Fundraising Fox
Irene Au
InvestorFormer Angel at Khosla Ventures
Palo Alto, California
Writes $5K – $50K checks · typically $25K
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Ask James Markarian to introduce you to Irene
You →James · together at Khosla Ventures →Irene
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You →Jamie · 11 people · together at Khosla Ventures →Irene
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About
Irene Au is a design executive and researcher who held leadership positions at Yahoo, Google, Udacity, and Netscape, where she established human-centered design practices and built design organizations. She has worked as an operating partner at Khosla Ventures advising founders and executives on design and user experience, and currently works as an independent natural intelligence researcher. Au is the author of _Design in Venture Capital_ and has contributed essays on design, mindfulness, and creativity to various publications.
Experience
- Self-employedNatural Intelligence Researchercurrent2025 — present
- Khosla VenturesDesign Partner2014 — 2025Menlo Park, CA
- Stanford UniversityAdjunct Lecturer2020 — 2021Palo Alto, California, United States
- Avalon Yoga InternationalYoga Teacher2012 — 2020Palo Alto, CA
- Rosenfeld MediaStrategic and Editorial Board Member2010 — 2018
- UdacityVP, Design2012 — 2013Palo Alto, CA
- Trinity VenturesEntrepreneur in Residence2012Menlo Park, CA
- GoogleGlobal Head / Director of User Experience2006 — 2012Mountain View, CA
- Yahoo! Inc.VP User Experience2002 — 2006
- Yahoo! Inc.Director, User Experience2000 — 2002
- Yahoo! Inc.Manager, User Interface Design and User Research1998 — 2000
- Netscape CommunicationsInteraction Designer1996 — 1998
Skills & more
+8 more
Visual DesignOrganizational DevelopmentCreative DirectionInteraction DesignUsability TestingUser Experience DesignUser-centered DesignUser InterfaceFrom Irene's professional profile.
Investments
Investor
BeaubblePrintifyTitanzeroheight
Per curated public sources.
Network9
Investors connected to Irene in public investor directories — a warm-intro map.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Irene Au?
- Irene Au is a design executive and researcher who held leadership positions at Yahoo, Google, Udacity, and Netscape, where she established human-centered design practices and built design organizations. She has worked as an operating partner at Khosla Ventures advising founders and executives on design and user experience, and currently works as an independent natural intelligence researcher. Au is the author of _Design in Venture Capital_ and has contributed essays on design, mindfulness, and creativity to various publications.
- What check size does Irene Au write?
- Irene Au typically writes checks of $5K – $50K.
- What companies has Irene Au invested in?
- Investments tracked here include Beaubble, Printify, Titan, zeroheight.
- Where did Irene Au go to school?
- Irene Au studied at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (MS, Industrial Engineering/Human-Computer Interaction); University of South Carolina (BS, Honors College, Electrical and Computer Engineering).
Same school
Also attended University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign913
+ 907 more
Also attended University of South Carolina104
+ 98 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Khosla Ventures103
+ 97 more
Also worked at Stanford University1,226
+ 1,220 more
Also worked at Udacity41
+ 35 more
Also worked at Google2,000
+ 1,994 more