Where does Aileen Lee work?

Aileen Lee is Founder & Managing Partner at Cowboy Ventures.

What check size does Aileen Lee write?

Aileen Lee typically writes checks of $500K – $3M.

Where did Aileen Lee go to school?

Aileen Lee studied at Harvard Business School (Master of Business Administration (MBA)); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Bachelor of Science (B.S.)); Millburn High School.

What awards has Aileen Lee received?

Lee appeared on Forbes' list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women, at position #97 as of 2020. Lee was named to Time's list of the 100 Most Influential People in 2019. Lee was named a Henry Crown Fellow.

What podcasts and interviews feature Aileen Lee?

Tracked appearances include "E988 Cowboy Ventures' Aileen Lee on pioneering diversity in tech & VC, lessons from backing winners", "Aileen Lee (Cowboy Ventures) & Emily Chang (Bloomberg) - Ten Years of Unicorns: What's next?", "4 Lessons from Aileen Lee @ Cowboy Ventures", and 7 more.

Aileen Lee

Investor

Founder & Managing Partner at Cowboy Ventures · Advisor, Cowboy Ventures at Screendoor · Founder & Managing Partner, Cowboy Ventures at Gold House Ventures

Palo Alto, CA

Writes $500K – $3M checks · typically $1M

Midas 2018 · #97 Midas 2019 · #82 Midas 2020 · #80

Photo: TechCrunch, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons ↗

About

Aileen Lee founded the seed-stage firm Cowboy Ventures in 2012 after more than a decade at Kleiner Perkins. She coined the term 'unicorn' for billion-dollar startups in a 2013 essay and co-founded All Raise, the nonprofit working to advance women in venture capital.

Contact· self-published, not guessed

h•••@cowboy.vcreveal

Invests in

ConsumerDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareFintechHealthtechSaaS

Beyond investing

Founded: Lee co-founded All Raise, a nonprofit that works to increase the representation and funding of women in venture capital.
Education: Studied at MIT Sloan School of Management (BS, 1992) Studied at Harvard Business School (MBA, 1997) Studied at Millburn High School (1988)
Boards: Lee serves on the board of the Castilleja School.
Communities: Lee coined the term 'unicorn' in her 2013 TechCrunch article 'Welcome To The Unicorn Club: Learning from Billion-Dollar Startups.'
Awards: Lee appeared on Forbes' list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women, at position #97 as of 2020. Lee was named to Time's list of the 100 Most Influential People in 2019. Lee was named a Henry Crown Fellow.
Hobbies: Lee enjoys playing and watching tennis, cooking and eating, and spending time with her family. In high school Lee ran small businesses with friends, including a tie-dye t-shirt venture called 'Buy or Dye' and an egg roll stand called 'Wok Out.'
Family: Lee is the daughter of Chinese immigrants and grew up in Millburn, New Jersey. Lee is a mother of three children and is married to a startup co-founder/CTO; the family also has a dog and chickens.

From published sources — common ground for a warm intro.

Experience

Cowboy VenturesFounder and Managing Partnercurrent2012 — presentpalo alto, ca
All RaiseChairperson of the Board & Co-Foundercurrent2018 — present
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMember, Computer Science & Electrical Engineering Visiting Committeecurrent2024 — presentCambridge, MA
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMember, Media Lab Visiting Committeecurrent2020 — presentCambridge, MA
Castilleja SchoolMember Board of Trustees2018 — 2024Palo Alto, California, United States
TIME'S UPBoard Member2019 — 2021
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & ByersAssociate, Principal, Partner, General Partner & Senior Partner1999 — 2012Menlo Park, California, United States
RMG NetworksFounding CEO2007 — 2009San Francisco Bay Area
Gap Inc./Gap Inc. DirectBrand & Product Marketing, Gap Online1999San Francisco Bay Area
Gap Inc./Gap Inc. DirectSpecial Assistant to CEO1998 — 1999San Francisco Bay Area
Gap Inc./GapBusiness Development & Strategy1997 — 1998San Francisco Bay Area
Morgan StanleyM&A Analyst1992 — 1994Greater New York City Area

Skills & more

Venture Capital81Start-ups99Entrepreneurship73Product Management25Private Equity19Business Strategy26Business Development92Angel Investing27Product Marketing83Mergers1Product Development11

Languages Chinese

From Aileen's professional profile.

