# Liz Wessel

> Liz Wessel is a Partner at First Round Capital and former co-founder/CEO of WayUp, the early-career recruitment platform she built from a dorm-room idea to a 7-million-user marketplace over seven years. After navigating WayUp's acquisition by Yello in 2021, she spent time as a Visiting Group Partner at Y Combinator advising 110+ startups, and since 2016 has backed 40+ companies as an angel — including Ramp, ScaleAI, and Ro. She joined First Round in September 2023, bringing a rare combination of founder empathy, GTM rigor, and a reputation as the person early-stage founders call when they need to actually close their first enterprise deal.

- **Role:** Partner at First Round Capital
- **Organizations:** First Round Capital, WayUp, Y Combinator
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor's in Political Science, Mathematics, Japanese, University of Pennsylvania
- **Known for:** Forbes Midas Brink List 2025 — rising stars in venture capital, Forbes 30 Under 30, Enterprise Technology (2016), Business Insider '18 Coolest Women in Silicon Valley'

## Career timeline

- **~2009-2013** — University of Pennsylvania — studied Political Science, Math, Japanese; founded PennEats/UniEats, a restaurant discount platform for students
- **2013** — Associate Product Marketing Manager at Google, Mountain View — marketed products reaching billions of users
- **2013-2014** — Relocated to India for Google — led brand and product awareness initiatives in emerging markets
- **2014** — Co-founded WayUp (originally 'The Campus Job') with JJ Fliegelman — early-career recruitment marketplace
- **2016** — Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 (Enterprise Technology); began angel investing
- **2017** — Co-founded National Intern Day (last Thursday of July), now observed annually
- **2017-2021** — Grew WayUp to 7M+ candidates and thousands of employer clients; raised $40M+ from General Catalyst and Index Ventures
- **2021** — Led WayUp's acquisition/merger with Yello
- **2021-2023** — Visiting Group Partner at Y Combinator — interviewed, selected, and advised 110+ startups across multiple batches
- **2016-2023** — Active angel investor — backed 40+ companies including Ramp, ScaleAI, Ro, Artera, FreeWill, and Snackpass
- **2023** — Joined First Round Capital as Partner (San Francisco office) — focus on seed-stage companies
- **2025** — Named to Forbes Midas Brink List 2025 as a rising star in venture capital

## Achievements

- Forbes Midas Brink List 2025 — rising stars in venture capital
- Forbes 30 Under 30, Enterprise Technology (2016)
- Business Insider '18 Coolest Women in Silicon Valley'
- Co-founded National Intern Day in 2017, now an annual observance on the last Thursday of July
- Scaled WayUp to 7 million candidates and thousands of employer clients
- Raised $40M+ in venture capital for WayUp from General Catalyst and Index Ventures
- Advised 110+ Y Combinator startups as Visiting Group Partner
- Angel investor in 40+ companies with multiple successful exits (Ramp, ScaleAI, Ro among notable wins)
- Speaker at TEDx, TechCrunch Disrupt, SXSW, and Advertising Week
- Media appearances on CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News
- Author of articles on TechCrunch and the YC blog

## Latest updates

- **2025-04** — Named to the Forbes Midas Brink List 2025 as one of venture capital's rising stars
- **2024** — Active First Round Capital investments include Reducto, Gumloop, David AI, M7 Health, Solidroad, and Scotch
- **2023-09** — Joined First Round Capital as Partner, based in San Francisco

## Links

- Website: https://www.lizwessel.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethwessel
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/lizwessel
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lizwessel

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