Alex Taussig
VCBoard Partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners
Lightspeed board partner focused on consumer marketplaces
Background
Alex Taussig is a Board Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners and former Co-Head of the firm's Consumer Practice, where he has invested over $600 million across marketplace and software startups in the US, Europe, and Latin America. He previously was a Partner at Highland Capital Partners, backing thredUP (IPO 2021) and Carbon Black (IPO 2018). He writes the popular weekly newsletter Drinking from the Firehose covering commerce, media, and technology trends. He earned a BA in Physics summa cum laude from Harvard, an MS in Materials Engineering from MIT, and an MBA from Harvard Business School as a Baker Scholar. He serves as an Independent Director at United Rentals (NYSE: URI).
Investment Thesis
Backs category-defining consumer and SMB marketplace companies from seed to growth; seeks founders architecting durable moats in large, fragmented markets across apparel, food, retail, fintech, and education.
Investment Focus
Stages
Typical check: $1M–$15M
Sectors
Based in: San Francisco / Menlo Park, CA, USA (North America)
Notable Investments
Faire
B2B wholesale marketplace for independent retailers
Vinted
European secondhand fashion marketplace
Whatnot
Live shopping and collectibles marketplace
Zola
Modern wedding platform
Daily Harvest
DTC frozen food subscription service
Outschool
Online classes marketplace for kids
thredUP
Online resale; IPO 2021 (via Highland Capital)
Carbon Black
Cybersecurity; IPO 2018, acquired by VMware (via Highland Capital)