Vivek Ramaswami joined Madrona in 2022. As part of the Madrona investment team based in California, Vivek partners with ambitious founders across enterprise software, cloud infrastructure, data tools, intelligent applications, and fintech. He focuses on helping founders who have achieved product-market fit scale to the next level.
Vivek and Madrona Investor Sabrina Wu author the biweekly newsletter Aspiring for Intelligence.
Journey to Madrona
Vivek has spent his career investing in high-growth companies across software and fintech. Prior to Madrona, Vivek helped launch the venture capital arm of Steadfast Capital, where he led investments in Zapier, Klaviyo, Lucid, Forethought, Sendbird, Jumpcloud, Algolia, Wealthsimple, and other high-growth companies.
Prior to Steadfast, Vivek was a Principal at Redpoint for five years, where he helped source or work on investments in SentinelOne, Nubank, Bright Health, Cockroach Labs, Hashicorp, and others. Vivek started his career in technology investment banking at Goldman Sachs, advising clients on M&A and IPO opportunities in the software and consumer internet sectors.
Lessons learned
Great founders and companies can come from anywhere — whether in Seattle or Silicon Valley, or beyond. What remains consistent is their ability to thoughtfully assemble a focused team, a dedication to making customers happy, and building durable scale. Growth can often be a long and sometimes painful journey, but having the right partners along for the ride can make all the difference!
When he’s not in the office…
Vivek enjoys outdoor running, CrossFit, reading historical biographies, and exploring the great food and wine scene in the Bay Area. He also serves on the Huckleberry Young Professionals Board, a nonprofit aiding underprivileged youth in San Francisco.
Noteworthy
Vivek was named to the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for Venture Capital in 2021.
Vivek is originally from Alberta, Canada, and holds a bachelor’s from the Ivey Business School at Western University.
