth and monetization
* Scaled SaaS tools, marketplaces, monetization platforms and network-effect products in both B2B & B2C
* Industry expertise: Work collaboration tools, OTT streaming, HealthTech, EdTech, AdTech, social platforms
* Product portfolio includes: Virtual events platforms, SaaS monetization tools, app marketplaces, telemedicine, doctor appointment marketplaces, social blogging and adaptive learning platforms

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