Updated:
Greylock Partners
Greylock Partners is a venture capital firm founded in 1965 by Bill Elfers. Backed over 300 companies including Airbnb, Coinbase, LinkedIn.
Greylock Partners
Bill Elfers, a veteran of American Research & Development under General Georges Doriot, started Greylock in 1965. The firm emphasized collegiality over hierarchy, a structure that persisted through subsequent partnerships. Dan Gregory co-founded the firm the same year and later served as managing partner. Greylock writes the first check in over 80% of its investments: pre-seed, seed, or Series A. Asset classes covered include enterprise software, AI/ML, cybersecurity, fintech, and consumer. Notable portfolio companies include Airbnb, Coinbase, Discord, Figma, Instagram, LinkedIn, Meta, Palo Alto Networks, and Workday. The firm operates out of Menlo Park and London. Greylock has raised a series of thirteen partnerships with committed capital exceeding $3.0 billion. The firm employs Greylock Edge, a three-month company-building program for select pre-idea and pre-seed founders. May 2024: Introduced Altara, an AI platform for the physical sciences, and Axiamatic, an AI control plane for enterprise transformation. Greylock’s structural differentiator is its focus on being "your first partner" — investing before a founder has employees, revenue, or code. The firm works from a whiteboard to refine product focus, then provides recruiting, customer engagement, and go-to-market support through IPO.
General information
Firm type
Venture Capital
Year founded
1965
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Menlo Park
Corporate office
Menlo Park, CA, United States
Additional offices
London, United Kingdom
Principals
Dan Gregory
Co-founder
Bill Elfers
Co-founder
Charlie Waite
Partner
Roger Evans
Emeritus Partner
Howard Cox
Emeritus Partner
Henry McCance
Emeritus Partner
Bob Henderson
Partner
Bill Kaiser
Partner
Dave Strohm
Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Greylock Partners?
Greylock operates as a partnership without a single named CIO or managing partner currently listed on the website. Historically, managing partners included Dan Gregory and Henry McCance. The firm lists current partners including Asheem Chandna, Jerry Chen, Reid Hoffman, and Saam Motamedi (per firm website, 2024).
How does Greylock source proprietary deal flow?
Over 80% of Greylock’s investments come from founders who approach the firm before they have employees, revenue, or code. The firm’s reputation and its partners' networks — many having held operating roles at companies like Google and PayPal (per firm website) — drive inbound from pre-seed entrepreneurs.
What investment stages does Greylock typically target?
Greylock focuses on early-stage investments, with over 80% of capital deployed as the first check — pre-seed, seed, or Series A. The firm has a dedicated program, Greylock Edge, for pre-idea and pre-seed founders (per firm website, 2024).
Does Greylock participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
Greylock is a direct venture capital investor, not a fund-of-funds. It makes equity investments directly into startups and manages no third-party commingled funds beyond its own limited partnerships (per firm website).
Which sectors does Greylock invest in?
Greylock invests in AI-first companies, enterprise software, cybersecurity, fintech, consumer, marketplaces, infrastructure, and healthcare. It has explicitly backed companies in web3 (0x Labs), biotech (Altara), and climate tech (Chia Network) (per firm website, 2024).
What is Greylock’s relationship to the founding wealth?
Greylock was not formed to manage a single family’s wealth. It is an institutional venture capital firm structured as a partnership, initially capitalized by the founders and limited partners.
What is Greylock's approach to AI?
Greylock describes its focus as AI-first. Its recent portfolio includes Anthropic, Adept, Baseten, and Braintrust. The firm has also launched two AI-native portfolio companies in 2024: Altara (AI for physical sciences) and Axiamatic (AI for enterprise transformation) (per firm website, 2024).
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
Need institutional-grade insight on venture capital firms?
Altss delivers:
Prefer a guided tour?
We’ll walk you through: