# Bill Trenchard

> Bill Trenchard is a Partner at First Round Capital, a top-tier seed-stage venture capital firm. A serial entrepreneur turned VC, he sold his first company (Jump Networks) to Microsoft at 23, scaled LiveOps to $100M in sales, and made early-stage bets on category-defining companies including Uber, Looker (acquired by Google for $2.6B), Flexport, Notion, Verkada, and Superhuman. Known for creating First Round's Pitch Assist program, he's a fundraising savant who teaches founders his process-driven approach to raising capital. He was named to Forbes Midas List in 2017 (#41) and 2020 (#17), and BusinessWeek's Best Young Technology Entrepreneurs in 2006.

- **Role:** Partner at First Round Capital
- **Organizations:** First Round Capital, LiveOps, Jump Networks, idealab!, Founder Collective, Cornell University (Entrepreneurship@Cornell council, Cornell eLab)
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Arts in Science and Technology Studies, Cornell University
- **Known for:** Sold first company (Jump Networks) to Microsoft at age 23, Scaled LiveOps to $100M in sales and hundreds of employees, Early angel investor in Uber

## Career timeline

- **1997** — Graduated from Cornell University with BA in Science and Technology Studies
- **1999** — Founded Jump Networks (web calendar and personal organizer), acquired by Microsoft at age 23
- **2001** — Co-founded LiveOps (initially CallCast), cloud contact center platform
- **2001-2012** — Served as CEO of LiveOps, scaling to $100M in sales and hundreds of employees
- **2006** — Named one of BusinessWeek's Best Young Technology Entrepreneurs
- **Pre-2012** — Served as Managing Director at idealab!, working with portfolio companies as board member and interim CEO
- **Pre-2012** — Partner at Founder Collective, made angel investments in Uber, IronPort, PowerSet, Lending Club, and others
- **2012** — Joined First Round Capital as Partner (first external hire as partner since 2006)
- **2012** — Led seed investment in Looker
- **2017** — Ranked #41 on Forbes Midas List
- **2019** — Looker acquired by Google for $2.6 billion
- **2020** — Ranked #17 on Forbes Midas List
- **2024-2025** — Led investments in Cache (fintech) and other AI/developer tools startups

## Achievements

- Sold first company (Jump Networks) to Microsoft at age 23
- Scaled LiveOps to $100M in sales and hundreds of employees
- Early angel investor in Uber
- Led seed investment in Looker, which was acquired by Google for $2.6 billion in 2019
- Backed category-defining companies: Flexport, Notion, Verkada, Superhuman, Linear, Rippling, Airtable
- Forbes Midas List 2017 (#41) and 2020 (#17)
- Named BusinessWeek's Best Young Technology Entrepreneurs (2006)
- Created First Round's Pitch Assist program, helping founders raise $18B in follow-on capital
- Investments in companies acquired by major tech companies: IronPort (Cisco $830M), PowerSet (Microsoft), Relay (Google), Woven (Toyota)
- Vice Chairman of Entrepreneurship@Cornell council and Cornell eLab business incubator
- Current board member at Verkada and Kentik

## Latest updates

- **2024-03** — Led Series A investment in Cache, a fintech company democratizing access to financial instruments for concentrated stock positions
- **2024-09** — Posted on LinkedIn about hiring an investor to join First Round Capital
- **2025-01** — Active on Twitter discussing portfolio companies in AI platforms for healthcare and robotics (Dyna Robotics)

## Links

- Website: https://www.firstround.com/team/investing/bill-trenchard
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billtrenchard
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/btrenchard

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/bill-trenchard
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-02