# Aileen Lee

> Aileen Lee is the founder and managing partner of Cowboy Ventures, a seed-stage VC firm she started in 2012 after over a decade at Kleiner Perkins. She is best known for coining the term 'unicorn' in a 2013 TechCrunch analysis of billion-dollar startups, a word that has since reshaped how the entire tech industry talks about breakout companies. She co-founded All Raise in 2018 to accelerate funding for female investors and founders, and has backed companies like Dollar Shave Club, Chime, Product Hunt, and Guild. Named to Time 100 Most Influential People in 2019 and Forbes Midas List multiple years.

- **Role:** Founder & Managing Partner at Cowboy Ventures
- **Organizations:** Cowboy Ventures, All Raise, Castilleja School (board), USC Iovine and Young Academy
- **From:** Staten Island, New York, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** High School Diploma, Millburn High School, Bachelor of Science, MIT Sloan School of Management, MBA, Harvard Business School
- **Known for:** Coined the venture capital term 'unicorn' for startups valued at $1B+ (2013), Founded Cowboy Ventures in 2012, one of the first female-led VC firms, Co-founded All Raise (2018), a nonprofit that grew from one email to 30+ VCs

## Career timeline

- **1988** — Graduated Millburn High School as senior class president
- **1992** — Graduated MIT Sloan School of Management
- **1992-1994** — Financial analyst at Morgan Stanley
- **1994-1995** — Operating roles at Gap Inc.
- **1997** — Earned MBA from Harvard Business School
- **1999** — Joined Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers as venture partner
- **2005** — Became founding CEO of RMG Networks (KPCB-backed digital media company)
- **2012** — Left Kleiner Perkins after 13 years to found Cowboy Ventures
- **2013** — Published 'Welcome to the Unicorn Club' in TechCrunch, coining the term 'unicorn'
- **2017** — Added Ted Wang as General Partner at Cowboy Ventures
- **2018** — Co-founded All Raise nonprofit to increase funding for female investors
- **2019** — Named to Time 100 Most Influential People
- **2020** — Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women (#97); Midas List #80
- **2023** — Published 10-year follow-up unicorn analysis; Cowboy Ventures raised third fund ($95M)
- **2024** — Coined 'unicorpse' and 'zombiecorn' terms for failed/stalled unicorns

## Achievements

- Coined the venture capital term 'unicorn' for startups valued at $1B+ (2013)
- Founded Cowboy Ventures in 2012, one of the first female-led VC firms
- Co-founded All Raise (2018), a nonprofit that grew from one email to 30+ VCs
- Named to Time 100 Most Influential People (2019)
- Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women (#97, 2020)
- Forbes Midas List: #80 (2020), #82 (2019), #97 (2018)
- Top seed investor lists for multiple consecutive years
- Partner on portfolio including Dollar Shave Club, Chime, Product Hunt, Guild
- Senior partner at Kleiner Perkins for 13 years, working with companies from Series A through IPO
- Backed companies that include Bloom Energy, Rent the Runway (at Kleiner Perkins)

## Latest updates

- **2024-01** — Published 10-year follow-up to the original unicorn analysis, introducing the terms 'unicorpse' and 'zombiecorn' for failed and stalled high-valuation startups
- **2023-11** — Marked 10th anniversary of the 'unicorn' term with new data showing 39 unicorns became 532
- **2025-01** — Spoke at Guild Opportunity Summit 2025 on the current state of the startup ecosystem
- **2023-01** — Cowboy Ventures active in AI-native software, fintech, security, vertical SaaS, and healthcare investing

## Links

- Website: https://www.cowboy.vc
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aileenwlee
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/aileenlee

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/aileen-lee
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-05