# Christine Tsai

> Christine Tsai is the CEO and founding partner of 500 Global, which she co-founded as 500 Startups in 2010 after product marketing and operating roles at Google. A Berkeley cognitive science graduate and longtime dancer, she has helped develop the firm’s accelerator and international investment work and publicly discusses introverted leadership, founder access and women’s investment authority.

- **Role:** CEO and Founding Partner at 500 Global
- **Organizations:** 500 Global, Google, YouTube, OSIsoft, ChevronTexaco, Theatre Rice
- **From:** Guam, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.A. in Cognitive Science, University of California, Berkeley
- **Known for:** Co-founded 500 Global in 2010 and serves as its CEO., Helped develop a venture firm whose published website describes 3,000+ startups backed and a community spanning 80+ countries., Gold House 2021 A100 honoree.

## Career timeline

- **Before 2003** — Held international sales roles at OSIsoft and ChevronTexaco.
- **2003-2010** — Held product marketing and operating roles at Google, including work on AdSense, Analytics, YouTube products and developer tools.
- **2010** — Co-founded 500 Startups.
- **2011** — The firm admitted its first accelerator class of twelve companies.
- **2017** — Became CEO during a leadership restructuring; co-founder Dave McClure resigned as general partner in July following sexual harassment allegations.
- **2019** — 500 reached $1 billion in assets under management, according to its corporate history.
- **2021** — 500 Startups rebranded as 500 Global; Tsai was a Gold House A100 honoree.
- **2024** — Reported that the flagship accelerator had supported more than 900 companies across 34 batches as of July.
- **2026** — Discussed parenting, leadership and AI on The Girl Dad Show and global founder investing in Seoul interviews.

## Achievements

- Co-founded 500 Global in 2010 and serves as its CEO.
- Helped develop a venture firm whose published website describes 3,000+ startups backed and a community spanning 80+ countries.
- Gold House 2021 A100 honoree.
- National Merit Scholar.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Interviewed at COEX in Seoul about founder credibility, team-building and globally ambitious Korean deep technology companies.
- **2026-04** — Featured in episode 213 of The Girl Dad Show, discussing career, parenting, leadership and AI.
- **2025-07** — 500 Global published her Q4 2024 venture review and outlook, discussing AI agents, DeepSeek and government technology.

## Links

- Website: https://500.co/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinesltsai
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/christine_tsai
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christine_tsai/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/christine-tsai
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-09