# Bijan Sabet

> Bijan Sabet is a first-generation American venture capitalist, co-founder of Spark Capital, and former U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic. The son of Iranian and Korean immigrants who met in a New York medical school, he drove from Boston to Silicon Valley after a 1991 Macworld, built foundational consumer internet companies, then returned east to co-found Spark Capital in 2005 - backing Twitter when it had 11 employees, Tumblr before it sold to Yahoo for $1.1 billion, and Discord before it became the home for every online community. After stepping back from Spark in 2021, President Biden appointed him Ambassador to Prague, where he served until January 2025. He is also a film photographer, board member of Human Rights Watch, and trustee at Boston College.

- **Role:** Partner Emeritus at Spark Capital
- **Organizations:** Spark Capital, Human Rights Watch (Board Member), Boston College (Board of Trustees)
- **From:** New York, USA
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor's Degree, Accounting and Computer Science, Boston College
- **Known for:** Co-founded Spark Capital in 2005, one of Boston's most successful venture capital firms, Led early investment in Twitter (Series B, 2008) when company had 11 employees, Led early investment in Tumblr which sold to Yahoo for $1.1 billion

## Career timeline

- **1991** — Graduated Boston College; drove to Silicon Valley after attending Macworld
- **1991-1997** — Senior executive roles at WebTV Networks, San Francisco
- **1997** — Microsoft acquires WebTV for $425 million
- **c. 2000-2004** — Co-founded Moxi Digital; later joined Charles River Ventures as Entrepreneur-in-Residence
- **2005** — Co-founded Spark Capital in Boston with Santo Politi, Todd Dagres, and Paul Conway
- **2007** — Led Spark's Series A investment in Tumblr after meeting 19-year-old David Karp
- **2008** — Led Spark's investment in Twitter (Series B) when company had 11 employees; joined board
- **2011** — Left Twitter board after serving 2008-2011
- **2013** — Yahoo acquires Tumblr for $1.1 billion; Sabet's board service ends
- **2015** — Led Series A investment in Cruise Autonomous
- **2016** — General Motors acquires Cruise; led Series C investment in Discord
- **2020** — Uber acquires Postmates (Spark portfolio)
- **2021** — Stepped back from General Partner role at Spark Capital after 17 years; joined Boston College Board of Trustees
- **2022** — Nominated by President Biden as U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic (August); confirmed by Senate (December)
- **2023** — Presented credentials to Czech President Milos Zeman (February); served as 10th U.S. Ambassador to Czech Republic
- **2025** — Concluded diplomatic service (January 20); returned to U.S.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Spark Capital in 2005, one of Boston's most successful venture capital firms
- Led early investment in Twitter (Series B, 2008) when company had 11 employees
- Led early investment in Tumblr which sold to Yahoo for $1.1 billion
- Led investments in Wayfair, Oculus, Slack, Warby Parker, Discord, Stack Overflow, Cruise, and Postmates
- Confirmed as 10th U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic by Senate voice vote (December 2022)
- Served as U.S. Ambassador to Czech Republic from December 2022 to January 2025
- Board member of Human Rights Watch
- Trustee on Boston College Board of Trustees
- Former board member of Twitter (2008-2011) and Tumblr (2007-2013)

## Latest updates

- **2025-01** — Concluded service as U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic on January 20, 2025
- **2025-02** — Returned to private life as Partner Emeritus at Spark Capital
- **2026-01** — Building new digital tools including 'Squares' (Instagram photo formatter) and 'Add to GCal' utility

## Links

- Website: https://bijansabet.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bijansabet
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/bijan
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/bijansabet.bsky.social
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bijan/

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