Fundraising Fox

Clayton Petty

Investor

Partner at Gradient Ventures

San Francisco

About

Clayton Petty is an investor at Gradient Ventures. He previously led teams in McKinsey & Company's Technology and Investing practices, working with founders and growth investors on cybersecurity, infrastructure, and vertical software businesses, including product launches and enterprise go-to-market efforts. He started his career as a software engineer at Microsoft and Expedia and studied computer science at Texas A&M.

LinkedIn ↗X / Twitter ↗Website ↗
Latest on 𝕏

Clayton Petty @cdpetty

Watching project Hail Mary for the first time and objectively the most unrealistic part is the quality of the background track in the karaoke scene

Aug 2, 2026

Clayton Petty @cdpetty

How it feels to chew 5 gum https://t.co/hH1X6da6k7

Aug 1, 2026 · ♥ 3

Clayton Petty @cdpetty

This is not true and in fact, San Francisco’s single best asset is that it thinks the opposite way https://t.co/XxaxSY6qjw

Jul 31, 2026 · ♥ 5

Invests in

AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityData & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareSaaS

Experience

  1. GradientPartnercurrent2025 — presentSan Francisco, California, United States
  2. GradientInvestor2023 — 2025San Francisco, California, United States
  3. McKinsey & CompanyEngagement Manager2020 — 2022San Francisco & New York
  4. McKinsey & CompanyBusiness Analyst2018 — 2020Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex
  5. ICONIQ CapitalInvestor2017San Francisco Bay Area
  6. MicrosoftSoftware Engineer2016Redmond, WA
  7. Expedia GroupSoftware Engineer2015Austin, Texas Metropolitan Area

Education

  1. Texas A&M UniversityBachelor of Science, Computer Science2014 — 2018

Skills & more

Computer Science7Programming6Web Development5Customer Service2Microsoft Office3Node.js4JavaScript3C++5HTML4Java3C2Microsoft Excel1
+4 morePowerPointMicrosoft WordLeadershipPublic Speaking

Languages English

From Clayton's professional profile.

Same school

Also attended Texas A&M University104

Kanu GulatiInvestor at Khosla VenturesNathaniel HardingManaging Partner at Cortado VenturesJackie PfisterChief Operating Officer at Mercury FundLisa RobertsChief Product Officer at Mercury FundBrent KeltonPartner & Texas Leader at Moneta VenturesClinton BybeeCo-founder & Managing Director, Emeritus at ARCH Venture Partners

+ 98 more

Shared employers

Also worked at Gradient17

Katy EngleInvestor at Index VenturesLauren IllovskyTalent Partner at CapitalGMuzzammil (MZ) ZaveriPartner at Audacious Ventures backing ambitious early-stage foundersDarian ShiraziGeneral Partner at Gradient VenturesZach Bratun-GlennonGeneral Partner at Gradient VenturesAndrew BrackinPartner at Gradient Ventures

+ 11 more

Also worked at McKinsey & Company1,128

Jim BreyerFounder & CEO of Breyer CapitalAnn Miura-KoCo-founding Partner at FloodgateJeremy LiewPartner at Lightspeed Venture PartnersMike SpeiserManaging Director at Sutter Hill VenturesJeremy LevinePartner at Bessemer Venture PartnersFabrice GrindaCo-founder & Managing Partner at FJ Labs

+ 1,122 more

Also worked at ICONIQ Capital29

Ranim SelimExecutive Assistant at Lerer HippeauDivyansh SaksenaAnalyst at Congruent VenturesBrogan PerrelliVP of Finance and Operations at Westlake Village BioPartnersJonathan HeiligerGeneral Partner at Vertex VenturesChrisInvestor at Perceptive Ventures Management Company, LlcNikhil KrishnanPrincipal at K5 Global

+ 23 more

Also worked at Microsoft626

Reid HoffmanCo-founder of LinkedIn; Partner at GreylockGarry TanPresident & CEO of Y CombinatorJavier SolteroSenior Venture Partner at Felicis VenturesViviana FagaGeneral Partner at Felicis VenturesQuentin ClarkInvestment Team at General CatalystViswa SankaranarayananVenture Partner at Monta Vista Capital

+ 620 more

Investments

Investor

BackOpsInfisicalLayersQuantroStack AI

Per the firm's website.

Colleagues at Gradient Ventures

Andrew Brackin
Partner at Gradient Ventures
Anna Patterson
Founder and Managing Partner at Gradient Ventures
Darian Shirazi
General Partner at Gradient Ventures
Denise Teng
Partner at Gradient Ventures
Devon Buford
Operations Manager at Gradient Ventures
Erin Drooks
Head of Talent at Gradient Ventures
Eylul Kayin
Partner at Gradient Ventures
Jackie Eicholz
Public Relations & Communications at Gradient Ventures

Network5

Anna PattersonScout
Founder and Managing Partner at Gradient Ventures
Darian ShiraziScout
General Partner at Gradient Ventures
Zach Bratun-GlennonScout
General Partner at Gradient Ventures
Andrew Brackin
Partner at Gradient Ventures
Wen-Wen Lam
Partner at Gradient Ventures

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