Investments

Investor

AccompanyAugustBloom EnergyDollar Shave ClubRent the RunwayTally TechnologiesTextio

Per curated public sources.

Podcasts & interviews

featuring Aileen Lee

E988 Cowboy Ventures' Aileen Lee on pioneering diversity in tech & VC, lessons from backing winners

This Week in Startups

Aileen Lee (Cowboy Ventures) & Emily Chang (Bloomberg) - Ten Years of Unicorns: What's next?

Startup Grind

4 Lessons from Aileen Lee @ Cowboy Ventures

ConfluenceVC: The VC Operating Playbook

The Unicorn Club 10 years later with Cowboy Ventures’ Aileen Lee | Equity Podcast

TechCrunch

'Unicorn' headquarters dispersing to different cities after COVID: Cowboy Ventures' Aileen Lee

cnbc.com

Aileen Lee (Cowboy Ventures) + Rachel Carlson (Guild Education) | TechCrunch

techcrunch.com

4 more appearances

Colleagues at Cowboy Ventures

Amanda Robson

Partner at Cowboy Ventures

Caroline Duffy

Partner at Cowboy Ventures

Donna Boyer

Executive-in-Residence (EIR) at Cowboy Ventures

James Cross

Scout at Cowboy Ventures

Jillian Williams

Principal at Cowboy Ventures

Joanne Yuan

Associate Partner at Cowboy Ventures

Rohan Puranik

Principal and Chief of Staff at Cowboy Ventures

Ryan Libster

Advisor at Cowboy Ventures

Network7

Donna BoyerScout

Executive-in-Residence (EIR) at Cowboy Ventures

James CrossScout

Scout at Cowboy Ventures

Ryan LibsterScout

Advisor at Cowboy Ventures

Amanda Robson

Partner at Cowboy Ventures

Deborah Quazzo

Managing Partner at GSV Ventures

Jillian Williams

Principal at Cowboy Ventures

Ted Wang

Board Partner at Cowboy Ventures

Investors connected to Aileen in public investor directories — a warm-intro map.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Aileen Lee?: Aileen Lee founded the seed-stage firm Cowboy Ventures in 2012 after more than a decade at Kleiner Perkins. She coined the term 'unicorn' for billion-dollar startups in a 2013 essay and co-founded All Raise, the nonprofit working to advance women in venture capital.
Where does Aileen Lee work?: Aileen Lee is Founder & Managing Partner at Cowboy Ventures.
What does Aileen Lee invest in?: Aileen Lee invests in Consumer, Developer Tools, Enterprise Software, Fintech, Healthtech, SaaS.
What check size does Aileen Lee write?: Aileen Lee typically writes checks of $500K – $3M.
What companies has Aileen Lee invested in?: Investments tracked here include Accompany, August, Bloom Energy, Dollar Shave Club, Rent the Runway, Tally Technologies, Textio.
Where did Aileen Lee go to school?: Aileen Lee studied at Harvard Business School (Master of Business Administration (MBA)); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Bachelor of Science (B.S.)); Millburn High School.
What awards has Aileen Lee received?: Lee appeared on Forbes' list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women, at position #97 as of 2020. Lee was named to Time's list of the 100 Most Influential People in 2019. Lee was named a Henry Crown Fellow.
What podcasts and interviews feature Aileen Lee?: Tracked appearances include "E988 Cowboy Ventures' Aileen Lee on pioneering diversity in tech & VC, lessons from backing winners", "Aileen Lee (Cowboy Ventures) & Emily Chang (Bloomberg) - Ten Years of Unicorns: What's next?", "4 Lessons from Aileen Lee @ Cowboy Ventures", and 7 more.