# Nikhil Basu Trivedi

> Nikhil Basu Trivedi is a Co-Founder and General Partner at Footwork Ventures, a San Francisco-based early-stage VC firm with $400M+ under management across two funds. A Princeton molecular biology graduate turned venture capitalist, he previously spent eight years at Shasta Ventures where he backed Canva, ClassDojo, Frame.io, and The Farmer's Dog. He writes the 'Next Big Thing' newsletter on Substack with 18,000+ subscribers, publishes public investment theses before backing founders, and built his career on a 'traction-first' philosophy and obsessive focus on founder learning velocity. An Indian-American from a family with deep public service roots, he co-founded Artsy as a Princeton sophomore and has been a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & General Partner at Footwork Ventures
- **Organizations:** Footwork Ventures, Shasta Ventures, Insight Venture Partners, Artsy
- **Nationality:** American (Indian heritage)
- **Education:** A.B. in Molecular Biology with Certificate in Finance, Princeton University
- **Known for:** Co-founded Artsy as a Princeton sophomore - company grew to 200+ employees and raised $50M+, Forbes 30 Under 30 in Venture Capital (2015), Princeton Spirit of Princeton Award (2011)

## Career timeline

- **2008** — Co-founded Artsy (online art discovery platform) as a Princeton sophomore; won 'Rookie Disruptor' at first TechCrunch Disrupt in NYC (2009)
- **2010** — Joined Insight Venture Partners in New York as member of investment team focused on consumer internet, mobile, and enterprise software
- **2011** — Graduated Princeton with Spirit of Princeton Award; moved to focus on venture investing full-time
- **2012** — Joined Shasta Ventures as Associate at age 23, youngest member of the investment team
- **2015** — Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in Venture Capital; promoted to Senior Associate at Shasta Ventures
- **2016** — Promoted to Managing Director at Shasta Ventures
- **2018** — Invested in Canva - broke his own 'traction first' rule but saw clear product-market fit signals
- **2020** — Departed Shasta Ventures; spoke at Stanford NVCA Venture Capital Symposium; launched 'Next Big Thing' newsletter on Substack
- **2021** — Co-founded Footwork Ventures with Mike Smith; closed inaugural $175M Fund I
- **2023** — Appeared on 20VC with Harry Stebbings; warned that '99% of AI investments will go to zero'
- **2025** — Footwork closed $225M Fund II; portfolio grew to 23+ companies; led Protege $25M Series A
- **2026** — Predicting banner year for M&A and IPOs; actively deploying Fund II

## Achievements

- Co-founded Artsy as a Princeton sophomore - company grew to 200+ employees and raised $50M+
- Forbes 30 Under 30 in Venture Capital (2015)
- Princeton Spirit of Princeton Award (2011)
- TechCrunch Disrupt 'Rookie Disruptor' award (2009) for Artsy
- Early backer of Canva (now valued at $40B+)
- Grew Next Big Thing newsletter to 18,000+ subscribers with free access commitment
- Co-founded Footwork Ventures with $175M Fund I (2021) and $225M Fund II (2025)
- Backed early-stage companies including ClassDojo, Frame.io, The Farmer's Dog, Lattice, and Brigit
- Co-president of Princeton Entrepreneurship Club growing it to 1,000+ members
- Speaker at Stanford NVCA Venture Capital Symposium

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Led investment in Snout (Series A) and Onton as part of Footwork Fund II deployment
- **2026-01** — Published 'What I'm preparing for in 2026' predicting banner year for M&A and IPOs
- **2025-08** — Led Protege $25M Series A and Confido $15M Series A investments
- **2025-07** — Footwork portfolio company Felt raised Series B
- **2025-02** — Footwork Ventures closed $225M Fund II
- **2025-11** — Appeared on 'Not Another CEO' podcast Episode #73: 'Mastering the Slope of Learning'
- **2024-10** — Led Table22 $11M Series A investment
- **2024-06** — Led GPTZero $10M Series A investment

## Links

- Website: https://nbt.substack.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilbt
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/nbt
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikhilbt/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/nikhil-basu-trivedi
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-22