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.

Lumo

Lumo helps growers conserve their most precious resources: time, money and water.

There is no better way to ensure food and water security.

By 2050, agricultural production will need to increase by 60% to meet the needs our growing population. At the same time, annual global water consumption is predicted to exceed sustainable supplies by 40%. This is a major challenge for our farmers, who already account for 70% of global water use, and 85% in drought-stricken California. 

Lumo offers the first ever smart irrigation value. Our patented design lets growers optimize every irrigation, reducing costs, protecting crops and improving yields.

Ripple Ventures

With presence in Toronto, Boston & San Francisco, we are always seeking new investments in industries ripe for disruption. As serial entrepreneurs, we are actively involved with our investments, providing ongoing advice and support to all our portfolio companies, in addition to helping them leverage our broad business networks.

Advisor/Investor

Various Startups

Helping founders rapidly build successful teams and outcomes. Strategy, product<>market fit, fundraising, team building, operational excellence.

Yelp

Responsible for setting & executing the Go-to-Market strategy for our Restaurant SaaS & Marketplace products. A few highlights from our amazing team since joining:
- Took #1 market share in our 3 largest metros
- Accelerated YoY growth in monthly booked tables by over 400%
- Tripled our LTV:CAC by introducing multi-product bundles & pricing initiatives
- 4X our app download volume to help grow our Yelp presence across the US

GM, Yelp Restaurants

Turnstyle Solutions (acquired by Yelp)

We built Turnstyle Solutions into the leading WiFi marketing platform helping local businesses connect with their customers. Acquired by Yelp in 2017.

https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/04/yelp-acquires-wi-fi-marketing-company-turnstyle-analytics-for-20-million/

Co-founder / CEO

Responsible for wholesale pricing TD's US mortgage portfolio while our book grew from $13B to $18B.

Senior Treasury Analyst

Associate in TD's post-graduate rotational program.

Finance Associate

I love the experience of scaling, especially the early challenges of finding product<>market fit, team building and revenue growth. 

I've founded 2 startups and advise or invest in many more.

My current venture is Lumo. Our mission is to massively improve fresh water efficiency and food security. We do this helping farmers optimize irrigation so they can continue to meet our growing food demand with an increasingly volatile water supply.

Prior to this, I co-founded Turnstyle Solutions and grew it to one of the largest local marketing platforms of its kind before being acquired by Yelp in 2017. I helped build and run the Yelp Restaurants division with an incredible team of leaders until 2022.

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