# Katie Kirsch

> Katie Kirsch is an Ecosystem Growth Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), where she builds the connective tissue of one of Silicon Valley's most influential venture firms - designing programs, products, and spaces that bring together the most ambitious founders, operators, and technologists. A 4x startup founder, ex-IDEO product leader, Stanford engineering graduate, and Harvard Business School MBA, she made Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2024 for consumer tech. Before joining a16z, she founded the mentorship platform Twenty and the coaching startup lume, taught entrepreneurship at Stanford's d.school and Harvard's Graduate School of Education, and volunteered in Uganda and India working on women's health and education. She launched the inaugural a16z Growth Engineer Fellowship in 2025, selecting 65 fellows from thousands of global applicants.

- **Role:** Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)
- **Organizations:** Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), lume (Co-Founder), Twenty (Founder & CEO), IDEO, Stanford d.school, Harvard Graduate School of Education
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BS, Product Design Engineering, Stanford University, MBA, Harvard Business School
- **Known for:** Forbes 30 Under 30 (2024) - Consumer Tech, 4x startup founder with experience across mentorship, coaching, and community platforms, Founded and led Twenty, growing to 1,100+ community members, 750+ coaching sessions, and 550+ Slack members

## Career timeline

- **2016** — Graduated Stanford with BS in Product Design Engineering
- **2016-2019** — Product & Design Leader at IDEO; taught entrepreneurship at Stanford d.school; launched nonprofits
- **2019-2021** — MBA at Harvard Business School; taught at Harvard Graduate School of Education
- **2022** — Founded Twenty, a global mentorship platform for young adults; raised $750k pre-seed
- **2023** — Co-founded lume, a VC-backed integrated professional and health coaching startup; tripled ARR in under a year
- **2024** — Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in Consumer Tech
- **2025** — Joined Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) as Ecosystem Growth Partner; launched inaugural a16z Growth Engineer Fellowship, selecting 65 fellows from 1,400+ applications

## Achievements

- Forbes 30 Under 30 (2024) - Consumer Tech
- 4x startup founder with experience across mentorship, coaching, and community platforms
- Founded and led Twenty, growing to 1,100+ community members, 750+ coaching sessions, and 550+ Slack members
- Co-founded lume, tripling ARR in under one year after pivot
- Launched the inaugural a16z Growth Engineer Fellowship, attracting 1,400+ applications globally and selecting 65 elite fellows from OpenAI, Replit, Notion, Coinbase, ElevenLabs, and more
- Taught entrepreneurship at Stanford's d.school and Harvard's Graduate School of Education
- Certified professional development coach
- Volunteer with women's health and education nonprofits in Uganda and India
- Authored 'SF is back - and the tech social scene is being run by the terminally online' for a16z

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — Running the inaugural a16z Growth Engineer Fellowship cohort with 65 selected fellows beginning 8-week program
- **2025-06** — Joined a16z as Ecosystem Growth Partner, announced on X and LinkedIn
- **2024-01** — Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in Consumer Tech

## Links

- Website: https://katiekirsch.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirschkatie
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/katiekirsch

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/katie-kirsch
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-09