# Hanson Gifford

> Hanson Gifford is co-founder, CEO and managing partner of The Foundry and a partner at Lightstone Ventures. A Cornell-trained mechanical engineer, he has worked across product development, company leadership and investing, led a 62-person team at Heartport, and is named on more than 400 issued U.S. patents. His career centers on forming, financing and staffing new ventures, then supporting their independent teams.

- **Role:** CEO / Managing Partner at The Foundry; Partner at Lightstone Ventures
- **Organizations:** The Foundry, Lightstone Ventures, ForSight Labs, Heartport, Bavaria Medizin Technologie, Cardiovascular Therapeutic Technologies, Devices for Vascular Intervention, Oximetrix, General Dynamics, Stanford Biodesign
- **Education:** B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Cornell University, Phillips Exeter Academy
- **Known for:** Named inventor on more than 400 issued U.S. patents, according to his current Lightstone Ventures biography., Helped form, finance and staff more than twenty new companies at The Foundry., Built and led a 62-person R&D team at Heartport.

## Career timeline

- **1985-1990** — Worked at Devices for Vascular Intervention in engineering, research and marketing.
- **1991** — Served as president of Cardiovascular Therapeutic Technologies, which Eli Lilly acquired that year.
- **1992-1993** — Co-founded Bavaria Medizin Technologie and served as managing director in Germany.
- **1993-1998** — Built and led a 62-person R&D team at Heartport as vice president of research and development.
- **1996** — Heartport completed its public offering during his tenure.
- **1998** — Co-founded The Foundry; its first work took place in a guest cottage at his house.
- **2004** — Presented The Foundry’s company incubation approach in Stanford’s Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders series.
- **2013** — Began his role at Lightstone Ventures in November, according to its current biography.
- **2014** — Began mentoring Stanford Biodesign innovation fellows in August, according to LinkedIn.

## Achievements

- Named inventor on more than 400 issued U.S. patents, according to his current Lightstone Ventures biography.
- Helped form, finance and staff more than twenty new companies at The Foundry.
- Built and led a 62-person R&D team at Heartport.
- Co-founded ForSight Labs with Eugene de Juan and K. Angela Macfarlane.

## Latest updates

- **2025-04** — LSI published The CEO 180 Day Playbook panel featuring Gifford, Cason Kynes and Bernie Haffey, moderated by Joe Mullings.
- **2025-05** — LSI published a panel with Gifford, Andrew Cleeland and Chris Cleary discussing build-to-buy partnerships.

## Links

- Website: https://thefoundry.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hanson-gifford-3bb5a37

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