# Rob Hayes

> Rob Hayes is a Board Partner at First Round Capital, the seed-stage venture firm famous for backing companies before anyone else dares. Over 12 years as a full partner beginning in 2006, Hayes made some of the most consequential bets in tech history - writing the first institutional check into Uber when it was worth $4 million, backing Square before payments were cool, and leading investments in Mint.com, eero, Planet Labs, and Gnip. A former Palm product manager turned Omidyar Network pioneer turned VC legend, Hayes built First Round's San Francisco office from scratch and helped define what 'founder support' actually means in venture capital.

- **Role:** Board Partner at First Round Capital
- **Organizations:** First Round Capital, Omidyar Network, Palm, Go Corp, Geoworks, Japan External Trade Organization, Columbia Business School Board of Overseers
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** MBA, Columbia Business School, B.A. in Political Economy, University of California, Berkeley
- **Known for:** Made the seed investment in Uber at a $4M valuation - one of the most profitable VC bets in history, Led early investment in Square, which grew to a multi-billion dollar fintech company, Backed Mint.com which was acquired by Intuit for $170 million

## Career timeline

- **Early 1990s** — Worked at Japan External Trade Organization focused on international trade relations
- **Mid 1990s** — System-level product development at Geoworks and Go Corp, with focus on Japanese market
- **1995** — Received MBA from Columbia Business School
- **Late 1990s - early 2000s** — Joined Palm as product manager for Palm OS, overseeing Palm III, Palm V, and Handspring Treo
- **~2002-2004** — Started Palm's corporate venture fund; managed strategic spinoff of PalmSource
- **2004** — Became first venture investor at Omidyar Network (Pierre Omidyar's investment firm), led initial VC deals and built the technology investing group
- **2006** — Joined First Round Capital as Partner, opening the firm's San Francisco office
- **2008** — Led investment in Mint.com (later acquired by Intuit for $170M)
- **2009** — Led early investment in Square
- **2010** — Led seed investment in UberCab at $4M valuation with $500K+ check; joined Uber board of directors
- **2012** — Led investment in Gnip (later acquired by Twitter)
- **2015** — Led investment in eero (home WiFi mesh network)
- **2015** — Invested in Planet Labs (satellite imaging)
- **2018** — Transitioned from Partner to Board Partner at First Round Capital, supporting existing portfolio companies and angel investing

## Achievements

- Made the seed investment in Uber at a $4M valuation - one of the most profitable VC bets in history
- Led early investment in Square, which grew to a multi-billion dollar fintech company
- Backed Mint.com which was acquired by Intuit for $170 million
- Opened First Round Capital's San Francisco office in 2006, expanding the firm's geographic reach
- First venture investor at Omidyar Network, building the technology investing function from scratch
- Led investment in eero, which was acquired by Amazon
- Board member at Columbia Business School Board of Overseers
- Backed Gnip, acquired by Twitter
- Built Palm's corporate venture fund from scratch

## Latest updates

- **2018-01** — Transitioned from full Partner to Board Partner at First Round Capital after 12 years as a Partner
- **2020-10** — First Round Capital closed its latest fund (raised $296M)
- **2021-01** — Joined Columbia Business School Board of Overseers

## Links

- Website: https://firstround.com/person/rob-hayes/
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/robhayes
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/robhayes
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/firstroundcapital

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/rob-hayes
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-08