
He waited seven years for permission to start. Then he sold AppDynamics on the eve of its IPO, discovered retirement was a poor fit, and returned to the workbench. Now Harness is his attempt to organize everything that happens after code.
Ryan Thompson is General Counsel and Partner at Felicis, a Menlo Park-based venture capital firm that has backed over 50 unicorns and raised a $900M Fund X in 2025. A lawyer-turned-operator-turned-investor, Ryan brings nearly two decades of legal and operational muscle to one of Silicon Valley's most decorated early-stage firms. Before Felicis, he served as COO and General Counsel at Unusual Ventures and as General Counsel and VP of HR at Shape Security — which sold to F5 Networks for over $1 billion. He spent nine years as a corporate attorney at Goodwin Procter and DLA Piper, working on VC financings, M&A, and IPOs before crossing the table to the operator side.